Kusha Karvandi

🏆 2× Inc. 500 Entrepreneur
🚀 Built & sold 4 companies

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

Want a better picture of your metabolic health?

I wouldn't stop at the standard cholesterol panel.

I'd want to know:

✓ Fasting insulin
✓ Fasting glucose
✓ HOMA-IR
✓ Triglycerides
✓ HbA1c

Because metabolic dysfunction can be developing long before you're diagnosed with diabetes.

Don't just ask whether your numbers are “normal.”

Ask how hard your body is working to keep them there.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

Everyone checks their CHOLESTEROL.

But there's another blood marker I think far more people should be paying attention to:

FASTING INSULIN.

Because insulin can start rising years before blood sugar becomes obviously abnormal.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

But fasting insulin gets even more useful when combined with fasting glucose.

Together, they can be used to calculate:

HOMA-IR

—a marker of insulin resistance.

A meta-analysis of 65 studies involving 516,325 people found higher HOMA-IR was associated with greater coronary heart disease risk.

Metabolic health matters for your heart too.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

Here's the broccoli hack:

Cook your broccoli.

Then add a little mustard seed powder before eating it.

You're supplying the myrosinase that cooking may have destroyed—helping convert more glucoraphanin into sulforaphane.

Sometimes HOW you eat a food matters almost as much as WHAT you eat.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

You're probably eating broccoli WRONG.

Broccoli contains a powerful compound called sulforaphane.

But cooking broccoli can dramatically reduce how much your body gets.

The solution?

Add MUSTARD SEED.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

So why do we care about sulforaphane?

Sulforaphane activates cellular pathways involved in:

✓ Antioxidant defenses
✓ Cellular stress responses
✓ Detoxification enzymes
It's one of the reasons cruciferous vegetables like broccoli have become so heavily studied.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

Could red light therapy become part of your pre-workout routine?

The emerging research is fascinating.

Some studies suggest that red and near-infrared light before exercise may improve endurance and oxygen uptake.

And here's something worth remembering:

Red and near-infrared wavelengths aren't something humans invented. They're naturally present in sunlight.

We spend so much time thinking about nutrition and supplements before exercise.

Maybe we should be thinking about LIGHT too.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

What if LIGHT could improve your VO₂ max?

Not supplements.

Not another training program.

Just exposing your body to specific wavelengths of light BEFORE exercising.

Sounds crazy?

Researchers have actually tested it.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

And this wasn't the only study showing benefits.

A 2024 meta-analysis examined 34 randomized controlled trials.

Researchers found that photobiomodulation before exercise may improve:

✓ Muscle endurance
✓ Recovery of muscle strength
✓ Certain markers of muscle damage

But results varied depending on the participants and exercise protocols.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

Here's what every parent should know:

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends screening for sleep apnea when evaluating children for ADHD.

Watch for:

• Mouth breathing
• Snoring
• Restless sleep
• Waking up tired

Before we label the behavior, maybe we should look at how they're breathing.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

What if your child's ADHD-like symptoms aren't entirely about ADHD?

Hyperactivity.
Trouble focusing.
Irritability.
Behavior problems.

Research is finding an important connection between these symptoms and sleep-disordered breathing in kids.

[Kusha Karvandi @kushakarvandi]

Could mouth breathing affect your child's ability to LEARN?

A 2016 systematic review examined 10 studies involving school-aged children.

8 out of 10 studies (80%) found higher rates of learning difficulties among mouth breathers compared to nasal breathers.

The findings suggest that how children breathe may be connected to how they learn.