Why Insulin Matters
I want to tell you about a gadget that has completely changed my life, but before I get into it, I want to talk about the biggest contributor to advanced aging and chronic disease, which is insulin resistance.
When your diet is full of empty calories, an abundance of quickly absorbed sugars and carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.), the body slowly becomes resistant to the effects of insulin and needs more to do the same job of keeping your blood sugar even.
High insulin levels are the first sign of a problem—they precede Type 2 diabetes by decades. The high insulin leads to an appetite that is out of control and increasing weight gain around the belly. Diabetes is often undiagnosed until its later stages.
Insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome associated with it is often accompanied by increasing central obesity, fatigue after meals, sugar cravings, high triglycerides, low HDL, high blood pressure, problems with blood clotting, as well as increased inflammation and much more undesirable effects.
These clues can often be picked up decades before anyone ever gets diabetes—and may help you prevent diabetes entirely.
One of the easiest and best ways to detect this is through using a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). This is a wearable device that tracks your blood sugar levels 24/7. You can see almost immediately if a food you’ve consumed causes a blood sugar spike. You can also see the meals that keep your blood sugar levels steady and even (which is what we want!)
I can preach at you for hours about the right foods to eat, but the truth is, what is “right” for one person may not work for another. This is fundamental to individualized medicine and nutrition. The best way to know which foods are “right” for you is to monitor and test. How do you do that?
Levels is a continuous glucose monitor that connects to your smartphone and monitors, tracks, and records your blood sugar levels 24/7. It’s the first gadget of its kind that is available to anyone.
When you purchase Levels, you receive the following:
- Two 14-day continuous glucose monitors
-
Levels app where you can track food, activities, and blood glucose levels
- You can take pictures of your meals, log your activities, and track changes in your blood sugar.
- Use the Levels app to break down exactly which foods spike your blood sugar and can cause insulin resistance and the ones that keep your levels steady.
- Weekly detailed reports on which foods are the best and worst for you
- Monthly break-down of your daily foods and activities and how your blood sugar responded
- Access to detailed reports to help guide you through your unique dietary needs
What else should you know?
- Levels is actually a prescription, though they do NOT submit to your insurance.
- A Levels-certified doctor will review your information and approve the prescription.
- Your Levels glucose monitors will arrive in about 4 to 6 weeks after your purchase.
- Levels costs $399 for the entire one-month program.
- You save money in the long run by learning how your individual blood sugar responds to foods and making adjustments to support even, steady, level blood glucose. That’s the first step you can take to prevent and reverse chronic disease—and that’s worth millions.
The more we learn about what it takes to prevent and reverse chronic disease and create a vibrant, long, healthy life, the more we understand how crucial having stable blood sugar and insulin sensitivity is. It really is the most important thing you can track to create optimal health.