LEVELS – A Whole New Level

Latest Episodes:

#222 - Sugar, Soda, and Society: Insider Insights into Coca-Cola, the Metabolic Health Crisis, and Systemic Missteps | Calley Means & Dr. Casey Means Jul 20, 2023

Show notes

The United States government subsidizes ultra-processed foods and sugar, and the healthcare system focuses on treating diseases rather than preventing them. These issues are harming kids’ health and leading to crisis-level rates of prediabetes and diabetes in both adults and children. Siblings Calley Means and Casey Means discuss problems with the food industry, government funding, and healthcare, and they propose possible solutions, while also offering suggestions for parents wanting to set their kids up for better metabolic health right now.

🎙 What Calley Means & Casey Means, MD, discuss:

(4:01) — Kids are developing prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes at alarming rates

(5:33) — The government subsidizes ultra-processed foods

(13:05) — Ultra-processed food companies incentivize trusted institutions

(21:48) — We only get one life to live

(25:42) — The metabolic health crisis is problematic for the economy

(27:09) — Giving kids ultra-processed foods sets them up for metabolic health issues

(36:48) — Three ingredients make up the problematic foundation of ultra-processed foods

(42:49) — Parents have a lot of control over what their kids eat—especially when they’re young

(46:49) —You can’t control other adults in your family

(1:02:59) — The healthcare industry isn’t incentivized in the correct ways

(1:07:54) — Calley Means describes, TruMed, his tech startup

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/pIUwZb2jfco

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

📲 Connect:

Connect with Calley Means on Instagram: https://instagram.com/calleymeans

Connect with Calley Means on Twitter: https://twitter.com/calleymeans

Connect with Calley Means on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calley-means-a29b5512/

#221 - Brain Energy: Does food affect mental health? | Dr. Chris Palmer & Ben Grynol - (Replay) Jul 13, 2023

Show notes

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.

🎙 What Dr. Chris Palmer & Ben Grynol discuss:

(00:00) — Intro

(07:57) — How Chris Palmer started his research for Brain Energy

(10:49) — Painting a picture of the mental health crisis through numbers

(20:17) — Discussing the biopsychosocial model and existing research on the roots of mental disorders

(30:38) — The bidirectional relationship between metabolic and mental health

(34:37) — The real power of the mitochondria and the role it plays in fostering mental and metabolic health

(46:08) — Medication for mental disorders and their long-term effect on patients’ metabolic health

(01:07:10) — Insulin resistance and its impact on mental disorders

(1:11:39) — Food addiction, stress-eating, and why Chris doesn’t sugarcoat the realities of the ketogenic diet

(1:28:38) — It’s not too late to start taking charge of your metabolic health now

(1:38:45) — Chris touches on the factors that hinder better mental healthcare today and what we can do to advocate for the mentally ill

Transcripts & Show notes

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.

🔗 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

#220 - Astronaut Scott Kelly on CGMs, the NASA Twins Study & the Impact on Metabolic Health in Earth & Space | Josh Clemente & Scott Kelly Jul 06, 2023

Show notes

Continuous glucose monitoring can be a powerful tool for gaining real-time insights into how diet, lifestyle habits, and the many decisions we make daily affect our health. Retired astronaut Scott Kelly tried a CGM for a month and shares his personal insights. Scott Kelly and Josh Clemente discuss how CGM can be used to effect habit change, what Kelly’s participation in the unique NASA Twins study was like and what was learned, and insights Kelly gleaned about society and the environment while viewing Earth from space.

🎙 What Scott Kelly & Josh Clemente discuss:

(03:55) — CGM provides insight into eating and lifestyle habits

(06:06) — Our hundreds of daily actions have an impact on our health

(13:28) — The “normal” range for various biomarkers isn’t necessarily the optimal range

(17:07) — How CGM can help change eating habits

(18:12) — Menu items labeled “healthy” aren’t always healthy

(23:56) — The epidemic of Type 2 diabetes and obesity

(30:49) — NASA’s Twins Study

(34:30) — Being in space can lead to muscle and bone atrophy

(40:17) — Gravity plays a role in our physiology

(48:20) — Looking at Earth from space can provide an interesting perspective

Transcripts & Show Notes

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/5i2T-s61yLw

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

📲 Connect:

Connect with Scott Kelly on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stationcdrkelly/

Connect with Scott Kelly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StationCDRKelly

#219 - What half of women will die of, and how to fix it | Dr. Sara Gottfried & Dr. Casey Means - (Replay) Jun 29, 2023

Show notes

Why do women have a higher risk of metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular disease than men, and how do women move forward as empowered patients with their clinicians? Listen to this episode between Levels Advisor, physician, and author 4 New York Times bestsellers Dr. Sara Gottfried and Levels Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Casey Means.

🎙 What Dr. Sara Gottfried & Dr. Casey Means discuss:

(00:00) - Intro

(03:35) - Why women should care about metabolic health?

