LEVELS – A Whole New Level

Traditional soft drinks, juice boxes, and energy and sports drinks are loaded with high fructose corn syrup, an ingredient also found in many processed foods. The body processes fructose differently than other sugars, and fructose can lead to weight gain by encouraging the body to store energy. Dr. Richard Johnson and Dr. Dominic D’Agostino discuss the issues with fructose, sucralose (found in PRIME energy drinks), and other artificial sweeteners. They explore how fructose can drive food cravings and overeating, its potential role as an Alzheimer’s contributor, and the benefits of a different sugar that might promote the release of GLP-1, the hormone that Ozempic and Wegovy help increase.

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 Richard Johnson, MD, & Dominic D’Agostino, PhD, discuss:

(1:59) — Richard Johnson, MD, is a prolific researcher regarding sugar’s effects

(6:38) — Soft drinks are a major source of added sugar, which has negative effects on metabolic health

(8:31) — Fructose lowers energy in the body, driving hunger

(14:16) — Fructose can drive insulin resistance and increase fat

(21:44) — A small amount of fructose can be beneficial to the body

(29:11) — Fructose consumption may be a culprit of Alzheimer’s disease

(48:21) — Low-calorie sugars can still make you crave more sugar

(53:59) — A low-calorie sugar called allulose has potential health benefits

(55:59) — Allulose may stimulate GLP-1

(59:39) — A low-carb diet helps reduce sugar cravings

⁠Transcripts & Show notes⁠⁠

🔗 Helpful links:

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

Watch the full conversation: ⁠https://youtu.be/AMgBxyJvtx0

What are the unique metabolic health experiences of South Asian and Black communities? In this candid conversation between serial entrepreneur and health and wellness investor Dhru Purohit and content creator and metabolism mentor Austin McGuffie, they discuss how metabolic health affects their respective communities.

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 Dhru Purohit & Austin McGuffie discuss:

(00:00) – Intro

(17:24) – Live by example

(21:56) – Focus on education first

(23:29) – The benefits of targeted fasting

(24:47) – Dying from excess

(28:43) – It all comes back to lifestyle

(33:34) – Talk to people who are on the fence

(34:50) – The societal split

(35:44) – Why we need targeted solutions

(37:40) – The add-in method

(51:27) – Health happens in community

Transcripts & Show Notes

🔗 Helpful links:

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

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:

(00:00) - Intro

(01:11) - Help kids make better food choices and lead by example

(06:07) - Know when to give in to a kid’s wants and when to firmly say no

(12:02) - Allow your kids to experience the consequences of their food choices

(18:53) - Make exercise enjoyable by leaning into your kid’s interests

(25:26) - Understand that your kid is an individual with their own tastes and preferences

(27:09) - Strike a balance between a nutritious diet and a healthy relationship with food

(30:13) - Encourage kids to take ownership of their food

(35:45) - Make food taste palatable and enjoyable

(39:20) - Keep trying every day

Transcripts & Show notes⁠

🔗 Helpful links:

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

Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/Ukk07x2oVDQ?si=MUheltnf451VjP47

Landmark new research published by Dr. Rob Lustig and dozens of other scientists shows us for the first time the intricate mechanisms of how environmental chemicals directly cause obesity, uncovering the latest research on this class of chemicals called obesogens. In this conversation between Dr. Rob Lustig and Dr. Casey Means, they discuss what products and environmental toxins we need to be aware of, how they are impacting our cells and causing metabolic dysfunction, and what we can do to protect ourselves.  Dr. Lustig speaks to how these environmental toxins affect our sex cells (sperm and eggs) and can impact our offspring and many generations to come. He also discusses how 15% of obesity may be directly caused by these chemicals. 

