7 Longevity Biomarkers Every Wellness Practitioner Should Be Tracking

Your clients may already be thinking about longevity, even if they haven’t used that word in conversation. They’re showing more interest in blood tests, supplements, wellness programs, wearables, hormone levels, and ways to stay healthier as they age. 

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According to a 2025 McKinsey survey, up to 60% of consumers say healthy aging is a top or very important priority. Their interests span everything from preventing chronic disease to maintaining energy, cognitive health, and independence later in life. 

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If you’re a wellness service provider, this interest in longevity care creates an opportunity to add more value and insight to the work you’re already doing with your clients. 

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Longevity biomarkers can reveal information about:

• Blood sugar
• Cardiovascular risk
• Inflammation
• Thyroid function
• Organ health, and
• Nutrient levels 
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A licensed clinician can use these insights to guide care, and you can use them to better support your clients. 

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What is longevity testing?

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Longevity testing uses blood tests and other health checks to find patterns or risk factors that might affect a person's health as they age. It's important to know that no single test can tell you how long you'll live. That's not what it's meant for. 

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Many people think that longevity care is about extending your years on Earth, but it's really about improving healthspan: the number of years you live in good health and free from chronic disease. 

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Longevity biomarker testing isn’t a replacement for regular medical checkups. Instead, it works alongside them, giving doctors more insight into a patient’s heart, metabolism, hormones, and organ health. 

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As a wellness provider working together with a clinician, the results from longevity testing can also help you create more tailored or personalized programs or follow-up interventions related to your client’s nutrition, fitness, weight management, or wellness. 

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7 biomarker panels for longevity 

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Complete blood count (CBC)

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A complete blood count, or CBC, measures: 

• Red blood cells
• White blood cells
• Platelets
• Monocyte to Lymphocyte ratio
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These cells carry oxygen through the body and support immune function. They also help with blood clotting.

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Hemoglobin, for example, is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Low levels can lead to fatigue and make workouts more of a challenge to push through, which may help explain why a client is struggling with training or recovery.

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Another marker, red cell distribution width (RDW), measures how much red blood cells vary in size.

In a study of 8,175 U.S. adults aged 45 and older, each 1% increase in RDW was linked to a 22% higher risk of death from any cause during follow-up. Other studies have also found similar links between higher RDW and mortality in older adults, although RDW itself isn’t a diagnosis or a standalone measure of biological aging.

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Cardiovascular risk: lipid panel, ApoB, and Lp(a)

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A standard lipid panel measures fats and cholesterol in the blood, including: 

• Triglycerides
• LDL
• HDL, and 
• Non-HDL cholesterol
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Doctors traditionally use this panel to determine the risk of plaque building up in the arteries. This buildup is a primary cause of not only heart attack and stroke, but dementia and even cancer. Coronary artery disease in particular remains the world's leading cause of death in both men and women, which suggests that additional risk factors need to be addressed when thinking about cardiovascular disease.

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ApoB provides another piece of information: it estimates the number of cholesterol-carrying particles that can contribute to plaque buildup. Lp(a) levels, meanwhile, are usually determined by genetics and can show cardiovascular risk that cholesterol, blood sugar, and inflammatory markers  may not.

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The American Heart Association's 2026 dyslipidemia guideline recommends measuring Lp(a) at least once and ApoB in adults with other metabolic risk factors such as insulin resistance, obesity, or high triglycerides, even if LDL is within goal. 

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Working with a licensed clinician to monitor your clients’ heart health through comprehensive testing beyond the standard lipid panel can help you create lifestyle modification plans or personalized programs that better fit their needs, while also tracking response to lifestyle changes, supplementation, and medications when appropriate.

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Seeing their blood test results improve over time can also motivate them to stick with your plans for the long term. 

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Inflammation: hs-CRP

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High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, or hs-CRP, measures low-grade inflammation in the body.

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Inflammation itself isn't bad. It is part of the immune system's normal response to infection and injury. The problem is with persistent inflammation that continues after the original threat is gone. Chronic stress and a poor diet, for example, can contribute to this ongoing response.

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Higher hs-CRP levels may be linked to a greater risk of heart disease, stroke, and age-related cognitive decline. In UK Biobank data following more than half a million people, those with hs-CRP levels of 2 mg/L or higher had a 22% higher risk of major cardiovascular events and a 34% higher risk of death from any cause than those with lower levels.

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Illness, injury, exercise, and even recent surgery can raise the levels of hs-CRP during testing, so it’s usually interpreted alongside the rest of a client's health information to determine if it is a reflection of chronic inflammation or a short-term change.

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Many people use GLP-1s to manage not only weight and insulin resistance, but reduce inflammation. hsCRP is a strong biomarker to use when monitoring response to treatment, in addition to symptoms and other biomarker shifts.

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Blood sugar and insulin: HbA1c and fasting insulin

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HbA1c shows a person's average blood sugar over roughly the previous three months, which makes it a very useful adjunct to fasting glucose measurements. Consistently high blood sugar is a problem — it can damage blood vessels, nerves, kidneys, and other tissues over time. It is important to note that an A1c test relies on hemoglobin, so anything that impacts hemoglobin will falsely impact an A1c - this is why it is important to have a holistic picture rather than rely on one test.

