Good morning. It’s Tuesday, November 11th.

In today’s email:

• Learn: What’s the Deal with Bananas?

• Try: Smoothie Alternative

• Measure: Potassium

• Inspire: Lenny Wilkins - The Quiet Greatness

• In the News: Stretching for Performance

• Brain Games: Kyudoku

Stat of the Day

We absorb 84% fewer nutrients in our smoothie when we put a banana in the blender. (UC, Davis Study)

Learn

What’s the Deal with Bananas?

I just stopped adding a banana to my morning smoothie.

Smoothies are great because they’re an easy way to pack in protein and nutrients that are harder to get. For me, that usually means a ton of spinach and berries. Then I’d toss in a banana for taste.

But a recent trial from University of California, Davis and the University of Reading found that bananas may actually prevent your body from absorbing some of the smoothie’s key nutrients.

Bananas have high amounts of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase (PPO). This is what causes bananas to turn brown when cut or bruised. Nobody wants a soggy, brown banana.

Researchers believe it’s this enzyme that blocks the flavanols from being absorbed. Why is this important? Flavanols are natural plant compounds that help protect our cells from oxidative stress and support long-term heart and brain health.

Flavanols are abundant in foods like berries, apples, grapes, and cocoa - all common smoothie ingredients. They’ve been shown to improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, and even lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A clinical trial of participants taking 500 mg of flavanols a day "reduced cardiovascular deaths, including heart attacks and stroke, by 27%.”

To be fair, the trial was small and only included men. But the researchers were pretty blown away by the size of the effect from just one banana.

Are Bananas Healthy?

Just because a banana shouldn’t be in your blender does it mean you shouldn’t eat them at all?

When we think of bananas we think potassium. Bananas deliver about 10% of our daily potassium. But they also give us 30% of our daily Vitamin B6.

It’s the B6 that gives us a little energy boost before a workout.

The other benefit is that bananas have a ton of resistant starch. This is the fiber that we can’t digest. It’s both food for our gut bacteria and a way to effectively slow down glucose getting into our bloodstream.

The trick is to eat them when they’re slightly underripe. Not green and hard to peel - just before the brown spots appear. That’s when the resistant starch and fiber are highest.

As bananas ripen, those starches convert to sugar, which can spike blood sugar and work against metabolic health.

The difference is shocking when eating an underripe banana - which regulates blood sugar - vs. an overripe banana - which can jolt your blood sugar and worsen your metabolic health.

So instead of in the smoothie - go with the banana and some nut butter or greek yogurt with your lunch.

Try

Smoothie Alternative

Don’t spend time and money making a smoothie full of nutrient-dense ingredients, only to lose most of the benefit.

Swap out the banana for other healthy sweeteners - right now my go to is honey. But sometimes I’ll use dates too. Or I just double up the berries and it’s still pretty good.

Try these options to see what you like most:

1. Avocado - creates a very creamy texture with all the healthy fat and potassium (use just ¼ an avocado to start)

2. Medjool Dates - some sweetness with good fiber (use 1-2 pitted dates and make sure you really blend it up)

3. Frozen Mango - naturally sweet with some Vitamin A and C and lower PPO enzyme (use ½ cup)

4. Greek Yogurt - adds creaminess and high in protein (use ½ cup plain, unsweetened flavor)

5. Frozen Cauliflower - if you’re feeling adventurous it blends smooth and creamy (use ½ cup)

Mix and match - or just keep experimenting for what you like best!

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Measure

Potassium

This electrolyte might be underrated in how much it does for our health and longevity.

Electrolytes are electrically neutral in solid form - but when we eat or drink foods containing potassium, the mineral dissolves in the gut and splits into positively charged ions.

The movement of these charged ions creates an electrical current in our body.

The electrical charge in potassium particles triggers nerve signals to contract our muscles, balance our fluid levels, and even manage our heartbeat.

Potassium is also good for blood pressure. That’s because potassium helps rid the body of excess sodium (salt) through the kidneys - lowering blood pressure and protecting our heart health.

