LEVELS – A Whole New Level

Over the lifespan of Levels, the company and the CEO role evolved drastically. Sam Corcos went from coding the initial product to CEO, and he experienced a lot of personal challenges and growth along the way. Listen as Sam chats with Ben Grynol about time management, strategy versus people ops, requirements at each startup stage, and taking time to reflect through quarterly Think Weeks.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🔗 Helpful links:

Transcript: https://www.levelshealth.com/podcasts/194-personal-growth-as-a-ceo-in-different-stages-of-a-growing-startup-sam-corcos-ben-grynol

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

We often think that arthritis, musculoskeletal pain, and degenerative joint issues are an inevitable result of aging—but this is far from the truth. Good metabolic health can have significant positive effects on bones, muscles, and joints, and can improve longevity. Conversely, poor metabolic health accelerates the degeneration of joints and tissues for many reasons, like the impact of high uric acid levels, lipid or cholesterol deposits, chronic inflammation, and poor blood flow to tissues. Surgeon Dr. Howard Luks and Levels Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Casey Means discuss musculoskeletal health, how it is related to longevity, how it’s linked to metabolic health, and how to decrease your risks for musculoskeletal pain, degenerative joint issues, and surgery.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Dr. Howard Luks & Dr. Casey Means discuss:

(05:14) - Dr. Casey Means’ personal experience with an orthopedic injury

(12:09) - The link between joint and metabolic health

(18:19) - Maintaining activity may help improve musculoskeletal health despite osteoarthritic pain

(27:53) - Cartilage cells, tendinopathy, and how metabolic health is linked to our tendon health, like with tennis elbow or shoulder pain

(37:04) - The importance of blood flow and cellular repair

(46:58) - The importance of being your best medical advocate in modern medicine

(50:09) - How Dr. Luks started learning about metabolic health and wrote his book, Longevity Simplified

(1:02:49) - The simple pillars of longevity

(1:24:56) - Why you don't need to be concerned about osteoarthritis

(1:32:00) - Trust your body by boosting its regenerative capabilities
Transcripts & Show notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Order "Longevity…Simplified" by Dr. Howard Luks: https://www.howardluksmd.com/book/

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/XbjORE6D8UA

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

When doing a big push for hiring in engineering and software development, it can help to enlist the help of international recruiting agencies who can help source top talent from around the world. In this episode, Sam Corcos gets advice from Sudeep Sidhu from Neo Financial about some best practices for hiring engineers and how highly rated agencies and hack days can help assess talent.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🔗 Helpful links:

Transcript: https://www.levelshealth.com/podcasts/192-recruiting-top-tier-engineering-talent-for-startups-with-agencies-sudeep-sidhu-sam-corcos

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect:

Connect with Sudeep Sidhu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sudeepsidhu

Connect with Sudeep Sidhu on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sudeep-sidhu

Connect with Sam Corcos on Twitter: https://twitter.com/samcorcos

Sleep deprivation can be detrimental to metabolic health—even a short night of sleep, poor quality sleep, or low sleep efficiency can have significant impacts. Not getting a full, high-quality night’s sleep may be why you’re so hungry, but can also set you up for decreased insulin sensitivity, which when compounded, can have worse long-term effects. Listen as Research Design Lead Azure Grant talks with Ben Grynol about the importance of quality sleep for metabolic health.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Azure Grant & Ben Grynol discuss:

(03:14) - Sleep disruption leads to hormonal changes

(04:38) - Poor sleep is making you hungrier

(05:59) - Just one night of sleep loss can make you a little more insulin resistant

(09:23) - No one is immune to the effects of sleep deprivation, but exercising can help

(15:45) - Sleep quality is as vital as sleep duration

(17:40) - Getting less than six hours of sleep can be significantly disruptive

(20:22) - Oral glucose tolerance tests can be an early indicator of insulin resistance

(24:09) - The link between obstructive sleep apnea and metabolic health

(27:35) - You can track your sleep efficiency with wearables

(33:17) - Build better sleep habits one day at a time

Transcripts & Show notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/prDMwxsAd1Y

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect:

Connect with Azure Grant on Instagram: https://instagram.com/scoopmescience

Connect with Azure Grant on Twitter: https://twitter.com/azure_dominique

It’s possible to be athletic and physically fit but metabolically unhealthy. Listen as Cole Sager, eight-time CrossFit Games athlete, and Josh Clemente, Co-Founder at Levels, discuss the distinction between physical fitness and holistic metabolic health, and Cole’s realization that his health wasn’t in great shape according to his bloodwork. Cole shares his experience as a sports enthusiast, Spirit of the Games awardee, and Levels member and his journey toward metabolic health. Cole and Josh talk about determination, consistency, and advocacy for a metabolically healthy future while keeping athletic performance at the forefront.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Cole Sager & Josh Clemente discuss:

(3:21) - Cole’s college football experience and how it helped him transition to CrossFit

(11:51) - The distinction between acute physical fitness and holistic metabolic fitness

(16:13) - The reality of the discomfort it takes to be physically fit

(24:18) - Cole’s secrets behind athletic determination and consistency

(26:45) - How Cole applies the principles of CrossFit in marriage, fatherhood, and life

(30:38) - Winning The Spirit of the Games Award

(34:50) - Cole’s mission is to help people achieve better health and fitness

(39:18) - Food bridges the gap between acute physical fitness and overall metabolic health