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Fasting insulin measures how much insulin is in your blood after you haven’t eaten for an extended period of time. It can give a clinician extra context about how hard your body is working to keep blood sugar in check, but it can’t diagnose insulin resistance on its own. 

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These longevity biomarkers can be especially helpful when a client struggles with symptoms like brain fog or fatigue, or are helpful when monitoring progress to identify when someone might need medical intervention on top of the services you already offer them.

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Thyroid: TSH and free thyroid hormones

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The thyroid produces hormones that influence almost every system in your body, such as:

• Metabolism
• Heart rate
• Mood and energy
• Gut function
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TSH is usually the first test used to evaluate thyroid function. A high TSH can mean that the thyroid isn't producing enough hormone, while a low level can mean excessive thyroid activity. 

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Free T4 helps show how much thyroid hormone is available to tissues, while T3 testing can provide more information in certain clinical situations.

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Thyroid dysfunction can affect energy, weight, heart health, and physical performance, so testing can help identify a medical issue rather than relying on  diet, motivation, or training.

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Liver and kidney function: ALT, AST, eGFR, and creatinine

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ALT and AST are enzymes typically included in blood tests to assess liver health and help diagnose chronic liver disease. Elevated levels might mean irritated or damaged liver cells, and most commonly is related to metabolic health, alcohol use, or certain medications - but the results alone don't reveal the cause. Notably, AST and ALT are not specific to the liver, which means intense exercise before a blood draw can raise these values temporarily, which is factored in when evaluating results.

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Creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) help clinicians assess how effectively the kidneys filter waste from the blood. 

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Tracking these markers over time is typically more useful than relying on a single result, since factors such as muscle mass, creatine, and recent exercise can also affect creatinine levels.

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These markers help the clinician overseeing your client's testing assess how well their body might process medications before recommending treatments or supplements. They can also help identify potential risks for chronic liver or kidney disease. 

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Nutrients: ferritin, vitamin D, B12, and magnesium 

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Nutrient testing can help identify deficiencies that may affect energy, muscle function, bone health, recovery, and overall wellbeing.

• Ferritin reflects the body's iron stores.
• Vitamin B12 supports healthy blood cells and nerve function.
• Vitamin D plays an important role in bone and muscle health.
• Magnesium is involved in hundreds of processes throughout the body.
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Together, these nutrients support essential functions that play a role in daily performance and long-term vitality. 

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The value of longevity care with these biomarkers isn't in chasing an “optimal” number for every nutrient. Instead, it’s in identifying a real deficiency or abnormal result that a clinician can interpret alongside symptoms, diet, medications, and the rest of the client's lab work.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Longevity Biomarkers

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What are the top 5 biomarkers for longevity?

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There isn't a universal top five. Cardiovascular markers, blood sugar measures, kidney function, inflammation, and blood-cell markers are typically used because they cover several major areas of long-term health risk. 

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The right panel still depends on the client's age, medical history, medications, symptoms, and existing risk factors.

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What are the longevity biomarkers used for?

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Longevity biomarkers measure health factors that can change over time or reveal risks that aren't obvious from how a person looks or feels presently. They can help clinicians identify areas that need further investigation and track whether metabolic, cardiovascular, or other health markers are improving.

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What increases longevity the most? 

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There isn't a supplement or treatment that guarantees a longer life or better healthspan. Some of the strongest modifiable factors linked with longer, healthier lives include: 

• Avoiding tobacco
• Healthy sleep
• Staying physically active
• Eating a balanced diet
• Emotional wellbeing and connectedness
• Getting appropriate preventive care, and 
• Controlling conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes
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CDC states tobacco use, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, loneliness, and excessive alcohol use are among the major preventable drivers of chronic disease.

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How often should longevity biomarkers be tested? 

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A clinician might order repeat testing sooner when monitoring a treatment or an abnormal result, while stable results might need less frequent testing. Some measurements also don't need regular repetition. 

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Lp(a), for example, is largely genetically determined, and current cardiovascular guidelines by the American Heart Association recommend measuring it at least once in adulthood.

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Bring longevity testing into your practice with clinical support 

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Longevity biomarker testing can add more to your wellness programs by giving you and your clients measurable health data to work from. 

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But now you may be wondering: “How do I introduce longevity testing without taking on clinical responsibilities that fall outside my scope?”

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The simplest route is to work with a clinical partner that fits into how your business already operates. With Altro Health, you can offer lab testing through licensed clinicians who handle the medical side of care, from ordering tests and interpreting results to recommending treatment when appropriate. If your client needs prescription support, such as weight management medication or hormone therapy, Altro Health also coordinates with pharmacy partners as part of the care process.

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References

The $2 trillion global wellness market gets a millennial and Gen Z glow-up | McKinsey & Company

Red Blood Cell Distribution Width and the Risk of Death in Middle-aged and Older Adults | JAMA Network

Red Cell Distribution Width and Mortality in Older Adults: A Meta-analysis | Oxford Academic

2026 Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia | American Heart Association

C-reactive protein and cardiovascular risk in the general population | biobank

Preventing Chronic Diseases: What You Can Do Now | CDC

Top Things to Know: Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia | American Heart Association

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