5 Things you can learn using Levels
The Levels app unlocks much more than health data. Here's how it can help you discover what works for your body, optimize your habits, and track meaningful progress.
Since its inception, Levels has been focused on helping all kinds of people understand and improve their health through comprehensive data and personalized insights. That's why we've made glucose biosensors easy to access, developed comprehensive blood testing, and built AI-powered tools that turn your health data into actionable guidance, and are running the most extensive study of glucose dynamics ever.
But just as optimal health is about more than any single biomarker, Levels is more than just charts and numbers. Seeing your glucose rise after a meal or discovering elevated inflammatory markers in your blood work is valuable when you first start using the platform. But to make lasting behavior change from that data, you need insight, context, and accountability. Those are the pillars the Levels app delivers on top of the raw health data.
For example, our AI-powered meal logging lets you tie a glucose response to a specific meal, but it also helps you understand why that reaction happened by analyzing ingredients, offering healthy swap ideas, and suggesting metabolically-friendly recipes you can try next time.
Here are five things you can discover using the Levels platform.
1. Which foods work best for your unique body
Blood sugar response is highly individualized---and so are other aspects of metabolism. We have members who can eat a bowl of white rice and see barely a rise, while others pair just a little brown rice with protein and fat and still see a sharp spike. That's why simply following generic diet advice rarely works and may even cause you to cut out otherwise healthy foods.
The magic moment for nearly all our members comes the first time they eat a food they've long thought was a healthy staple---oatmeal, smoothie, acai bowl---and watch their blood sugar soar on a glucose biosensor.
— Dr. Kayt Havens"I found that a morning bowl of oatmeal spiked me to 150 mg/dL. That shocked me. Oatmeal has a reputation in the medical community for being so healthy because of its beta-glucan fiber. Even steel-cut oats gave me the same response."
Likewise, it's exciting when they discover some foods they thought were "unhealthy" barely affect their glucose at all.
— Chris Wise"The other day, I ate two tablespoons of Nutella, and my glucose didn’t go over 100 mg/dL, and it came back down in an hour, which is pretty great."
Beyond glucose responses, your comprehensive blood work reveals how different dietary patterns affect your inflammatory markers, nutrient levels, and metabolic health over time. You might discover that increasing fiber improves your gut health markers, or that certain foods help optimize your micronutrient status in ways you never expected.
And that stable glucose is vital to so many aspects of optimal health, from avoiding brain fog to managing weight to staving off cellular damage that leads to chronic disease.
2. How lifestyle factors beyond food impact your health
Another consistent revelation for members is how much non-food factors can dramatically impact their biomarkers. The effect of poor sleep, in particular, can be eye-opening. We all know we should sleep more, but seeing your glucose spike to a breakfast that's usually stable just because you only got five hours of sleep brings home how much rest impacts our body's systems.
— Dr. Kevin Jubbal"When I’m sleep-deprived, I’ll spike a lot harder, stay elevated for a lot longer, and see increased variability even at baseline without food."
Research backs it up: Studies consistently show that getting short, poor quality, or irregular sleep impairs blood sugar regulation the following day---and affects hormone levels, inflammatory markers, and recovery processes. Another recent study suggested it's not just hours slept---participants who varied their bedtime suffered metabolically the day after.
Stress, too, can produce hormonal reactions that interfere with your usual processing. It's not unusual for members using CGMs to see spikes that look like they just ate a cupcake but were actually driven by giving a presentation or having an argument at home. Your blood work can also reveal how chronic stress affects markers like cortisol and inflammatory indicators.
Just as with food, putting actual physiological data to these experiences makes it easier to finally implement new behaviors. You know if you stay up for one more episode, it'll show on your metrics tomorrow. And when someone cuts you off in traffic, you can see the benefit of managing that stress response.
3. How movement transforms your metabolic health
Exercise is one of the most powerful levers for improving both immediate and long-term health. It's why longevity experts like Dr. Peter Attia now cite movement as the most important factor for staying healthy as you age. Exercise is one of the most powerful levers for improving both immediate and long-term health. It's why longevity experts like Dr. Peter Attia now cite movement as the most important factor for staying healthy as you age.
By integrating workout data from Apple Health or Google Fit, the Levels app helps you see the immediate and long-term impact of exercise on your health markers. For example, walking for 30 minutes after a meal is one of the most effective ways to blunt a post-meal glucose rise. You'll also see how intense exercise like HIIT can produce a temporary glucose spike as your body circulates more fuel, but also how consistently doing HIIT can improve your body's ability to process glucose over time.
Your blood work reveals the deeper benefits: how regular exercise improves inflammatory markers, supports hormone balance, and enhances metabolic efficiency. You can track these changes over months and see objective proof that your workout routine is making you healthier at the cellular level.
For endurance athletes, real-time glucose data can help inform fueling strategy, ensuring optimal performance without energy crashes.
— Mike McKnight"This experiment has given me the confidence to fuel by feel. I no longer have to stick to a regimen of a certain number of calories per hour. If I feel an energy dip, then I will eat—my body is efficient at burning what I eat."
4. Your body's natural rhythms and cycles
Your body's circadian rhythms affect nearly all your hormonal processes, and metabolic dynamics are no exception. Studies show that people tend to be more insulin sensitive (meaning their body can better process glucose) in the morning than evening. Many people also see their blood sugar naturally rise every morning---a phenomenon known as the dawn effect.
But like food responses, these temporal patterns can vary dramatically among individuals. Some find they can eat later in the evening without much response, while for others, a handful of popcorn will drive erratic blood sugar all night.
By observing your daily patterns over time---whether through continuous glucose monitoring or regular blood testing---you'll recognize how your body's systems behave differently throughout the day, across your menstrual cycle, or during different life phases.
— Julie Cottrell"I’m going through menopause and having night sweats. I realized that my blood sugar was lower if I drank alcohol a little too late, and I had more hot flashes. Now, I’ve tweaked my habits so that I cut off alcohol by 7 p.m."
5. Whether your healthy changes are actually working
Using data and insights to build healthy habits has immediate payoffs---you feel better day to day. Avoiding energy crashes, improving sleep consistency, and optimizing your nutrition creates noticeable improvements in how you function.
But the real goal is long-term health: preventing chronic diseases, aging well, maintaining energy and cognitive function as you get older. We want to stave off conditions like Alzheimer's or heart disease as long as possible, manage life transitions with minimal side effects, and keep our energy high as we age. These benefits come from maintaining optimal health markers over time---the cumulative result of consistent daily choices.
That's why Levels shows long-term trends across multiple biomarkers so you can see the physical impact of your lifestyle changes over months and years. Whether it's watching your inflammatory markers improve, seeing your metabolic efficiency optimize, or tracking how your micronutrient levels respond to dietary changes, you get objective proof that your efforts are working.
With Levels Labs, you can test key markers like insulin, HbA1c, triglycerides, and dozens of others as often as you want, creating a comprehensive picture of your health trajectory.
— Betsy McLaughlin"I received a text from my internist who just said, “Holy shit, I’ve never seen anything like this.” My A1C went from 6.1 to 5.2, my glucose went from 117 to 84. My insulin went from 30 to 5. It was nuts."
Conclusion
Using Levels is about discovering what works specifically for your body and building sustainable habits based on that knowledge. By combining real-time feedback, comprehensive biomarker testing, AI-powered insights, and expert guidance, you can make fundamental, lasting changes that improve both how you feel today and your long-term health trajectory.
Take control of your health with expert guidance
Levels pairs real-time glucose data and comprehensive lab testing with clinician analysis and personalized support—everything you need to turn insights into real health improvements. Click here to get started with Levels.
