We often rely on subjective measures—looking in the mirror, timing a bike ride, feeling better, or general mood—to evaluate our overall health. However, they don’t always give a complete picture of your health. A blood test can show the actual status of various systems in your body, such as your cardiovascular system, immune system, and endocrine system.
Routine blood testing is essential if you are concerned about your well-being and general health. This is because a blood test will help you determine how your body changes over time and what illnesses you are likely to contract. A blood test will help you make well-informed decisions about your lifestyle. Being tested at routine intervals will help you to understand how your body changes over time and allow you to make informed decisions based around your health.
Blood is a rich source of information and blood biomarkers, such as hormones, cells, proteins, and nutrients can provide important insights into heart health, recovery, immune function, metabolic status, and more.
Most trackable metrics claim to reflect the status of numerous markers of health. However, the scientific quality and validity of these various metrics are markedly different, resulting in questionable relevance of the recommendations provided.
A blood test objectively identifies key biomarkers in your body, precisely and accurate.
Blood tests are a reliable form of data – the largest benefit for regular blood testing is that it offers a reliable measure for tracking your health and wellness
Diagnosing disease – early detection is key to treating many diseases. Blood testing is not a perfect way to find all diseases, but many diseases can be discovered via blood tests.
Checking your metabolism to find out if you are prediabetic – diabetes is one of the most common health issues facing individuals in society. Your blood tests are an insight into your metabolism and the chemical processes within your body.
Checking the function of your liver – one of the main functions of your liver is breaking down various toxins within the body. Your liver works as a kind of detoxification system. Issues you may have within your liver can be found in your blood tests.
Monitoring organ health – your kidneys are part of the urinary system and help regulate your blood. For example, your kidneys regulate blood pressure, pH level, mineral concentration and water composition of the blood.
Checking hormone levels – there are many important hormones in our body that regular blood tests can help us identify, such as testosterone and SBHG among various others.
Blood testing as a touchstone for your health – by frequently getting blood tests, you can be proactive about any health issues. You can use your blood tests as a touchstone to understand ongoing alterations in your blood. Your blood tests provide access to a several biomarkers that you can use to look at your changes across time.
The biggest benefit for regular blood testing is that it provides a reliable data point for measuring your health and wellness. There is a never-ending cycle of so-called what’s best for your health. From superfoods and diets to exercise and everything in between, it can be confusing to know what is best. Fortunately, your blood can provide data on your health and wellness. You can then use it to see if there are any issues and optimize for self-improvement.
Other measurement tools don’t offer this degree of reproducibility. For example, the estimated energy expenditure (or calories burned) from wearable devices like smartwatches are not reliable estimates and often significantly underestimate the value compared to indirect calorimetry (the gold standard).
If a metric is not providing you with reliable feedback, you’re likely to take a longer, more round-about path to your goals.
Blood biomarkers shift in response to lifestyle factors, including food choices, supplements, exercise, recovery, sleep patterns, and stress levels.
For example, eating oatmeal may significantly reduce LDL cholesterol, taking a curcumin supplement may improve creatine kinase, and getting at least seven hours of sleep each night helps lower hsCRP.
By regularly getting blood tests, you can be proactive about your health. You can use your blood tests as a tool to understand ongoing changes in your blood. Your blood tests provide access to a series of biomarkers that you can use to look at your changes across time. Specifically, according your health history and interventions like fitness, supplements and medicines, you can put changes in context. Your blood tests can help you chart progress. Your blood work can help you take positive steps towards self-improvement. Don’t treat disease. Optimize for health.