Good morning. It’s Friday, November 22nd.

In today’s email:

• Learn: The Demise of Forward Health

• Inspire: The King of Clay

• In the News: Filthy Earbuds

• Laugh: SNL Vintage: How to Split the Check

• Brain Games: Sports Connections

Stat of the Day

The average increase in lifespan among people who play tennis. This boost is attributed not only to the physical benefits of racquet sports - like improved cardiovascular health, coordination, and endurance - but also to the social connections fostered through the beautiful game. (NIH)

Favorites

Some stuff I’m loving right now -

1. Sweetgreen - I’ve been a fan for 10 years now, getting clean, organic salads and bowls more times than I can count. They recently came to Tampa and my loyalty paid off. Somehow I won a year’s supply of free Sweetgreen! 🥗 For the next 365 days, I get $20 a day in my account for lunch. It’s like the exact opposite of Super Size Me. I know it’s not the cheapest meal, but I’ll just say that you get what you pay for :). Thank you Sweetgreen (find locations here).

2. Aloha Bars - you all know that I talk about avoiding processed food, but I still sometimes over rely on bars (although less so, thanks again Sweetgreen!). These bars have been reformulated and taste really good. The ingredient list is pretty darn clean - no sugar alcohols and only 3g of added sugar (they use monk fruit). If you need a protein bar, give ‘em a try. 🌴

3. Skipping Dinner - when the schedule gets a little crazy near the holidays, it can be tough to make a healthy dinner and get the kids to bed early. I’ve been skipping dinner 1-2 times a week and notice a real difference in my energy level and the extra bounce in my step. It’s not every night, but when I listen to my body and realize I’d be eating because “I’m supposed to,” not because I need to, it’s a good decision. 🍽️ Pro Tip: If you have trouble sleeping without dinner, add a spoonful of organic raw honey to avoid your glucose levels plummeting and disrupting your sleep at around 4am (I should know - read about it HERE).

Learn

The Demise of Forward Health

Back in 2016, Forward Health launched as a primary care service - intended as a way better experience than going to the doctor. It had the latest technology, focused on prevention, and you didn’t have to deal with insurance.

Instead, you paid about $150/month for access to in-person and virtual visits that were in stand-alone clinics (some located in malls).

The company raised over $650M and was planning to completely displace even the clinician in these appointments to CarePods - completely unstaffed pods that gave you a full health assessment.

Well, apparently the world wasn’t quite ready (or the capital cost was too high) - because Forward Health abruptly shut down this month. It’s a bummer - especially for those patients left in a lurch, but not really surprising.*

* Although, maybe a little - what business would you build if you had $650M to play with? Let us know, maybe we’ve got a position for you!

So why did it fail?

It’s not the only primary care disruptor to not make it - remember Walmart?

Is it because patients actually value a doctor? Is it because not that many people want to pay $2,000+ per year on top of their insurance premium?

Or was it simply too expensive to get the technology to work for what really is a relatively low price point compared to traditional healthcare?

Probably a combination of all those things. Here’s what we’ve learned from Thrive25 subscribers (you all) and others when we started building our new Membership:

For consumers:

• They want to know more about their health, but don’t want to go to medical school. They still want to have an expert (e.g., MD) to support them

• They’re willing to pay outside of insurance, but not thousands of dollars a year (plus insurance)

In terms of the business model:

• Healthcare is a $4T apparatus - it’s better to work within the existing infrastructure than completely outside of it

• Bring preventive care into the same system where you need insurance in case of emergencies

Healthcare is going to change and it’s going to be because of all of us. We want more information and we want a better experience. Focusing more on preventive care will make our lives better and lower everyone’s costs.

But there’s a smart way to do this that is sustainable to create a world-class experience for the consumer, with a business model that makes sense.

That’s why we couldn’t be more excited about the future going forward (sorry…couldn’t resist).

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Inspire

The King of Clay

On Wednesday, Rafael Nadal played his final tennis match in the Davis Cup - exactly 20 years after his first Davis Cup match.

In those 20 years, Nadal won 92 tournaments - including 22 majors (Aussie Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open), won Olympic Gold in singles (2008 in Beijing) and doubles (2016 in Rio), and was ranked #1 in the world in three different decades.

More than that - he was by far the best clay court tennis player ever. He won 14 French Open Titles (never even facing a 5th set in any of those finals). He even won 81 straight matches on clay (81!) over 2 years from April 2005 - May 2007.

The fact that he could play such an aggressive style of tennis based on power and athleticism for 20 years is crazy. But what really set him apart was his grit and mental strength. In what many call the best tennis match ever - he repeatedly persevered and won the big points on his “worst” surface.

It’s that determination that won over so many. But then there was something else - seeing Nadal in tears when his rival Roger Federer retired and being his doubles partner in Roger’s final match showed Rafa’s true character.

It was matched by Roger with this letter for Rafa on his retirement:

What a run of athletic greatness from two good humans. To celebrate someone else who “took away” titles and prestige from you - realizing that rival made you a better player and a better person. Something we all can take away far outside the tennis court.

H&L in the News

Filthy Earbuds? Clean Up Now!: Easy steps to keep your earbuds spotless, protect your ears, and prevent infections - a clean sound is a healthy sound. (Outside)

Broccoli - The Underrated Superhero: Broccoli deserves its fame - from fighting cancer to boosting bone and heart health (remember Issue #334). Plus, learn the tastiest ways to enjoy this nutrient-packed veggie! (NYTimes)

Clues to Dark Matter?: The next Milky Way supernova could hold the key to understanding dark matter. Modern neutrino detectors might capture a "neutrino deficit," revealing how dark matter interacts with ordinary matter. (Big Think)

Laugh

SNL Vintage: How to Split the Check

How are you celebrating SNL’s 50th season? Out to dinner with some friends before a watch party…

Brain Games

Sports Connections

Can anyone figure out why we had to include yesterday’s NYTimes Sports Connections puzzle in our newsletter?

Remember the rules - create 4 groups of 4 words based on some common theme from the list of 16 words below:

Credit: NYTimes Games

** For answer, scroll to the bottom of the email

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We’re 40-something dads that felt our bodies and minds start to slow down and we’re not ready for that. We found too much information on every subject. So we started Thrive25 to transform what we’ve learned into something useful for the rest of us to spend just 5 min a day to optimize our health & longevity.

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To health!