Episode #107

Josh Clemente

Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Why Everyone Should Be Tracking This Important Metric

Without the real-time glucose data, you really can’t know who you are on the spectrum or how you should be eating in order to be optimal. Click To Tweet

If you want access to Levels and to get a CGM (finally!) then click here to skip their 20,000 person waitlist!

If you’re a regular listener of this podcast — by the way, thank you! — then you’ve probably heard me talk about personally wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which is essentially a blood sugar tracking system that I wear all day.

While I don’t have blood sugar issues such as diabetes or insulin resistance, I’ve used a CGM for several years now to see how specific foods affect my blood sugar and for how long the insulin spike lasts.

I’ve also used my CGM to test different low-carb protein bars on the market to see if their claims were true. I later found out most weren’t and caused huge spikes in blood sugar that lasted way longer than they should have.

I’ve found a CGM to be an incredibly helpful tool that most people don’t have access to unfortunately, which is more than just a shame.

And my guest on this episode, Josh Clemente, a founding partner at Levels Health, agrees with me and is actively working to change this by offering a continuous glucose monitor that is accessible even if you don’t have diagnosed blood sugar issues.

That’s because, as you’ll hear about in this episode, roughly 90 million Americans are unknowingly living in a prediabetic state and up to 70% of them will end up being diabetic if they don’t address it starting today.

But, as Josh explains, testing your fasting blood glucose and A1C level once a year aren’t enough to show you the true picture.

So what is?

Continuous glucose monitoring and making this something that most people start tracking — just like you would with your steps or sleep — long before any blood sugar issues surface.

Doing so has incredible results both in the short and long term which is why it’s so effective.

And that’s exactly what you’ll hear more about in this episode.

Josh and I dive into why more people should be tracking their blood sugar using a CGM even if they don’t have diagnosed issues, the incredible information you can gather from doing this, and the powerful benefits that surface as a result of tracking.

Both Josh and I have seen some amazing and eye-opening results since using a CGM which is why we can’t wait to share more about them in this episode.

Two people can eat the exact same two foods and those two people can have equal and opposite responses to those two foods. Click To Tweet

Josh Clemente is a former SpaceX Lead Life Support Systems Engineer, a CrossFit L2 Trainer, a Senior Engineer at Hyperloop One and he’s part of the founding team at Levels Health, which aims to bring continuous glucose monitoring to the masses.

In his current role at Levels Health, he and his founders are working to create a CGM and corresponding app that gives people real-time glucose monitoring data so they can optimize their health once and for all.

Instead of trying a one-size-fits-all diet, which isn’t effective as you’ll hear in this episode, they’re helping people tailor their diet down to the last bite.

And they’re doing so in a way that doesn’t involve having to meticulously track all day — the CGM and app takes care of all of that for you.

By tuning in, you’ll learn more about these topics and so much more:

  • Josh’s role at SpaceX for six years and the projects he worked on while there
  • What Levels Health is and what they’re working to accomplish
  • How Josh went from working in SpaceX to transitioning into continuous glucose monitoring
  • What started to surface in SpaceX and studying health in NASA crew members that created a lightbulb moment for Josh
  • Dom D’Agostino’s work with NASA
  • Research on using a ketogenic diet in high pressurized states
  • How Josh went from using a calories in versus calories out method to cycling with keto
  • What led Josh to realize what he was doing nutritionally wasn’t working
  • Why he was checking his blood glucose by pricking his finger up to 60 times per day and what he learned as a result of doing this
  • Understanding that the way food turns to energy is a chemical process
  • The effects of insulin in the body
  • The problem with hyperinsulinemia
  • What Josh noticed when he finally got his blood sugar under control
  • The benefits of continuous glucose monitoring
  • Josh also discusses how he thinks about blood sugar before and after he started diving into it more
  • The carb sources he eats today and the range that works for him
  • Why traditional blood sugar measures aren’t enough and what is instead
  • How Josh’s carb tolerance has changed since tracking this

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