(10:29) - Metabolism

(11:28) - A holistic take on metabolism

(22:14) - Blood pressure control

(25:50) - Effects of trauma

(36:24) - Becoming more metabolically unhealthy

(45:30) - Seven clinical imbalances

(53:08) - What you measure improves

(01:02:40) - Dealing with trauma

(01:12:08) - Food until the end

Transcripts and Show Notes⁠

👋 WHO WE ARE:

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/MhqWvvFO1q8⁠

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

📲 Connect:

Connect with Dr. Casey Means on Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/DrCaseysKitchen⁠

Connect with Casey on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/DrCaseysKitchen⁠

Connect with Dr. Sara Gottfried on Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/SaraGottfriedMD⁠

Connect with Sara on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrGottfried

#218 - Fixing the problems with ultra-processed foods | Dr. Tim Harlan & Dr. Rob Lustig Jun 22, 2023

Show notes

Ultra-processed foods harm people’s health and have ramifications for the overall health of the planet. While some food processing is necessary for recipes and feeding the globe, the food industry needs to make changes to ensure that processing doesn’t turn foods into harmful substances. Dr. Tim Harlan and Dr. Rob Lustig discuss the harmful ingredients in ultra-processed foods and how they impact metabolic health—as well as why the food industry has a moral obligation to make drastic changes.

🎙 What Tim Harlan, MD, & Rob Lustig, MD, discuss:

(06:17) — Nutrition science over the last decade has made strides, but the food industry lags behind

(08:57) — Food can be medicine, but it can also be poison

(14:03) — The NOVA system classifies foods by their level of processing

(23:16) — DATEM is an example of processing

(24:03) — Emulsifiers potentially harm the gastrointestinal tract

(28:17) — Sugar harms the liver, which can lead to metabolic disease

(37:01) — In the United States, people tend to consume too much omega-6 fatty acids

(43:48) — The food industry can find ways to make ultra-processed foods safer

(46:26) — Supply-chain changes are another piece of the equation

(47:43) — Multinational companies have a moral obligation

Transcripts & Show notes

👋 WHO WE ARE:

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/I259F6VsHqU

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

📲 Connect:

Connect with Robert Lustig, MD, on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertlustigmd/

Connect with Robert Lustig, MD, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertLustigMD

#217 - Why food cravings are killing us, and how to stop them | Mark Schatzker & Dr. Casey Means - (Replay) Jun 15, 2023

Show notes

Why are we craving food more than ever, and how do we overcome it? Mark Schatzker, journalist and author of The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well, chats with Dr. Casey Means about the dangers of food cravings. 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.

🎙 What Mark Schatzker & Dr. Casey Means discuss:

(04:08) - How our brain defines cravings

(08:55) - Our brain controls our body weight

(20:28) - How evolution taught us to respond to uncertainty

(27:11) - An experiment with gerbils

(36:11) - The difference between American and Italian diet

(56:35) - Eat food that tastes what it really is

(57:03) - The hedonic therapy

(1:14:33) - Cooking is an essential skill

(1:15:00) - Get vitamins from food

(1:20:11) - Fixing a relationship with sweet food

Transcript & Show notes

👋 WHO WE ARE:

Levels helps you see how food affects your health. With real-time, personalized data gathered through biosensors like continuous glucose monitors (CGM), you learn which diet and lifestyle choices improve your metabolic health so you can live a longer, fuller, healthier life.

🔗 Helpful links:

Watch the conversation: https://youtu.be/tJGFYL289q0

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

📲 Connect:

Connect with Dr. Casey Means on Instagram: https://instagram.com/drcaseyskitchen

Connect with Casey on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drcaseyskitchen

Connect with Mark Schatzker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkSchatzker

#216 - The value of biosensing for preventive medicine | Michael Dubrovsky & Josh Clemente Jun 08, 2023

Show notes

Biosensing offers people real-time insight into their health status. Regular insight, rather than one-time results at an annual checkup, helps people assess how lifestyle factors are impacting their health, whether they need to make adjustments, and which adjustments might have the most impact. Michael Dubrovsky and Josh Clemente discuss the value of biosensing and how it has the potential to disrupt the healthcare industry, shifting from a diagnose-and-treat approach to a preventive and actionable approach.

🎙 What Michael Dubrovsky & Josh Clemente discuss:

(5:27) — Why biosensing is important

(9:03) — Biosensing is beneficial for turning info into action

(14:39) — Annual blood tests are levels from one snapshot in time

(24:05) — Measuring a few biomarkers can provide a high amount of data

(38:40)— Focusing on prevention is helping to disrupt the US healthcare industry

(41:47) — Biosensing can empower people to take control of their health

(43:03) — Successfully addressing a health issue involves more than the annual blood draw

(46:00) — Biosensing can help elucidate valuable associations

(49:58) — Why the future of medicine will focus on the individual

(52:14) — Biosensing data from individuals may lead to better solutions for the public

(1:07:06) — Biosensing can increase the value of healthcare

Transcripts & Show notes

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/zTbxXGisj9M

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

📲 Connect:

Connect with Michael Dubrovsky on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeDubrovsky

#215 - How diet affects joint health, arthritis, & longevity | Dr. Howard Luks & Dr. Casey Means - (Replay) Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

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.

