Mark Cuban Eats Cookies for Breakfast, Is Basically Aging In Reverse
At age 64, Shark Tank star and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looks younger and healthier than he did ten years ago.
Back then, Cuban was three chins deep, making double loops in the McDonald’s drive-thru for chocolate-dipped ice cream cones, and racking up $90,000 tabs at the club. After opening up about heart complications in 2017, Cuban ditched his bad habits and heavily invested in one thing: his health.
From the gym to his wellness beliefs, the billionaire is quick to share his thoughts and successful habits for living a healthier life. Here’s everything we know.
He’s a Gym Rat
“I try to do cardio for at least an hour, six or seven days a week, knowing I’ll miss a day or two now and then because of travel,” he revealed to the Dallas News. “It doesn’t matter when I do it, I will find a way to get it done.”
A healthy variety keeps Cuban on his toes. He likes the elliptical, stair gauntlet, playing basketball, or taking kickboxing and Latin Fusion aerobic classes at LifeTime Fitness.
His latest obsession: Rise Nation, a full-body, high-intensity, low-impact climbing workout.
He’s a Vegetarian
Cuban adopted a vegetarian diet in 2019. He’s since heavily funded plant-based products, believing “people realize [eating plant-based is] better for their own health, for the environment and it now tastes great.”
His most recent Shark Tank investment with Kevin Hart fits that notion, too. The duo snapped up a stake in The Transformation Factory, an edible sea moss gel packed with zinc which can boost your immune system and metabolism.
Harvard suggests a diet loaded with fruits and veggies can lower blood pressure, reduce heart disease, prevent some types of cancer, and keep appetite in check.
Another study suggests swapping a bad Western diet for a healthier one by age 60 can add up to eight years to your life (6). Seems like Cuban made the switch just in time.
He Uses This Grocery Store Hack to Save Money
Cuban wasn’t always loaded. If you’re looking to save some money on groceries, he has advice: shop at midnight.
“I used to go to the grocery store at midnight because they lowered the price of chicken and these big [bags of] French fries to $1.29,” Cuban told Club Random with Bill Maher in 2023. The money-saving hack helped him stretch the little pocket change he had in his twenties.
He also admitted to popping the top off Cheez Whiz, guzzling it down in the middle of the aisle, and putting it straight back on the shelf—ew.
We’ll pass on the French fries and canned cheese, but we’re all for a lower grocery bill. Some markets do still offer discounts on perishable foods—like produce and meat—to late-night shoppers, according to a 2021 Instacart report. Particularly, on Wednesdays.
He Eats Cookies for Breakfast(!)
Cuban attributes recently losing 15 pounds to eating Alyssa’s Cookies for breakfast. According to CNBC Make It, the celeb loves the oatmeal cookies so much he invested in them.
Cuban wrote a testimonial raving, “I don’t just eat them, I live on them.” He says there are days when he survives on the cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
With whole food ingredients like rolled oats, oat bran, flax seeds, chia seeds, and dried fruit the fiber-filled, high-protein cookies are healthier than your average cookies. Although with few of the essential micronutrients needed for optimal health, we’d enjoy them as a treat instead of a meal replacement.
He Gets Regular Blood Tests
Cuban gets a blood test every three to six months, according to CNBC Make It. Testing has helped Cuban take a more personalized approach to his health, which he’s taken more seriously after discovering he had atrial fibrillation (afib) in 2017. Afib is an irregular and often rapid heartbeat that increases your risk of stroke, heart failure, and other heart-related complications.
I had an episode after drinking Red Bull. Thought it was just too much caffeine. Cut out Red Bull. 3 years later went to the dentist, had an episode because of the Epi used. Got checked, found I had AF. Eliminated caffeine. Don’t take thinners
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) July 12, 2018
“I have baselines and that’s helped me learn a lot about my body,” Cuban explained to Recode. “It’s interesting; as you get older, your body is more receptive to vitamins and food and all these different things—allergies I never had until I hit 35 and 40.” Allergies can develop as you age, according to Mayo Clinic.
Allergies aren’t the only thing men should test for as they get older. Men typically experience a drop in 1 percent of testosterone per year after age 30 (7). Maintaining optimal T levels can prevent cardiovascular disease and improve heart health (8). Getting tested is easy.
Hone’s testosterone assessment is the simplest way to uncover whether your levels are low. It’s fast, simple, and you can do it from home. And if low T is the problem, Hone can help you get you back on top of your game.
He’s Up Before 6 AM
Between attending to his scores of investments, spending time with family, appearing on Shark Tank, and owning the Dallas Mavs, Cuban’s schedule is stacked. He rises around 5:30 AM and hits the ground running by answering emails. “Business is my morning meditation,” he told Inc. “I get up and I work immediately.”
