Cut From Steel

HE WAS 52 AND ADRIFT FOR 24 DAYS

Eddie Rickenbacker had already lived a full life by 1942. He was America’s top fighter ace of World War I, with 26 victories to his name. The Army later gave him the Medal of Honor. After the war, he went on to run Eastern Air Lines.

Secretary of War Henry Stimson sent him across the Pacific in October 1942 with a secret message for General Douglas MacArthur. His B-17 drifted off course and missed its fuel stop. The pilot ditched the bomber in open ocean. Rickenbacker and seven other men climbed into three small rafts.

Rickenbacker was 52 years old. The men had four oranges between them, and he split them into small shares to make them last. On the eighth day, a seagull landed on his hat. He grabbed it, and the men ate it and used the scraps as bait to catch fish.

Sergeant Alex Kaczmarczyk died before help came. Rickenbacker kept the others going with encouragement for some and hard words for the rest. On the 24th day, planes spotted the rafts. He had lost 60 pounds. About a week later, he delivered the message to MacArthur in New Guinea.

You will not face a raft this winter. Rickenbacker survived because he guarded the small things early, one slice of orange at a time. Small protections, taken before the trouble, decide who walks away. You have one of those on offer at the pharmacy this month.

41% Fewer Fatal Heart Attacks for 9 Cents

9 cents.

That’s roughly what one serving costs at any grocery store in America.

A trial published in the European Heart Journal found it cut fatal heart events by 41 percent.

Forty. One. Percent.

Why hasn’t your doctor mentioned it?

Same reason your doctor hasn’t mentioned a lot of things…

There’s no pharma rep walking into the clinic with samples of a 9-cent grocery store item.

I won’t name it here. The name alone is useless. The dose, the timing, and what you pair it with are what makes the difference between 41% and zero.

>> All three are in this free documentary

It’s also paired with something even bigger that I’ll let you discover yourself. The kind of thing that explains why heart disease is still the #1 killer in this country after sixty years of “progress.”

P.S. This 9-cent compound shows up about 14 minutes in.

Don’t skip ahead… what comes before it is the reason it works.

THE BUG THAT GOES FOR THE HEART

You probably think of the flu as a lousy week on the couch. The fever and the aches come, then you sweat it out. Plenty of men skip the shot because they figure they can tough it out.

I want you to see the part nobody mentions. In 2018, Canadian researchers studied adults with confirmed flu. Their risk of a heart attack was six times higher in the week after the diagnosis than in the year before or after. In other words, the flu is not only a lung problem.

You may hear that heart trouble in winter is just age catching up. Age plays a part. Yet the virus may play a bigger role than you think.

IT’S NOT AGE. IT’S THE FLU HITTING YOUR HEART.

You do not need a medical degree to follow how this works. Three facts matter.

01 / The fight inflames your arteries

You fight the virus with a wave of inflammation. UCLA Health doctors say that response can raise blood pressure and make blood more likely to clot. If plaque already lines your arteries, the added strain may cause it to rupture. That is how many heart attacks start.

02 / Heart patients fill the flu wards

CDC data show about half of adults hospitalized with flu have heart disease. One CDC study looked at more than 80,000 of those adults over eight seasons. Almost 1 in 8 had a sudden heart problem, such as heart failure, while in the hospital.

03 / The shot was tested on heart patients

IAMI, a 2021 trial led from Sweden, gave 2,571 people either a flu shot or a dummy shot soon after a heart attack. After one year, 2.9 percent of the vaccinated group had died. Deaths in the dummy group reached 4.9 percent. One trial is not the final word, but it points the same way as earlier research.

GET IT BEFORE NOVEMBER

You can get the shot at most pharmacies, often without an appointment. UCLA Health says the end of October is the ideal time. Flu often peaks in January or later, so a shot in November still beats no shot at all.

You should ask for the shot, not the nasal spray, if you have heart disease. The CDC says people with heart disease should generally skip the spray version. Mention any heart history to the pharmacist before you roll up your sleeve.

I will be straight with you about the limits. The shot does not block every case of flu. Research suggests it may lower your odds of getting badly sick, and that is the part your heart cares about.

You need a fresh shot every fall, because protection fades over time. Put it on the calendar the way you would an oil change.

One last thing. The flu is coming to town either way. Whether your heart is ready is your call.

— Travis

Insider Member's Corner

6 free habits that keep your heart out of the flu ward:

Three rewards for a man who plans ahead.

01 / Car · Ford Mustang Dark Horse

Ford’s Dark Horse sits near the top of the Mustang range. Its 5.0-liter V8 makes 500 horsepower without a supercharger. You can still order it with a six-speed manual. The 2026 model starts around $64,000.

02 / Grill · Kamado Joe Classic

Kamado Joe builds the Classic around an 18-inch ceramic shell that holds heat for hours. Its Divide & Conquer system lets you cook at two levels at once. A spring hinge takes most of the weight off the heavy lid. Expect to pay around $1,100.

03 / Experience · Salmon Fishing in Alaska

Les Anderson hooked a king salmon on Alaska’s Kenai River on May 17, 1985. The fish weighed 97 pounds, 4 ounces. He was 68 years old, and his catch still stands as the rod-and-reel world record. Book a guide and check the season rules first, because king salmon limits change from year to year.