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Most athletes are told the same basic rule: the harder you train, the more carbs you need. But Dr. Andrew Koutnik argues the science is more complicated.

In this episode, Mike Haney talks with Dr. Koutnik about how the body fuels exercise, why muscle glycogen may not explain “hitting the wall” as neatly as many people think, and why blood glucose, brain energy, insulin, and metabolic flexibility may matter more than conventional sports nutrition advice suggests.

They discuss whether athletes really need 60, 90, or even 120 grams of carbs per hour, why some athletes may perform well on far less, and how to think about fueling as an individual experiment rather than a universal rule. Because apparently even “eat sugar while running” was too simple for human physiology to leave alone.

🎙️ About the Guest:
Dr. Andrew Koutnik is a Visiting Research Scientist at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, studying nutrition, metabolism, Type 1 diabetes, and human performance. He earned his PhD in medical sciences from the University of South Florida and has worked with groups including NASA and the Department of Defense.

📍What Dr. Andrew Koutnik & Mike Haney discussed:
00:42 Why carbs became central to sports nutrition
05:30 How the body uses carbs, fat, ketones, and lactate for fuel
13:45 Exercise, insulin sensitivity, and blood glucose
21:20 Why muscle glycogen may not explain performance limits
31:00 What “hitting the wall” may really mean
39:15 The case for lower-carb fueling strategies
48:30 Why more carbs don’t always mean better performance
58:00 The problem with 90–120 grams of carbs per hour
1:08:30 How athletes can test fueling for themselves
1:17:00 What this means for everyday exercisers and marathoners

🔗 Helpful Links:Watch the conversation: ⁠https://youtu.be/FfomxfyCchw
Study discussed: Carbohydrate Ingestion on Exercise Metabolism and Physical Performancehttps://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/47/2/191/8432248Related paper: Substrate Oxidation Does Not Influence Middle Distance Running Performancehttps://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/17/17/2771
Find us on YouTube: https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Connect:Connect with Dr. Andrew Koutnik: https://andrewkoutnik.com/X: https://x.com/AKoutnikInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewkoutnikphd/Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=2BzUjqkAAAAJ👋 Who we are:Levels helps you understand your metabolic health with personalized data, expert guidance, and tools that connect your daily choices to measurable changes in your body. Our goal is to help you make better decisions about food, exercise, sleep, and long-term health.

We can measure more about our health than ever before. Wearables track everything from heart rhythms to glucose trends, and AI can now identify patterns clinicians might miss. But more data does not automatically mean better health outcomes.

In this episode, cardiologist and digital health expert Dr. Ami Bhatt joins Mike Haney to explore why medicine still struggles with prevention, how continuous health data can help patients take more agency, and where AI may actually improve care—not by replacing doctors, but by helping clinicians navigate the right information at the right time.

They discuss the promise and pitfalls of wearables, the challenge of turning constant streams of health information into useful action, and why the future of medicine may depend on what Dr. Bhatt calls “collaborative intelligence”: humans and AI working together to make better decisions earlier.

About the guest: Dr. Ami Bhatt is the chief innovation officer (CIO) at the American College of Cardiology and the Chair of the FDA Digital Health Advisory Committee. She received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her Doctor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, and was the Director of Outpatient Cardiology, TeleCardiology, and Adult Congenital Heart Disease at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

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

🎙 What Dr. Ami Bhatt & Mike Haney discuss:
1:19 Why heart disease remains the leading killer despite medical advances
10:17 The opportunity and risk of detecting disease earlier
17:38 What wearables are actually useful for today
30:16 When health tracking creates more anxiety than insight
37:12 Why AI should guide doctors, not replace them
44:27 Dr. Bhatt on “collaborative intelligence” in medicine
1:18:30 Why the future is human judgment plus AI, not AI alone

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/d0LJvL1uB4k
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📲 Connect
Connect with Dr. Ami Bhatt on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dramibhatt/

Metabolic health is often simplified to a matter of blood sugar, but at its root, it is a complex system of energy substrate signaling. While many view chronic disease as an inevitable part of aging, a systems-thinking approach reveals that maintaining high "flux"—the capacity to efficiently move and clear energy through the body—is the primary lever for longevity. Without the stimulus of regular movement, even the most optimized diet can fail to prevent the accumulation of metabolic waste that leads to insulin resistance and heart disease.