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. Casey Means & Dr. Robert Lustig discuss:

(00:00) - Intro

(06:31) - It’s not just correlative, it’s causative

(09:22) - Obesogens bind to our cell proteins

(10:08) - Everyday products contain obesogens

(13:11) - Babies and children are the most vulnerable

(23:11) - Obesogens stick around even after being banned

(30:51) - Food is more than calories

(41:45) - Obesogens are unregulated

(49:46) - Cell alterations last for generations

(59:26) - We need to get the EPA on board

(01:00:45) - Buy organic

⁠Transcripts and Show Notes⁠

🔗 Helpful links:

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

Watch the Video – ⁠https://youtu.be/GQrnEx8MNKk

What diet should you follow? Metabolic health experts say it doesn’t matter whether you’re keto, vegan, or otherwise if you focus on three simple principles, which will help reduce your risk for cancer and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Dr. Swaranjit Bhasin and Dr. Casey Means discuss the biomarkers to ask your doctor about, why they matter, how to improve those biomarkers with accessible tips, and why liver health is a big key to overall health.

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

🎙 What Swaranjit Bhasin, MD, & Casey Means, MD, discuss:

(2:45) — A radiologist raises a red flag about increased diagnoses in younger patients

(8:47) — Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a silent but serious problem

(12:59) — The importance of the liver

(16:59) — What are your most important biomarkers?

(31:50) — Casey Means, MD, summarizes Dr. Bhasin’s three rules for diet

(33:48) — Processed vegetable and seed oils are toxic to the body

(41:21) — Insulin resistance can drive cancer

(51:56) — The importance of autophagy in helping to prevent cancer

(54:40) — Who should not engage in intermittent fasting?

⁠⁠Transcripts & Show notes⁠⁠

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:

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/1pkhDOPsXb4

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

Since metabolic health is downstream of food production, we need regenerative farming, balanced ecosystems, and to lift the veil of Big Food’s marketing schemes in order to optimize the entire system. Look for multiple new shows per week on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations about metabolic health and how the Levels startup team builds a wellness movement from the ground up in the health and wellness tech industry.

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 Levels’ Advisor Dr. Rob Lustig and Head of Growth Ben Grynol discuss:

(00:00) - Intro

(02:12) - The growers and the helpers

(05:34) - How DDT changed America

(11:01) - The next big thing

(15:02) - Soil vs. dirt

(27:51) - Farming in the 1960s

(30:44) - Turning America’s Heartland into big ag

(33:32) - Agriculture and healthcare are inseparable

(37:50) - An immoral hazard

(42:54) - The consumer is in the dark

(50:36) - Shop around the edge of the supermarket

⁠Transcripts & Show Notes⁠

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation: ⁠https://youtu.be/HiBOobZ_8ss⁠

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

Regenerative farming replenishes soil nutrients, which in turn, boosts the nutrient content of produce and animal products. It also focuses on animal and land stewardship. However, most farming today employs industrialized practices that deplete the soil, discount animal welfare, and harm humans. Will Harris and Dr. Casey Means discuss regenerative farming practices, the symbiotic relationships in the farming ecosystem, and the need for change at the consumer level.

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

🎙 What Will Harris & Casey Means, MD, discuss:

(1:21) — Soil depletion in the United States affects overall health

(15:27) — The birth of industrialized farming

(30:04) — Regenerative farming can raise quality of life for communities

(33:23) —Modern farming practices and antibiotic resistance

(35:11) — Change must come at the consumer level

(40:38) — The consequences of modern farming practices were not immediate

(50:10) — Organic farming is not the same thing as regenerative farming

(53:29) — The importance of animals being allowed to express instinctive behavior

(56:14) — Regenerative practices in your backyard

⁠Transcripts & Show notes⁠

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:

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/pkwZ3_MPxO4

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

Erectile dysfunction can be an early indicator of future cardiovascular disease, endothelial dysfunction, and early death. Learn more in this conversation between urologist and male reproductive specialist and surgeon Dr. Merrill Matschke and Levels Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Casey Means. Look for multiple new shows per week on A Whole New Level, where we have in-depth conversations about metabolic health and how the Levels startup team builds a wellness movement from the ground up in the health and wellness tech industry.

