Making It Awkward Leveling Down: Levels Health, CGMs and the False Promises of Data-Driven Health with Selena Salfen and Meghan Cichy
Would you ever add chia seeds to your latte? Levels Health, a health-tech startup co-founded by presumptive Surgeon General Casey Means, is a deeply unserious company and provides both hilarious and irresponsible guidance on its app.
Public health dietitians Selena Salfen and Meghan Cichy return to the show to discuss our 30 days of using a CGM paired with the Levels app.
Jessica didn't find what she was looking for in her CGM data and laughed at the app's inaccuracies.
Meghan thought she was working harder than Levels, and found both more helpful and nicer CGM feedback with ChatGPT.
Selena shared her history with health anxiety and her longer term use of a Stelo CGM. She shares how her experience was impacted when Levels provided her with incorrect data and biometric analyses.
The three get into whether we should be using CGMs and if so, under what conditions.
The three also discuss the most recent Levels podcast #280 and how it seems to answer a lot of concerns Selena and Jessica had in the CGM intro episode. The episode also discussed a lack of research to back up claims made by Levels and Casey Means herself. Host Ben Grynol and guest Dom D'Agostino, PhD took an unexpected turn and veered into the closed off "adult" section of Blockbuster; could there be a tie to food choices and curiosity?
Casey's Instagram post with her food scores
Like this episode? You can rate, review, subscribe, follow, share and comment!
Questions about the show? Guest pitches? Email makingitawkwardpod@gmail.com
You can buy awkward merch!
You can become a Patreon member!
You can watch this episode at https://www.youtube.com/@MakingItAwkwardPod
Follow Jessica Wilson on Instagram @jessicawilson.msrd and TikTok @byjessicawilson
Jessica Wilson's book: It's Always Been Ours; Rewriting the Story of Black Women's Bodies