#68 - Member Story: Committing to a glucose monitor for one year (Natalie Vanderpump & Ben Grynol)

Many diseases traditionally associated with aging have a metabolic root cause, including seemingly-unrelated conditions like tinnitus and gallbladder stones. But with a metabolic origin (specifically with insulin resistance), there can be a metabolic solution. Blood glucose levels and insulin are tied to many more chronic diseases than just Type 2 Diabetes.   Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl Ben Bikman, PhD, the doctor at the forefront of research and thought leadership on insulin resistance, digs deep in this video with Levels’ Chief Medical Officer and co-founder Dr. Casey Means to uncover the connection between metabolic health and surprising disorders that surface as a result of insulin resistance. 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. (8:49) - Declining health is not inevitable (10:15) - The link between insulin resistance and tinnitus (13:39) - We look at health through the lens of disease (22:53) - Insulin resistance and the gallbladder (28:32) - The appearance of fatty liver disease (31:34) - Ways to clear the liver of fat (35:00) - How fat tissue develops (36:51) - How fat cells become insulin resistant (46:21) - The power of a CGM (48:36) - What is a healthy glucose level? LINKS:   How hearing loss relates to metabolic health | Blog post: https://www.levelshealth.com/blog/how-hearing-loss-relates-to-metabolic-health Why too many focus on glucose, but not insulin | Blog post: https://www.levelshealth.com/blog/why-too-many-focus-on-glucose-but-not-insulin Transcripts & Show Notes Watch the Video – https://youtu.be/szGl8F1zl6I

29 Marras 202157min

Levels' Head of Growth, Ben Grynol, and Andy Schabelman, one of the first 30 employees at Airbnb who led their international expansion initiatives, sat down to discuss the nuances and complexities of scaling companies in new markets. 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. (3:11) - The grassroots growth of Airbnb (4:45) - Looking beyond transactional growth (10:08) - Tailing product to different cultures (11:59) - Go beyond localization (15:23) - Two methods of international growth (18:14) - Different countries need a unique order of operations (21:17) - Embrace a period of exploration (30:23) - Keep an open mind (32:07) - Learn from user behavior Transcripts & Show Notes

26 Marras 202135min

Mike Haney, Head of Content at Levels, sat down with Dr. Matt Laye, to discuss Matt's approach to deconstructing research based articles and what it means to actually digest a scientific based article.  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. (8:19) - The importance of scientific literacy (11:29) - Determine the relevance of a study (13:00) - Identify the question the study is exploring (16:25) - Consider if the study is blind (19:17) - Controlled versus observational studies (22:21) - Take questionnaire data with a grain of salt (28:43) - Consider funding sources (34:21) - Take biases into account (47:34) - The meaning of statistical significance (54:17) - Studies provide a starting point for individual experimentation Transcripts & Show Notes

24 Marras 202156min

Levels Head of Growth, Ben Grynol, sat down with long-time Levels friend and content creator, Ali Spagnola, to discuss how she strikes a balance with her content in order to serve the ever-changing audiences and algorithms of social media. 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. (05:58) - What do you do when no diet works? (10:58) - The breakthrough moment with Levels (14:27) - Curating a list of 30 foods (18:39) - There's no recipe for health (24:52) - Let food take a backseat (27:34) - The freedom of food pairing (41:05) - Levels is (almost) a silver bullet (45:14) - Levels can teach something to everyone Transcripts & Show Notes

22 Marras 202150min

For 40 years, Betsy McLaughlin (former CEO of Hot Topic) worked out consistently and tried several diets—even bespoke nutrition programs—to change her metabolism and lose weight, but nothing worked. It all clicked when Betsy’s life coach and trainer introduced her to wearing a CGM through Levels. In this clip, Betsy shares her inspiring health journey and how Levels helped her understand what to eat and when to eat in order to optimize her metabolic health and see big changes quickly. 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. Blog post: https://www.levelshealth.com/blog/how-betsy-mclaughlin-changed-her-diet-and-lost-81-pounds-through-glucose-monitoring Transcript & Show Notes

18 Marras 202152min

Levels CEO, Sam Corcos, sat down with Vinay Hiremath, CEO of Loom, to discuss their outlook on remote and asynchronous communication and how Loom will benefit everyone in the workplace. 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. (07:51) - Meetings have an emotional appeal (09:30) - Tag people in (10:59) - Video is affective and temporal (23:33) - Assume positive intent (27:32) - Find creative ways to scale (33:14) - Make information discoverable (37:29) - Perfect is the enemy of done (59:21) - Overwriting the role of writing Transcripts & Show Notes

17 Marras 20211h 4min

Levels Head of Growth, Ben Grynol, sat down with Alan McLean, Head of Design at Levels, to discuss Alan's design philosophy, his approach to re-designing the Levels app, as well as his past experience with The New York Times, Fitbit and Google. 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. (07:27) - The importance of design for health products (09:40) - Generalists vs. specialists (10:19) - The value of technical expertise (12:33) - The value of constraints (19:00) - The print/digital divide (21:26) - Expectations are high for productivity tools (23:52) - Seek out magic moments (26:39) - Consider user context (28:55) - Focus on positive reinforcement (31:26) - Personalization is not a hack Transcripts & Show Notes

15 Marras 202148min

Levels' Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Casey Means, sat down with Dr. Philip Ovadia to discuss the key factors that lead to poor metabolic health. As well, they discussed their views on how to solve the metabolic crisis, and Dr. Ovadia's new book, "Stay Off My Operating Table." 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. (04:42) - Medicine will not fix metabolic health (14:32) - The benefit of continuous glucose monitors (17:14) - Why are CGMs not in hospitals? (20:49) - Eat whole foods (23:53) - It's time to talk about what we eat (26:01) -Take one step at a time (28:03) - Substitute, don't eliminate (30:29) - Read your food labels (51:19) - Don't rely on exercise alone (01:00:34) - Pay attention to the metrics of metabolic health Transcripts & Show Notes

11 Marras 20211h 14min