Potassium also teams up with calcium to regulate muscle contractions and protect bone density. Adequate potassium helps calcium move into muscle cells when needed, and keeps too much of it from being lost through the urine.

Optimal Levels

Potassium is a standard biomarker on a “Comprehensive Metabolic Panel” and often tracked to measure kidney health.

Optimal Range: 4.5 - 5.2 mEq/L (milli-equivalents per liter)

What it reflects: kidney function, hydration balance, and adrenal health

It’s key to get this tested in your annual bloodwork - especially individuals with risk of kidney disease, high blood pressure, or adrenal disorders. Also, anyone who regularly drinks alcohol, works out consistently or is taking medication.

We talked about bananas above - but there are 8 more foods packed with potassium to add to your diet:

• Yams or acorn squash (perfect for this time of year)

• Potatoes

• Spinach

• Bamboo shoots

• Kiwifruit

• Portabella mushrooms

• Cantaloupe melon

• Artichoke

• Carrots

A medium banana provides about 420 mg of potassium, but most adults need at least 3,400 mg (men) or 2,600 mg (women) daily. That’s tough to reach without making it a priority to eat the right foods.

Inspire

Lenny Wilkins - The Quiet Greatness

Our team growing up was the Cleveland Cavs.

I watched every game, memorized every box score, and spent hours in the driveway pretending to be Mark Price.

The man leading those Cavs teams was Lenny Wilkens - a name that most casual basketball fans might not know. Not because he lacked accomplishments, but because he never sought the spotlight.

• 3rd-winningest coach in NBA history, winning the 1979 NBA Championship

• 9-time NBA All-Star as a player

• Olympic gold medal coach for Team USA in 1996

• Player-coach for four seasons - unheard of today

His players saw what made him special:

“I think he is underrated as a player and a coach, in the history of the game. He was brilliant.” - Brad Daugherty

“What I remember most is just the dignity. He was such a dignified human being. And a great leader through this kind of quiet confidence.” - Steve Kerr

After coaching, Wilkens didn’t chase broadcasting or brand deals. He went back to serving others through The Lenny Wilkens Foundation, which funds programs for youth education and health.

Their mission says it best:

“Our passion lies in the enrichment, education, and health of our youth… helping young people reach their full potential while honoring their dignity and self-respect, regardless of circumstances.”

So why don’t more people know his name? Because he didn’t make it about him.

Wilkens grew up in Brooklyn and even quit high school basketball for a time to work at a grocery store so his family could get by. That humility and work ethic never left him.

He led by listening. He built by teaching. He measured success not by attention but by the progress of others.

That mindset - quiet confidence, steady effort, integrity over image - is a form of longevity in itself.

He didn’t chase moments. He built a lifetime.

H&L in the News

Potatoes, Rewired for Wellness: Ditch the fry fear - potatoes are packed with energy, fiber, potassium (see above), and immune perks. Learn which types and prep methods turn this humble carb into a nutritional powerhouse. (NYTimes)

Reprogramming Cancer’s Death: Institut Pasteur scientists reengineer how leukemia cells die - training the immune system to finish the job. A triple-drug therapy shows promise for eradicating blood cancers in preclinical models. (SciTech Daily)

Stretch Strong, Run Long: Unlock your stride with this Olympic-proven, PT-backed 10-stretch lower body routine. Boost flexibility, prevent injury, and power up performance in just 15 minutes a day. (Outside)

Brain Games

Kyudoku

This one is a 4/5 on the difficulty scale, so block a few minutes for this puzzle!

Kyudoku is a 6x6 grid where you need to use logic to find nine unique numbers (1 to 9) so that each row and column has a sum of 9 or less. The 4 highlighted in yellow is given.

Here’s a little help to get started. Because we know 4 is given, we can’t use 4 again (gray boxes) and we can also eliminate any numbers that would make the sum of the row or column with the given 1 more than 9 (blue boxes). Again, this is a little tougher - good luck!

Credit: Brainzilla

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

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Brain Games Answer

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.

This newsletter is for you and we truly value your feedback. Never hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected].

To health!