Cuban also aims to get at least seven hours of sleep. One study published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour suggests you may feel less anxious and more confident after quality shut-eye (2).
about 7 hrs on most nights. Less on others. Dad naps on weekends when I can https://t.co/qFa1SefJSl
— Boardroom (@boardroom) February 18, 2020
In 2017, Cuban told Thrive Global that he watched Law and Order to wind down before bed and set the television to turn off automatically. “Maybe it’s a bad habit,” he said. “When my mind was racing so much and I needed to turn it off I couldn’t, it was a needed distraction.” He also uses a Fitbit to monitor his sleep quality.
He Launched a Pharmacy to Make Generic Drugs Affordable
Prescription drugs in the United States are often too expensive, especially for people without insurance. Cuban gets it. So he built an affordable prescription pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (yes, that’s the full name).
The company, launched in early 2022, sells hundreds of generic, common medications at massive price reductions. The generic version of Actos—often prescribed to diabetics—is available for $5.40 as opposed to the $74.40 charge at a standard pharmacy. You can get a month’s supply of Wellbutrin—used to treat depression—for $4.80 instead of the average $21.90.
“Every American should have access to safe, affordable medicines,” Cuban said in the company’s mission statement. “We also think that it is just as important to introduce transparency to the pricing of drugs so patients know they are getting a fair price.”
He Doesn’t Take Supplements
Nothing grinds Cuban’s gears more than the unregulated supplement industry. Except maybe the entrepreneurs that pitch him using shoddy scientific claims and pseudoscience.
“It really bothers me when we have a product that could take advantage of the [people] who trust us,” Cuban told the New York Post. “I believe [Shark Tank] has a responsibility to its viewers.”
His frustration is well-founded. In 2015, the State of New York conducted DNA tests on popular supplements like ginkgo biloba, St. John’s wort, ginseng, and echinacea. They found—in four out of five cases—the pills were packed with nothing more than filler—rice, asparagus, wheat, and the real kicker: houseplants.
Cuban’s putting his money where his mouth is. He invested in a company called Labdoor, which third-party tests supplements from protein powders to multivitamins.
“It’s shocking how even the best-selling brand names not only have variability in their batches but often significantly vary in mix from their labels,” Cuban says.
He Has Osteoarthritis
At 55, Cuban was suffering from painful osteoarthritis in his right hip, so he underwent a total hip replacement surgery. He showed off his mobility just 24 hours post-procedure.
This wasn’t his first hip replacement, he replaced his left hip in 2007 before appearing on Dancing With the Stars.
Cuban’s new healthy habits may help keep his osteoarthritis pain at bay. According to a growing body of research, aerobic exercise, strength training, and stretching can help reduce pain from osteoarthritis (9). Another study found that a whole-foods, plant-based diet helped to alleviate self-reported symptoms, too (10).
He’s a Bookworm
According to Vanity Fair between emails, news, and research Cuban reads 3-4 hours a day. Within that time, he likes to pick up a book for at least 30-45 minutes to learn something new.
Studies show reading can lower blood pressure, heart rate, and stress (11), and prevent cognitive decline as you age (12).
References
1.Sitlinger, A. et al (2020). Impact of exercise on the immune system and outcomes in hematologic malignancies. https://ashpublications.org/bloodadvances/article/4/8/1801/454550/Impact-of-exercise-on-the-immune-system-and
2. De la Rosa, A. et al (2019). Long-term exercise training improves memory in middle-aged men and modulates peripheral levels of BDNF and Cathepsin. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-40040-8
3. Murri, M. et al (2019). Physical Exercise in Major Depression: Reducing the Mortality Gap While Improving Clinical Outcomes. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00762/full
4. Hu, S. et al (2020). Beneficial Effects of Exercise on Depression and Anxiety During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Review. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.587557/full
5. Donnelly, J et al (2013). Aerobic exercise alone results in clinically significant weight loss for men and women: Midwest Exercise Trial-2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3630467/
6. Fadnes, L. et al (2022). Estimating impact of food choices on life expectancy: A modeling study. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003889
7. Travison, T. et al (2007). A Population-Level Decline in Serum Testosterone Levels in American Men. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/92/1/196/2598434?login=false
8. Sharma, R. et al (2015). Normalization of testosterone level is associated with reduced incidence of myocardial infarction and mortality in men. https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/36/40/2706/2293361
9. Leong, D. et al (2015). Osteoarthritis—Why Exercise? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4350574/
10. Clinton, C. et al (2015). Whole-Foods, Plant-Based Diet Alleviates the Symptoms of Osteoarthritis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359818/
11. Rizzolo, D. et al (2009). Stress Management Strategies for Students: The Immediate Effects of Yoga, Humor, and Reading on Stress. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229431397_Stress_Management_Strategies_For_Students_The_Immediate_Effects_Of_Yoga_Humor_And_Reading_On_Stress
12. Uchida, S. et al (2008). Reading and Solving Arithmetic Problems Improves Cognitive Function in Normal Aged people: A Randomized Controlled Study. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2276592/
