LEVL breathalyzer can tell whether you’re burning fat
We do all kinds of things to get in better shape this time of year. We diet, exercise and — with the latest gadgets — try to count every step, bite and snore along the way. But a new fitness gadget called LEVL is taking a different approach. It’s a smartphone-connected breathalyzer that measures whether your body is burning fat — from your breath.
I tried it out at CES in Las Vegas. The way it works is really simple: Blow into the film-canister-shaped tube that’s connected via Bluetooth to an app on your smartphone, and within a few seconds, a nearby sensor (Pod) the size of a tissue box detects and translates levels of acetone in your breath.
Apparently, when your body’s burning fat, it generates acetone, LEVL creators said. This is the sort of information you used to only be able to find out in a lab or doctor’s office, but the LEVL will offer it in real time.
Will this help track your health better than stepping on a scale or counting your steps? LEVL says yes: Current fitness trackers look at what’s going on outside your body, while LEVL gives you a better look at what’s happening inside. Your Apple Watch can tell you how many steps you took and what your heart rate was, but it doesn’t know whether you were burning fat, losing weight or actually getting more fit. Even a scale doesn’t give you a clear picture of your health because a lower number might just mean you’re a bit dehydrated, while a higher reading could be an indication that you’re gaining muscle, even as you’re losing fat.
Brad Root, the founder and president of LEVL, says conversations about fitness need to change to talk about fat loss rather than weight loss. “We have relied for too many years on the number on the scale, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. With LEVL, people can understand their body’s metabolic state and make plans based on what will work for them.”
That still sounds a bit complicated to me, but I’m always game to try out something to help me get and stay healthier. I remember the whole Atkins-diet ketosis fad — when all my friends were buying pee-sticks to measure fat burning. This is a whole lot cooler, and cleaner, than that, for sure. The detail of LEVL’s data is something fitness tracking could sorely use, considering trackers are notoriously inaccurate — some off by as much as 23%. Even so, these gadgets can make good general gauges of your activity, showing your personal trends over time as well as when you’re less active and more active.
The downside for this particular type of tech will be the cost (expected in the $500 range) and the time it takes for your breath’s acetone levels to change. Acetone levels will increase over the course of three to seven days when you’re burning more fat and decrease over one to two days when you’re burning less.