Blood Markers & Biological Age — What to Actually Test

Biological age — measured via blood markers, epigenetic clocks, or composite indices — is the operational target of every serious longevity protocol. The standard annual physical doesn't measure it. The standard lipid panel doesn't measure it. What does measure it is a specific set of biomarkers that the longevity-focused clinicians (Attia, Means, Dayspring, Bhatt, Boz) have converged on over the past decade.

The high-leverage panel: apoB (not LDL-C), Lp(a) once in your life, hs-CRP, homocysteine, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, HbA1c, the Omega-3 Index, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, ferritin, ALT, GGT, full thyroid panel including T3 and T4, sex hormones with appropriate age framing, and IGF-1. The optional layer: comprehensive epigenetic age clock (Horvath, GrimAge, PhenoAge), advanced lipid sub-fractionation, continuous glucose monitoring for 14+ day windows, and the inflammation panel.

The reference ranges most clinical labs use are designed for "not yet sick." The longevity-relevant optimal ranges are tighter. The Decode Your Biology guide covers the exact thresholds.

Research Library — full deep-dives on this topic

• 10 Longevity Blood Markers Your Doctor Probably Isn't Running
  apoB, Lp(a), hs-CRP, homocysteine, fasting insulin, Omega-3 Index, ferritin — and the optimal-range thresholds for each.
• The Multivitamin Myth: Why 27 Years of RCTs Show No Lifespan Benefit
  Why you test first, then target the actual deficiency — not the other way around.
• The Longevity Wearables Stack: CGM, HRV, and the Numbers That Matter
  Continuous data layered on top of the quarterly blood panel.
• PFAS in Tap Water: The Longevity Case for Research-Grade Home Filtration
  EPA enforceable MCLs, NSF/ANSI 53 P473 certification, and the dose-response on home filtration as a one-time hardware decision.
• Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Healthy Adults
  14 days of data exposes individual food maps, dawn phenomenon, sleep-glucose links, exercise disposal — the longevity-specific targets distinct from diabetes management.
• apoB and Lp(a): The Cardiovascular Markers That Replace the Lipid Panel
  Why particle count beats cholesterol content. The Attia/Dayspring framework, the 2024 European consensus, longevity-specific targets, and how to get the tests run.
• The Omega-3 Index: What 8% Means and Why Most Adults Don't Know Their Number
  Harris/von Schacky red-blood-cell membrane biomarker. Below 4% = 10× higher sudden cardiac death risk vs above 8%. Dose-response, fish oil vs algal, integration with apoB.
• Vitamin D Personalized Dosing — Why 600 IU Is the Wrong Number for Most Adults
  40% of US adults are deficient. The 40-60 ng/mL longevity target, Heaney dose-response (1 ng/mL per 100 IU), D3 vs D2, and the K2 + magnesium cofactor dependencies.

The supplements built on this research

Go deeper

The longevity research community has converged on the apoB / Lp(a) / Omega-3 Index / homocysteine / hs-CRP panel as the operational standard for advanced cardiovascular-cognitive risk stratification. For the full biomarker panel + optimal ranges + intervention decision tree see Decode Your Biology.