In this episode, we sit down with Greg Mushen, a technologist who turned his engineering mind toward his own biology after conventional medicine failed to address his chronic health issues. Mushen breaks down his "Theory of Flux" and why he believes the key to disease resistance lies in meeting our body's "clearance burden". From studying the activity levels of hunter-gatherer populations to debunking myths about walking and V2 max, Mushen provides a data-driven framework for optimizing health through the lens of evolutionary biology and systems engineering.

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

In this episode, we cover:
The Theory of Flux: Understanding health as the dynamic capacity to move nutrients and fuel through the system rather than a static set of markers.
Insulin Resistance Reimagined: Why blood sugar is a symptom, not the root cause, and how fat accumulation in the liver and muscle disrupts signaling.
The Power of PAL: Why a Physical Activity Level (PAL) of 2.0 is the "golden ratio" observed in disease-free subsistence populations.
Walking vs. HIT: De-bunking the idea that you need high intensity to improve V2 max and why the "area under the curve" for oxygen consumption is what matters.
The Saturated Fat Paradox: Comparing the Messiah and Chimané populations to understand how high activity levels can mitigate the risks of high-fat diets.
Fiber as a Sensor: Why fiber is more than just "throughput" and acts as a critical environmental sensor for metabolic signaling.
The "Walking Grifter" Philosophy: Why walking is the most under-leveraged tool for increasing metabolic flux with the lowest recovery cost.

🎙 What Greg Mushen & Josh Clemente discuss:
[00:53] — Greg’s transition from tech engineering to "debugging" his own biology.
[06:55] — The mold exposure and chronic fatigue that sparked a deep dive into primary literature.
[11:36] — How correcting a copper deficiency became a "point of light" for understanding micronutrients.
[20:53] — Lessons from the Messiah: High saturated fat intake paired with extreme physical activity.
[25:26] — Defining Flux: The capacity to clear substrate and prevent metabolic accumulation.
[30:26] — The PAL 2.0 threshold: Why doubling your basal metabolic rate is the key to warding off chronic disease.
[51:10] — Lipid Kinetics: Using the "sink and drain" analogy to understand LDL residence time.
[01:00:19] — The Integral of Oxygen: Why walking 15,000 steps can be as effective for V2 max as short bursts of HIT.
[01:17:16] — Why Greg changed his mind on plant-based vs. animal protein.
[01:28:24] — Greg's personal stack: From 15k steps and resistance training to PD5 inhibitors and custom fiber blends.

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/A1KSG2qyVww⁠
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📲 Connect
Connect with Greg Mushen on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregmushen

Protein is often hailed as the ultimate nutrient for health and longevity, but the science suggests it is only half of the equation. While social media influencers debate the minutiae of protein grams, researchers have found that the vast majority of protein's benefits are "baked in" only when combined with physical activity. Without the stimulus of exercise, even the most optimized protein intake fails to move the needle on muscle growth or chronic disease prevention.

In this episode of A Whole New Level, Mike Haney sits down with Dr. Stuart Phillips, a researcher who has spent over 25 years at McMaster University studying the intersection of protein, exercise, and human health. Dr. Phillips breaks down why the current RDA for protein is likely too low for optimal health and why the methodology used to set those standards is decades out of date.

Dr. Phillips explains the "brick wall" analogy of muscle turnover—where synthesis and breakdown are in a constant tug-of-war—and how lifting weights acts as the primary driver for "the bricklayers". From the impact of anabolic resistance in aging to the truth about protein timing and kidney health, he provides a grounded, data-driven perspective on how to maintain a functional reserve of muscle as we age.

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

In this episode, we cover
The RDA Debate: Why the standard 0.8 g/kg recommendation is a "preventing deficiency" baseline rather than an "optimized health" target.
The Power of Exercise: Why 80% to 90% of protein's benefits are dependent on physical activity.
Muscle as a Storage Depot: Understanding muscle as a functional reserve that dictates disease resistance and survival.
Anabolic Resistance: How inactivity and aging make our cells less efficient at using amino acids.
The Myth of Timing: Why the "anabolic window" is more like a "garage door" that stays open much longer than once thought.
Protein Quality & Source: Comparing animal vs. plant proteins and why the "food matrix" matters more than isolated powders.
Kidney Health: De-bunking the 60-year-old hypothesis that high protein intake causes kidney damage in healthy individuals.

