Biomarkers: Going Beyond “Normal”

By Margie Ploch, August 1, 2022

 

Do you have an annual blood test at your doctor’s office? If you do, then you’re probably used to getting a follow-up postcard in the mail that says your blood test was “normal.” You may not know which blood tests your doctor ordered, let alone what your results actually were. image

Blood tests measure biomarkers that can give you a detailed picture of what is happening inside yourself. But if all you get is that postcard in the mail that says your results are “normal,” you don’t learn very much.

InsideTracker scientists wanted to take people beyond “normal” and to empower them with real, actionable data from their blood tests. First, they looked at the more than 3000 biomarkers that can be tested in the blood, and then determined which ones are the most essential to overall well-being and performance. Some of these biomarkers, such as cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose, are typically in the standard blood test. But many other important ones, including vitamin D, C-reactive protein, and testosterone, are not typically included.

Click here to learn how InsideTracker can help you optimize your health by testing your blood!

So InsideTracker team derived a small group of essential biomarkers. Then they went a step farther and developed a cutting-edge algorithm that determines not just your “normal” range for each biomarker, but also your personal “optimal” range based on your unique characteristics including age, gender, ethnicity, height, weight, activity level, and lifestyle goals. Research has shown that improving your biomarkers into your optimal zone can increase your well-being and performance beyond what you would achieve in the normal range.

How can you improve your biomarkers?

Great, so now that you have all that information, what do you do? In addition to showing you your blood results and how they compare to your optimal zone, InsideTracker gives you recommendations for food, exercise, lifestyle and supplement changes that you can make to improve any biomarkers that are out of your optimal zone. All the recommendations are based on evidence from peer-reviewed scientific papers.

Remember that postcard from your doctor? Here’s what you get from InsideTracker to empower you to take charge of your own well-being:

Graphs showing you how your blood results compare to your personalized optimal ranges based on your age, gender, ethnicity, athletic activity, all based on peer-reviewed scientific publications (exclusively available from InsideTracker) Graphs showing your progress over time based on follow-up blood tests Explanations of the role that each biomarker plays in your health and athletic performance (all based on peer-reviewed scientific publications, including links to the original paper) A unique food plan that is customized to fit your individual needs and preferences, extracted from a database of 7,500 unique food items. Lifestyle, exercise, and supplement recommendations for improving biomarkers that are out of your optimized zone (all based on peer-reviewed scientific publications, including links to the original paper)

Which biomarkers does InsideTracker measure?

Each InsideTracker Plan measures a different subset of biomarkers. In this blog, we are going to focus no the Fitness and Performance plans which each include a blood draw at one of 1500 participating blood testing facilities around the US. The Fitness Plan includes key 12 biomarkers related to energy, metabolism, bone and muscle health, strength, endurance, and brain and body health:

Glucose (blood sugar) Cholesterol LDL HDL Triglycerides Calcium Vitamin D Hemoglobin Ferritin Creatine Kinase Magnesium Folic Acid

The Performance Plan includes 20 biomarkers that focus on helping you to optimize healthy living, improve athletic performance, and reduce injury:

Glucose (blood sugar) Cholesterol LDL HDL Triglycerides Calcium Vitamin D Hemoglobin Ferritin Creatine Kinase Magnesium Folic Acid Testosterone Vitamin B12 Potassium Sodium Zinc Chromium C-reactive Protein White Blood Cell Count

But don’t assume that the Performance Plan is just for athletes! Many InsideTracker customers are business leaders who know that optimizing their well-being gives them an edge at work as well as in a road race. Visit InsideTracker and view our live, free demo to learn more about which biomarkers are most important and how to reach your optimal zone.

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