Ep. 292: Control Your Blood Sugar, Control Your Life W/ Josh Clemente Of LEVELS [0a833f]

Post Time: 2025-07-29

The Alarming Dangers of Sky-High Blood Sugar

When it comes to managing blood sugar levels, there's a fine line between normalcy and danger. A critical high blood sugar level can have severe consequences on one's health, ranging from mild symptoms like fatigue and blurred vision to life-threatening conditions such as kidney damage and heart disease. So, what exactly is considered a critically high blood sugar level? According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), a fasting plasma glucose level of 130 mg/dL or higher indicates diabetes.

The Silent Killer: How High Blood Sugar Affects Your Organs

High blood sugar levels can wreak havoc on various organs in your body. For instance, when it comes to kidneys, high blood sugar damages the filters that clean waste from your blood. This damage causes them to malfunction and fails to remove toxins effectively, leading to severe health issues like kidney failure (1). Moreover, high blood sugar also increases inflammation in the cardiovascular system, raising the risk of heart disease by damaging artery walls and disrupting normal lipid metabolism.

The Role of Diet in Regulating Blood Sugar

Maintaining a healthy diet is crucial for regulating blood sugar levels. Foods that are rich in fiber like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables help slow down carbohydrate absorption into your bloodstream (2). This reduces the amount of glucose available to enter your cells and keeps it at manageable levels. On the other hand, foods high on the glycemic index – such as white bread and sugary drinks – cause a spike in blood sugar due to rapid digestion.

The Benefits of Exercise: Lowering Blood Sugar with Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is another powerful tool for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. When you engage in exercise, your body requires glucose from stored sources or dietary intake (3). As the demand increases, insulin sensitivity improves allowing more glucose into cells where it's needed most – thereby lowering fasting and postprandial blood sugars.

Sleep: A Hidden Factor Influencing Blood Sugar Levels

While we often overlook sleep as a factor affecting our overall well-being, research has shown that getting quality rest is just as important for regulating blood sugar levels. Sleep deprivation triggers cortisol release leading to increased glucose production in the liver (4). Furthermore, studies have found links between poor sleep and higher risks of developing conditions like insulin resistance and diabetes.

Why Stress Matters: Its Impact on Blood Sugar Fluctuations

Chronic stress has been shown to disrupt normal hormone regulation causing spikes or drops in blood sugar. When under continuous mental pressure, the body produces excess cortisol; as mentioned earlier this can trigger a massive release from liver glycogen stores leading directly into your bloodstream (5).

Common Lifestyle Mistakes: Correcting Habits for Better Blood Sugar Control

We all have vices that may unknowingly influence our blood sugar levels – be it consuming too much processed food, neglecting meal timing strategies or engaging in excessive intake of sugary drinks. It is essential to identify these areas where we can make changes and create lasting habits such as incorporating more physical activity into daily routines and planning nutrient-dense meals throughout the day.

Is Your Medication Affecting Blood Sugar Levels?

Certain prescription medications, especially those used for treating high blood pressure or depression, have been known to raise blood sugar levels. If you're unsure whether your medication is impacting these numbers then schedule a consultation with your healthcare provider who can help identify alternative treatments that won't increase glucose in the bloodstream.

References: (1) American Diabetes Association (2020). 8. Glycemic Targets: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2020. (2) Harvard School of Public Health, Nutrition and health factsheets & articles section

• "Carbohydrates and Blood Sugar"

what should a non diabetic's blood sugar be after eating Greetings, SuperFriends! Today we are joined by Josh Clemente. Josh, the blood sugar level in newborn founder of Levels, is a mechanical engineer and CrossFit-L2 trainer. At SpaceX, he led a team to develop life support systems that sustained astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their May 2020 trip to the International Space Station aboard Dragon Endeavor: the first new crew-carrying spacecraft since 1980. Josh has also spent time designing and building Hyperloop technology and leading engineering for a company providing vehicle-based rescue systems for emergency response teams. But, we barely talked about any of that stuff today, because, as I already mentioned, Josh is the founder of a really fascinating company that I've been following for a while, called Levels. Their idea is that wearables are nice, but they rarely give you real, powerful data about what's going in your body. Well, Levels is trying to change that, by coming out with the first consumer-available continuous glucose monitor. Now, you've probably heard the hardcore biohackers in the world, like Dave Asprey and Tim Ferriss, wearing these glucose monitors that they need all kinds of connections to get, and all the wonderful things you can learn by wearing a glucose monitor. So, I wanted to learn what the big deal is with these, and why it's such an important technology to put in the hands of consumers. I ended up learning a lot about what turns out to be one of the most important molecules in the body - glucose - which powers almost everything that you do. And that's why we need to make sure that we have just the right Goldilocks level layers in our body at all times - more about this in the episode. I think you are really going to enjoy this episode, as I what is a dangerous blood sugar level did! -Jonathan LeviEp. 292: Control Your Blood Sugar, Control Your Life W/ Josh Clemente Of LEVELS [0a833f]