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:

(00:00) - Intro

(07:59) - Dr. Casey Means’ personal experience with an orthopedic injury

(11:45) - The link between joint and metabolic health

(18:08) - Maintaining activity may help improve musculoskeletal health despite osteoarthritic pain

(27:31) - Cartilage cells, tendinopathy, and how metabolic health is linked to our tendon health, like with tennis elbow or shoulder pain

(38:42) - The importance of blood flow and cellular repair

(44:59) - The importance of being your best medical advocate in modern medicine

(51:44) - How Dr. Luks started learning about metabolic health and wrote his book, Longevity Simplified

(1:04:43) - The simple pillars of longevity

(1:21:43) - Why you don't need to be concerned about osteoarthritis

(1:33:43) - 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

📲 CONNECT:

Connect with Dr. Howard Luks on Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/hjluks1⁠

Connect with Dr. Howard Luks on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/hjluks⁠

Connect with Dr. Howard Luks on LinkedIn: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/howardluksmd⁠

Connect with Dr. Casey Means on Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/DrCaseysKitchen⁠

Connect with Dr. Casey Means on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/DrCaseysKitchen⁠

Connect with Dr. Casey Means on LinkedIn: ⁠https://linkedin.com/in/casey-means-md⁠

#214 - Is fructose a driver of Alzheimer’s disease? | Dr. Richard Johnson & Dr. Rob Lustig May 25, 2023

Show notes

Fructose and its byproduct uric acid may play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s, thanks to an evolutionary adaptation hijacked by the modern diet. Fructose can be directly consumed, or the body can convert high-glycemic carbohydrates and other foods to fructose. Fructose suppresses some cognitive functions. Dr. Richard Johnson and Dr. Rob Lustig discuss a new study, of which Johnson was an author, on how fructose may be a potential driver in Alzheimer’s, and they hypothesize about fructose’s potential connection to the development of other conditions.

🎙 What Richard Johnson, MD, & Rob Lustig, MD, discuss:

(09:50) — Fructose is the driver of some diseases that are on the rise in kids

(11:53) — Fructose is a driver of obesity and metabolic syndrome

(15:36) — Pharmaceutical treatments for Alzheimer’s disease aren’t as effective as researchers had hoped

(17:32)— The research focus of Alzheimer’s is slowly shifting to understanding insulin resistance in the brain

(20:41) — Is fructose a root cause of Alzheimer’s?

(26:26) — New research suggests fructose induces a foraging response

(28:20) — Fructose inhibits areas of the brain to encourage successful foraging

(46:48) — We need more research on fructose

(1:03:10) —Is fructose a factor in violence?

Transcripts & Show notes

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

👋 WHO WE ARE:

🔗 LINKS:

Could Alzheimer’s disease be a maladaptation of an evolutionary survival pathway mediated by intracerebral fructose and uric acid metabolism?: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002916523000047?dgcid=author

Subscribe here on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 CONNECT:

Connect with Richard Johnson, MD, on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drrichardjjohnson/

Connect with Robert Lustig, MD, on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robertlustigmd/

#213 - Uric acid is a key cause of weight gain & fat production | Dr. David Perlmutter & Dr. Casey Means - (Replay) May 18, 2023

Show notes

The elevation of uric acid in the body is a causative mechanism in the development of metabolic diseases and contributes to weight gain and fat production. Uric acid is one of the key links between obesity, diabetes, heart disease, neurologic diseases like dementia, ADHD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and more. Dr. David Perlmutter talks with Dr. Casey Means about why we have excess uric acid, what foods cause uric acid production, and what simple steps we can take to lower our uric acid levels to be optimal. 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.

They also cover:

How uric acid causes cellular dysfunction and insulin resistance, including oxidative stress, and inflammation, and even prevents insulin from getting out of the bloodstream effectively.
Why uric acid would have benefitted us evolutionarily in terms of low access to food and water by letting us more easily pack on weight and raise blood pressure—but how that fights against us today because we now live in an evolutionary-environmental mismatch where this survival mechanism hurts us in the face of caloric abundance.
The different dietary and environmental factors that generate uric acid, including fructose, purine-rich foods and umami foods, dehydration, alcohol, and more.
How uric acid impairs our hunger signals, drives us to eat, and even promotes risk-taking behavior.
How to reverse high uric acid levels as a way to unlock optimal health.

🎙 What Dr. David Perlmutter & Dr. Casey Means discuss:

(00:00) - Intro

(03:12) - More than just gout

(05:06) - A causative role

(07:44) - The number one cause of death

(15:24) - Evolutionary environmental mismatch

(16:58) - High fructose corn syrup

(22:27) - The dangers of uric acid

(23:38) - Uric acid and dementia

(30:33) - Too much fructose

(41:32) - Erectile dysfunction and cardiovascular risk

(01:03:17) - No need to eat sugar