Blood biomarker tracking
What is blood biomarker tracking?
Blood biomarker tracking means ordering standard blood panels several times a year, such as metabolic panels, blood counts, lipids and CRP, and following the results over time. Some people turn them into a biological age score such as PhenoAge. Repeated tests show your personal baseline, but no trial shows that frequent self-testing helps you live longer.
Listed here because well-known people have tried it on themselves. Trying something is not recommending it; each entry says whether the person tells others to do it.
Who has tried it
Tried by 3 people we can source: 3 kept.
Kept
Mike LustgartenAging researcher at Tufts, host of Conquer Aging Or Die Trying
Started 2015 · Recommends it to others
Has run more than 70 blood tests since 2015 and logs diet, exercise, sleep and HRV for a week before each one to see what moves his PhenoAge; he tells beginners to start with a cheap standard panel rather than supplements.
“What I recommend people do and what I do is before every blood test, tracking diet, exercise, duration, sleep, HRV”
Business Insider, top Longevity World Cup finishers on their routines (August 2026) · Status checked November 1, 2026 · Suggest a correction
Bryan JohnsonEntrepreneur, founder of BlueprintBlueprint (Bryan Johnson)
Dates not stated · Recommends it to others
Lists a blood draw every 3 to 6 months under routine measurement and tells readers to measure their biomarkers to judge their diet; his company sells blood biomarker testing.
“Whatever your food preferences, it’s best if you measure your biomarkers to determine if the foods you eat are serving your body.”
Bryan Johnson, Bryan's Protocol (checked November 2026) · Status checked November 1, 2026 · Suggest a correction
Siim LandAuthor and YouTuber on fasting, metabolism and longevity
Dates not stated · Recommends it to others
Says he has done hundreds of blood tests and shares which markers he thinks matter; a month earlier he reported ranking first in the Longevity World Cup on blood-based biological age.
Siim Land, After 100s of blood tests, here's what I discovered matters, YouTube (August 2026) · Status checked November 1, 2026 · Suggest a correction
What the evidence shows
Scores built from routine blood tests do track risk. PhenoAge combines age with 9 standard blood markers and predicted death and disease in more than 11,000 US adults, even among people who seemed healthy [1]. A newer clock using up to 25 markers from UK Biobank predicted death somewhat better [2]. In a 2-year randomized trial, calorie restriction slowed the rise in blood-based biological age measures [3], so these scores can move with lifestyle change.
Repeated tests also make results easier to read. Each person's values sit in a narrow band inside the population reference range, and three earlier results are enough to estimate a personal range [4]. That is the main reason trackers test often: a change from your own baseline can matter even when a result is still "normal".
What is unknown is whether testing often improves health. No trial has tested frequent self-testing. Trials of general health checks in adults, which usually include blood tests, found no effect on deaths from any cause, cancer or heart disease [5]. More tests also mean more results outside the reference range by chance, which can start a chain of further tests and treatment [6]. Biological age scores are statistical estimates, and short-term swings are hard to interpret.
Safety
- With many markers, some results fall outside the reference range by chance; repeat a surprising result before acting on it.
- Consumer lab panels and biological age scores are not a diagnosis. Take results to a clinician rather than starting drugs or supplements on your own.
- Supplements and recent exercise can shift results: creatine raises creatinine, biotin can distort some hormone tests, and hard training raises muscle enzymes.
- Frequent testing costs money and can feed health anxiety; several presenters earn affiliate income from the labs they recommend.
Common questions
How often does Mike Lustgarten test his blood?
Often. He told Business Insider in 2026 that he has run more than 70 blood tests since 2015 and tracks his diet, exercise, sleep and HRV for at least a week before each one.
What is PhenoAge?
A biological age score built from your age and 9 routine blood markers, including albumin, creatinine, glucose, CRP and white blood cell measures. Higher scores predicted death and disease in a large US study [1].
Does regular blood testing help you live longer?
How often does Bryan Johnson get blood tests?
His published protocol lists a blood draw every 3 to 6 months, alongside a yearly full-body MRI after 40 and glucose monitoring.
Sources
- 1.Liu Z, Kuo PL, Horvath S, et al. A new aging measure captures morbidity and mortality risk across diverse subpopulations from NHANES IV: A cohort study. PLoS Med, 2018. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002718
- 2.Bortz J, Guariglia A, Klaric L, et al. Biological age estimation using circulating blood biomarkers. Commun Biol, 2023. doi:10.1038/s42003-023-05456-z
- 3.Belsky DW, Huffman KM, Pieper CF, et al. Change in the Rate of Biological Aging in Response to Caloric Restriction: CALERIE Biobank Analysis. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, 2017. doi:10.1093/gerona/glx096
- 4.Coşkun A, Sandberg S, Unsal I, et al. Personalized Reference Intervals in Laboratory Medicine: A New Model Based on Within-Subject Biological Variation. Clin Chem, 2021. doi:10.1093/clinchem/hvaa233
- 5.Krogsbøll LT, Jørgensen KJ, Gøtzsche PC. General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2019. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009009.pub3
- 6.Deyo RA. Cascade effects of medical technology. Annu Rev Public Health, 2002. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.23.092101.134534