October 08, 2026
Good Morning. Vegetables look the same as they did in the 1960s. Inside, many carry up to 50% fewer key minerals. Plus, the nickel countdown, superfunding your kid's 529, and the best 90s songs (first time here? Join 523,000 Betterists ).
Yesterday’s most clicked link : 10 questions that make people like you
TOP STORY TODAY
Vegetables Half as Nourishing
British researchers reported this week that many fruits and vegetables have lost 20% to 50% of key nutrients since the 1960s , including potassium, magnesium and copper. Their report calls for tracking nutrition alongside harvest size.
The culprits : declining soil quality and crops bred to grow fast rather than to nourish. Matching the minerals in a 1960s serving of vegetables now takes roughly two servings, with staples like carrots among the crops affected.
The report warns that people on weight-loss drugs face the biggest gap because they eat less. A joint advisory from four US nutrition and obesity groups recommends labs for these patients, including vitamin D, B12, magnesium and zinc.
The move: if you take a GLP-1, ask your doctor for the recommended nutrient labs | The 9 labs four medical groups recommend
Ending the Nickel?
Congress sent a bill to the president's desk last month that ends penny production, and lawmakers are eyeing the nickel . Each five-cent coin costs about 13 cents to make, a loss of roughly 8 cents apiece.
The bill lets the Treasury test a cheaper metal mix for the nickel, which is actually 75% copper, as long as coin-operated machines still accept it. Ending the nickel entirely has no clear support yet.
Pennies stay legal tender. Under the bill, cash totals ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 cents round down to the nearest nickel, while 3, 4, 8 or 9 round up. Card payments still charge to the exact cent. Which states already round cash totals .
Disney’s Super Bowl
Disney and the NFL announced Wednesday that Disney+ will livestream Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027. Every US subscriber gets the game, ESPN's first Super Bowl production, which also airs on ESPN and ABC.
The game lands on Valentine's Day at SoFi Stadium. Disney wants the widest audience for ads that sold out in August, the earliest sellout on record, and any spot that frees up costs up to $12 million.
Two Monday Night Football games also come to Disney+, starting with Cowboys at Eagles on Oct. 26. Both stream there without a separate ESPN plan, and the Super Bowl airs free over the air on ABC. Disney's full streaming schedule for the games .
TOGETHER WITH FINANCEBUZZ
19 Things to Cut When Money Gets Tight (Most People Ignore #11)
Your money is getting tight. Prices are going up. And figuring out what to cut back on can feel overwhelming.
Here's what you can do: Read our list of money-saving strategies below , and start with one or two today.
Even doing just one can help you breathe a little easier.
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How 3-Minute “Exercise Snacks” Improve Health
No time to work out? A study in Nature Medicine tracked adults who don't exercise with wrist wearables. Short bursts of hard effort during normal life still made a big difference:
- What counts: one to two minutes of huffing-and-puffing effort, like taking the stairs fast, power-walking, hauling groceries uphill, or chasing your kids.
- The dose: about three bursts a day, the typical amount in the study.
- The payoff: compared with no bursts, a 38% to 40% lower risk of death from any cause or from cancer, and 48% to 49% lower for heart disease.
- The fine print: it's an observational study, so it shows a link, not proof. But the bar is low.
Start with the stairs today, two at a time.
Editor’s Note: These are also small steps toward Michael Easter’s two percenter mindset .
Superfund Your Kid's 529
If you have extra cash at year-end, a 529 has a feature many parents miss: you can put in five years of gifts at once.
- The math: the 2026 gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per person. The five-year election lets you front-load $95,000 per child, or $190,000 for a married couple, without touching your lifetime exemption.
- Why front-load: more money compounds tax-free, sooner.
- The catch: you file IRS Form 709 to make the election, and any other gifts to that child over the next five years count against your lifetime exemption.
- The safety valve: leftover money can roll into the child's Roth IRA, up to $35,000 over their lifetime, once the account is 15 years old.
The IRS rules on 529s.
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▲ Assisted dying for mental illness alone stays off-limits indefinitely in Canada, scrapping a March 2027 expansion | Canada's 16,499 assisted deaths in 2024
TOGETHER WITH HUMECARE+
What Your Scale Won't Tell You
Most GLP-1 programs track one number: your weight. But a scale can't tell you whether you're losing fat or the muscle you spent years building.
HumeCare+ measures both . Members get regular at-home 3D body composition scans, so they can see exactly how fat and muscle change during treatment.
It's a protocol, not just a prescription:
- Clinician-built. An independently licensed clinician reviews every member and personalizes the plan.
- Nothing sold separately. Glycine, B12 and B6 are built into the protocol, not sold as add-ons.
- Always on. 24/7 access to your care team, plus medication tracking and food logging in one app.
- A plan for after. Guidance for what happens when you stop, the question most GLP-1 services skip.
More than 20,000 Americans have used it, rated 4.7/5 across 21,479 reviews. Delivered free to your door.
See if you qualify.
Prescription required. Eligibility determined by a licensed clinician.
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