🎙 What Dr. Stuart Phillips & Mike Haney discuss:
[00:00] — Why exercise is the "big driver" of protein's health benefits.
[09:00] — Transitioning from the RDA (0.8 g/kg) to an optimized range of 1.2 to 1.6 g/kg.
[30:31] — The limitations of "nitrogen balance" as a methodology for protein needs.
[44:45] — Muscle as a structural substrate vs. carbs and fats as fuel.
[01:10:05] — Anabolic resistance: Why we lose building efficiency as we age.
[01:18:15] — The "Compound Interest" of muscle: Why starting early prevents a late-life mobility spiral.
[01:28:10] — Hormones and muscle: The differing impacts of testosterone and estrogen during aging.
[01:39:15] — Addressing the concerns regarding high protein intake and kidney function.
[01:52:10] — Whole foods vs. supplements: Why the "bricklayers" care about amino acids, but the body cares about nutrients.
[01:60:12] — Debunking the immediate post-workout protein shake myth.

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/twVUPk-B-vg⁠
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

📲 Connect
Connect with Dr. Stuart Phillips on LinkedIn & X:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuartmphillips/
https://x.com/mackinprof

Preconception health is one of the most powerful—yet overlooked—windows for influencing a child’s lifelong wellness. While fertility is often discussed in the context of age or medical intervention, emerging research suggests that the months leading up to conception are a critical "time capsule" for epigenetic health.

In this episode of A Whole New Level, Levels Founder and CEO Josh Clemente sits down with Dr. Anne Shippy, a board-certified internal medicine physician and author of The Preconception Revolution. Dr. Shippy brings a unique, systems-based approach to fertility, moving beyond basic labs to uncover the root causes of infertility and chronic disease.

Dr. Shippy explains why the "check engine light" of infertility is often a signal of deeper metabolic or environmental imbalances—and why age isn't always the primary driver of reproductive success. Drawing on her engineering background and years of clinical practice, she walks through how toxins, mitochondrial function, and the microbiome interact to shape the health of both parents and their future children.

Along the way, the conversation explores the practical "mini-experiments" couples can run to optimize their biology—from tightening blood sugar control with CGMs to auditing the "chemical soup" of modern life. The result is an empowering framework for generational health: shifting the focus from reactive treatments to proactive, data-driven preparation.

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

In this episode, we cover
• The Preconception Window: Why the 3–12 months before pregnancy are a critical window for epigenetic influence
• The Engineering Approach: Applying systems-based, data-driven models to the biochemistry of the body
• Environmental Toxins: How PFAS, phthalates, and microplastics in packaging disrupt hormone health
• Sperm Health Trends: Understanding the 50% decline in sperm counts and the role of lifestyle in reversing damage
• Mitochondrial Function: Why cellular energy production is the foundation of egg and sperm quality
• IVF as a Last Resort: Why tuning up the body’s "hospitable environment" should come before invasive procedures
• The Role of Glucose: How stable blood sugar improves fertility and passes on better epigenetics to the baby

🎙 What Dr. Anne Shippy & Josh discuss
[03:35] — Making the career shift from IBM chemical engineer to functional medicine
[05:54] — Using CGMs as a series of experiments to optimize preconception health
[10:04] — Success stories: Reversing "failed" IVF and infertility in the early 40s
[14:48] — Why the children’s health crisis and the fertility crisis share the same root causes
[17:22] — The "Time Capsule": How the egg and sperm pass on epigenetic snapshots
[20:02] — The minimum timeline: Why three months is the baseline for biological change
[22:22] — The impact of processed food packaging on hormone and sperm health in just 21 days
[24:50] — Advanced testing: Moving beyond Quest labs to microbiome and toxin panels
[29:57] — The "Big Three" environmental shifts: Clean air, clean water, and clean food
[42:22] — The "Lightning Round": Prioritizing changes from synthetic fragrances to alcohol and exercise

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/QG4Jxxu_gyE
Find us on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/levelshealth?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠

📲 Connect
Connect with Dr. Ann Shippy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annshippymd/
https://annshippymd.com/