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. Merrill Matschke & Dr. Casey Means discuss:

(00:00) – Intro

(13:24) – The connection between metabolic dysfunction and erectile dysfunction

(21:44) – How ED develops

(33:42) – Let’s talk about oxidative stress

(39:40) – The importance of testosterone levels in insulin sensitivity

(46:21) – The importance of diet, exercise, and sleep

(48:16) – Why is testosterone dropping?

(59:28) – Our healthcare system needs to do better

(01:07:06) – Don’t put treatment off

(01:11:07) – Sleep is crucial

(01:18:59) – Nobody’s perfect

⁠Transcripts & Show Notes⁠

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation: ⁠https://youtu.be/mum4AfB0K_Y⁠ 

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

The ketogenic diet fuels the brain and makes the body more metabolically flexible. The keto diet drives ketone production, which serves as fuel for energy as well as an antioxidant to combat oxidative stress. Switching from burning glucose to burning ketones has numerous benefits, including for cognitive decline and ADHD. Dr. Annette Bosworth and Dr. Casey Means discuss the intricacies of the keto diet, why it boosts brain health, how to make behavioral changes, and how to encourage kids to eat keto for improved health and well-being.

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

🎙 What Annette Bosworth, MD, & Casey Means, MD, discuss:

(14:31) — What we put into our body matters

(16:37) — The value of ketones as fuel

(28:32) — Dr. Annette Bosworth explains her ‘Dr. Boz’ ratio

(34:47) — Your body will adapt to ketosis

(44:49) — Dr. Bosworth shares info from a study on cognitive impairment

(50:41) — Dr. Bosworth shares her experience with getting patients on a ketogenic diet

(53:07) — Dr. Bosworth shares her wisdom about behavior change

(1:13:31) — Dr. Casey Means describes her experience with metabolic dysfunction

(1:18:05) — Dr. Bosworth shares her techniques for getting her kids to eat healthfully

(1:21:00)  — In general, the food industry’s aim is for profit

Transcripts & Show notes

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:

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/sY1ZeCDp-xw?si=rD4ZyBF2GsK--xlW

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

Dr. Sara Gottfried – a pioneer in health, research, and education – has seen more than 25,000 patients over the past two decades. She's a physician scientist, who graduated from Harvard Medical School and MIT, and completed her Residency at the University of California, San Francisco.

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

Dr. Gottfried is the Director of Precision Medicine at The Marcus Institute of Integrative Health, at Thomas Jefferson University, where she specializes in identifying the underlying causes of her patient's conditions to achieve lasting health transformation, not just symptom management.

Dr. Gottfried has published five books, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, such as The Hormone Cure, The Hormone Reset Diet, and Younger. Her latest book has just been published, Women Food and Hormones.

In this episode, Dr. Casey Means, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Levels, and Dr. Gottfried covered a number of topics from her new book.

LINKS

• ⁠New insights from continuous glucose monitoring into the route to diabetes⁠
• ⁠Proposed guidelines to evaluate scientific validity and evidence for genotype-based dietary advice⁠
• ⁠Michael Snyder⁠
• ⁠Marcus Institute of Integrative Health⁠
• ⁠Sara Gottfried⁠

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.

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. Sara Gottfried & Casey Means discuss:

(00:00) - Intro

(00:40) - The vital role of metabolism

(04:42) - Metabolic data should be democratized

(07:58) - Women and the keto diet

(09:37) - Women are considered "too complicated"

(15:44) - Every person needs a unique diet

(20:00) - Diet shouldn't be like politics

(24:20) - The ideal fasting length

(31:10) - The role of testosterone

(37:58) - Physicians should not be gatekeepers to health

(01:01:37) - The relationship between genes and our environment

⁠Transcripts & Show Notes⁠

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation on YouTube: ⁠https://youtu.be/QZUpJCNOpfY⁠

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