(45:25) - How high-intensity training triggers big glucose spikes

(56:14) - How the CrossFit community approaches the metabolic theory of health and wellness

Transcripts & Show notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect:

Connect with Cole on Instagram: https://instagram.com/colesager35

Connect with Cole on Twitter: https://twitter.com/colesager35

Connect with Josh on Instagram: https://instagram.com/josh.f.clemente

Connect with Josh on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joshuasforrest

Highly processed food is hard to avoid. It’s especially harder when you’re a parent. For Austin McGuffie and Ben Grynol, they both have 4 kids, and they talk about the challenges of parenting, feeding kids nutritious food, and educating them along the way.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🎙 What Austin McGuffie & Ben Grynol discuss:

(02:11) - Help kids make better food choices and lead by example

(07:43) - Know when to give in to a kid’s wants and when to firmly say no

(13:51) - Allow your kids to experience the consequences of their food choices

(20:43) - Make exercise enjoyable by leaning into your kid’s interests

(27:15) - Understand that your kid is an individual with their own tastes and preferences

(28:57) - Strike a balance between a nutritious diet and a healthy relationship with food

(32:01) - Encourage kids to take ownership of their food

(37:38) - Make food taste palatable and enjoyable

(41:14) - Keep trying every day

Transcripts & Show notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect:

Connect with Austin McGuffie on Instagram: https://instagram.com/metabolismmentor

Connect with Austin McGuffie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/austinmcguffie

Every team must build trust and confidence with peers, but remote teams face a greater challenge because of the lack of face-to-face interaction. At Levels, we work to assume positive intent of our teammates, which supports our core value of “confidence is earned.” Both values are tied to work performance, and in order to build confidence and trust, a team member must do great work as well as learn how to communicate that work effectively, especially in a remote environment. Listen as Levels founders Sam Corcos and Josh Clemente discuss how confidence and trust need to be earned over time.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools you need to achieve your health goals now and in the long term. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🔗 Helpful links:

Transcript: https://www.levelshealth.com/podcasts/188-a-lack-of-communication-is-a-lack-of-performance-josh-clemente-sam-corcos

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

People who love wearables often complain that their biomarker data that gets collected in one app stays in that app, and the apps don’t talk to each other. Kyriakos Eleftheriou, CEO and Co-Founder of Terra, shares with Ben Grynol how he’s building Terra to standardize biomarker data and translate it into one language. By doing this, Terra could enable users to connect their data from wearables to non-health-tech companies like Spotify or Netflix, providing real-time recommendations that would help give a certain mood based on a person’s physical state; for example, an uplifting movie suggestion during a stressful time.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🔗 Helpful links:

Kyriakos Eleftheriou wants to close the loop on wearables member story: https://levelshealth.com/blog/kyriakos-eleftheriou-wants-to-close-the-loop-on-wearables

Transcript: https://www.levelshealth.com/podcasts/187-connect-sync-wearable-biomarkers-to-support-your-bodys-needs-ben-grynol-kyriakos-eleftheriou

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect:

Connect with Terra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerraAPI

Connect with Kyriakos Eleftheriou on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kyriakosel

How might a keto diet transform not only your metabolic health but may also manage symptoms of mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, and more? Dr. Chris Palmer outlines the principles from his book “Brain Energy” with Ben Grynol in this episode and discusses his journey toward the revolutionary idea that might change how we view mental health care moving forward.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

(01:53) — How Chris Palmer started his research for Brain Energy

(11:16) — Painting a picture of the mental health crisis through numbers

(18:20) — Discussing the biopsychosocial model and existing research on the roots of mental disorders

(29:23) — The bidirectional relationship between metabolic and mental health

(34:34) — The real power of the mitochondria and the role it plays in fostering mental and metabolic health

(44:00) — Medication for mental disorders and their long-term effect on patients’ metabolic health

(55:14) — Insulin resistance and its impact on mental disorders

(1:11:10) — Food addiction, stress-eating, and why Chris doesn’t sugarcoat the realities of the ketogenic diet

(1:29:05) — It’s not too late to start taking charge of your metabolic health now

(1:34:11) — Chris touches on the factors that hinder better mental healthcare today and what we can do to advocate for the mentally ill

Transcript & Show notes

🔗 Helpful links:

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

Order Brain Energy: https://amazon.com/Brain-Energy-Revolutionary-Understanding-Health/dp/1637741588/

📲 Connect:

Connect with Chris on Instagram: https://instagram.com/chrispalmermd

Connect with Chris on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisPalmerMD

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/christopher-palmer-01713032

How do you scale a startup internationally? Levels approaches our UK expansion as a growth lever, headed by Karin Nielsen. Listen as Karin and Cosima Travis chat about the considerations and processes behind Levels’s expansion initiatives, including product-culture fit, the differences between US and UK markets, and how customer experience stays at the center of it all.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl⁠

Levels helps you see how food affects your health, empowering you with the tools needed to achieve health goals and improve healthspan. Levels Members gain access to the Levels app and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), providing real-time feedback on how diet and lifestyle choices impact your metabolic health.

Look for new shows every month on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations with thought leaders about metabolic health.

🔗 Helpful links:

Transcript: https://www.levelshealth.com/podcasts/185-expanding-a-startup-internationally-karin-nielsen-cosima-travis

Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1