LEVELS – A Whole New Level

In this episode of A Whole New Level, Dr. Eric Ravussin, PhD, explains the physiology of energy expenditure, metabolic adaptation, and why the body strongly defends its prior weight. Drawing on decades of research, including the Biggest Loser study, CALERIE, and work with metabolic chambers, Ravussin walks through what actually happens when we lose weight—and why willpower alone isn’t enough.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl

In this episode, we cover:
Why BMI is an incomplete measure of obesity
The difference between preclinical and clinical obesity
How energy expenditure really works (and why larger bodies burn more calories)
What metabolic adaptation is—and why it persists long after weight loss
Why exercise alone rarely leads to sustained weight loss
How GLP-1 drugs intersect with appetite, metabolism, and muscle mass

🎙 What Dr. Eric Ravussin & Mike Haney discuss:
[04:40] — Rethinking obesity diagnosis
[07:00] — Clinical vs. preclinical obesity
[11:38] — What ‘energy expenditure’ actually means
[15:42] — What metabolic adaptation really is
[17:56] — Why bigger bodies burn more calories
[26:16] — Lessons from the Biggest Loser study
[31:19] — What CALERIE taught us about calorie restriction
[40:02] — Why slow, modest weight loss matters
[45:10] — Weight loss vs. weight maintenance physiology
[53:08] — GLP-1 drugs: promise and limitations
[57:49] — Why you can’t exercise your way to weight loss
[1:01:33] — The biggest myth about obesity

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/UaE0C_l7GMw
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠

📲 More about Dr. Eric Ravussin: https://www.pbrc.edu/research-and-faculty/faculty/Ravussin-Eric-PhD.aspx

According to investigative science journalist Gary Taubes, much of what we “know” about nutrition is built on weak evidence, bad assumptions, and decades of groupthink. In this episode of A Whole New Level, Taubes joins Mike Haney to examine how nutrition science went off the rails—and why he remains convinced the carbohydrate–insulin model still offers the most coherent explanation for obesity.

Taubes explains how observational studies became policy, why randomized trials are often ignored, and why questioning the calorie-balance model remains controversial despite mounting contradictions. The conversation is less about winning an argument and more about how science should actually work—especially when public health is at stake.

⁠Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠⁠https://levels.link/wnl⁠⁠⁠

🎙 What Gary Taubes & Mike Haney discuss:
[4:10] — How Gary Taubes became interested in “bad science.”
[9:45] — Why nutrition science relies too heavily on epidemiology
[15:30] — Correlation vs. causation in diet research
[22:10] — The problem with the calorie-balance model
[29:40] — Introducing the carbohydrate–insulin model
[36:55] — Why insulin resistance changes everything
[44:20] — Why low-fat advice dominated for decades
[52:10] — What randomized trials actually show
[1:00:05] — Why dissent is treated as heresy in nutrition
[1:08:30] — How bad science survives criticism
[1:16:45] — What good nutrition science would require
[1:23:20] — Why this debate still matters

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/74WAhHgEk_0⁠
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠

📲 Connect with Gary Taubes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-taubes-942a6459/
https://garytaubes.com/

Hormones influence far more than reproduction—they shape energy, mood, metabolism, sleep, and long-term health. In this episode of A Whole New Level, Dr. Anjali D’Souza joins Mike Haney to explain how women’s hormones actually work, why so many symptoms are dismissed as “normal,” and how to interpret labs in a way that reflects real physiology.

They discuss why standard hormone panels often miss functional problems, how nutrient status and lifestyle affect hormone signaling, and how symptoms like PMS, fatigue, and brain fog provide meaningful data—not noise.

They discuss:
Why hormones affect how you feel day to day, not just fertility
The difference between “normal” lab ranges and optimal function
How progesterone, estrogen, and cortisol interact
Why PMS is often a signal—not a mystery
How nutrition, stress, and sleep influence hormone effectiveness

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠⁠https://levels.link/wnl⁠⁠

🎙 What Dr. Anjali Dsouza & Mike Haney discuss:
[3:45] — Why hormones influence energy, mood, and vitality
[7:30] — “Normal” labs vs. how you actually feel
[11:40] — Why hormone symptoms are often dismissed
[15:05] — Hormones as a lever to move from “fine” to “amazing.”
[18:20] — Progesterone, estrogen, and the menstrual cycle
[22:10] — Why PMS isn’t random—it’s data
[27:35] — Cortisol, stress, and hormone disruption
[33:10] — Nutrient status and hormone effectiveness
[38:45] — Why labs don’t show tissue-level hormone function
[44:30] — Lifestyle changes that support hormone balance
[50:15] — Rethinking how we assess women’s hormone health

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/MweLkjvNimo
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠
⁠https://dcimedicine.com/dr-anjali-dsouza/⁠
⁠https://www.levels.com/blog/dr-anjali-dsouza-wants-to-help-women-level-up-their-health⁠

📲 Connect with Dr. Anjali Dsouza: https://www.instagram.com/anjalidsouzamd

In this episode, Dr. Jesse Mills, Director of the UCLA Men’s Clinic, joins Mike Haney to explain what’s driving that shift and what today’s data-driven approach to men’s health looks like.

He breaks down the testosterone “revolution,” what’s really happening in low-T diagnoses, and how lifestyle, sleep, and stress management can influence hormones as much as prescriptions can.

They discuss:
- How men’s health became its own medical discipline
- What testosterone really does—and how to know if it’s low
- Primary vs. secondary hypogonadism and how to tell the difference
- When testosterone replacement is appropriate (and when it’s not)
- Why younger men are now embracing prevention and optimization

And listen to Dr. Mills’ new podcast, The Male Room with Dr. Jesse Mills, wherever you get your podcasts.

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: ⁠https://levels.link/wnl⁠

🎙 What Dr. Jesse Mills & Mike Haney discuss:
[2:10] — How men’s health became its own field
[8:05] — The generational shift in openness
[10:40] — The difference between real medicine and ‘men’s clinics’
[12:00] — Testosterone 101
[18:45] — When low testosterone is reversible
[26:50] — Why we need ‘forensic endocrinology’

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/Zs2CZC2GueA
Find us on YouTube: ⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠
📲 Connect with Dr. Jesse Mills: https://x.com/grurology?lang=en

Your annual labs can reveal far more than most people realize—if you know how to interpret them. In this episode of A Whole New Level, Dr. Rich Joseph walks through how to read basic blood work like the CBC, electrolytes, and urinalysis, and how to use those numbers as feedback loops, not pass/fail judgments.

He explains which values matter most, what trends reveal over time, and how to connect lab data to sleep, training, nutrition, and stress.
What the Complete Blood Count (CBC) actually measures
How to identify early signs of iron or B-vitamin deficiency
What white blood cell patterns reveal about immunity and stress
How electrolytes reflect cellular energy, hydration, and training load
Why urinalysis is underrated (and how to read it quickly)
How to use lab trends—not single snapshots—to guide health decisions

Sign Up to Get Your Free Ultimate Guide to Glucose: https://levels.link/wnl

🎙 What Dr. Rich Joesph & Mike Haney discuss:
[03:12] — Why basic labs still matter
[07:58] — How to read the CBC: Red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets
[18:45] — MCV and what it tells us about iron vs. B-vitamin deficiency
[24:40] — White blood cells as a window into stress and recovery
[44:10] — Electrolytes and cellular energy
[1:01:22] — Urinalysis: the overlooked lab with real value
[1:09:55] — Using labs as feedback over time

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/cpwB4-_7o-w
Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect with Dr. Rich Joseph on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rich-joseph-md-mba-61448b33a/