Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced
Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced is a blood test panel covering lipids, glucose control, inflammation, thyroid, liver, kidney, and key nutrients.
This panel bundles multiple biomarker tests in one order—your report explains how results fit together.
Keto can change your labs even when you feel great—and sometimes the scale and your bloodwork tell different stories. This advanced panel is designed to look at the common “keto pattern” questions in one draw: how your lipids are shifting, whether glucose and insulin are improving, whether inflammation is trending up or down, and whether thyroid, liver, kidney, electrolytes, or key nutrients look stressed by your current approach.
Because this is a lab panel (not a single test), the value is in how the results fit together. One out-of-range marker rarely tells the whole story; patterns across lipids, insulin signaling, and organ function usually explain more than any single number.
Do I need this panel?
You might consider the Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced if you are running a low-carb or ketogenic diet and you want objective feedback beyond weight changes. This is especially useful when your weight loss has plateaued, your energy or sleep has changed, your workouts feel different, or you are trying to compare keto to another fueling strategy (higher-carb, Mediterranean, intermittent fasting, or a GLP-1 plan).
This panel can also be a smart choice if you have a personal or family history of high cholesterol, early heart disease, fatty liver, prediabetes, or thyroid issues. Keto can improve some risk markers while worsening others, and you usually need more than a basic lipid panel to see what is actually happening.
If you are using a GLP-1 medication (or recently stopped one), this panel can help you separate medication effects from diet effects—particularly for appetite-driven calorie reduction, triglycerides, and liver enzymes—while keeping an eye on safety markers like kidney function and electrolytes.
Your results are best used to support clinician-directed care and individualized decisions, not self-diagnosis. If anything looks significantly abnormal, you should review it with a qualified clinician—especially if you have symptoms, are pregnant, or take prescription medications.
This panel is run on standard CLIA-certified laboratory methods; reference ranges and units can vary by lab, so interpretation should focus on trends and patterns rather than a single cutoff.
Lab testing
Ready to order the Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced?
Schedule online, results typically within about a week
Clear reporting and optional clinician context
HSA/FSA eligible where applicable
Get this panel with Vitals Vault
Vitals Vault makes it straightforward to order a multi-marker lab panel when you want real feedback on how your current diet is affecting your metabolism. You can use this panel as a baseline before starting keto, as a check-in after 6–12 weeks, or as a repeat panel to track trends over time.
After you get results, you can use PocketMD to ask questions like “Is this a typical keto lipid pattern?”, “Do these insulin markers match my fasting routine?”, or “Which results suggest I should widen my workup?” The goal is to help you connect the dots across multiple biomarkers—lipids, glucose control, inflammation, thyroid, and organ function—so you can make safer, more sustainable adjustments.
If your results suggest you need a broader view (for example, persistent insulin resistance, unexplained fatigue, or complex lipid changes), you can expand to a more comprehensive metabolic panel through Vitals Vault rather than guessing which single add-on to order next.
- Order a single blood draw panel instead of piecing together individual tests
- Designed for trend tracking (baseline → repeat) during diet changes
- PocketMD support to interpret patterns across multiple results
- Clear next-step framing when results suggest you should widen testing
Key benefits of Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced
- Shows whether keto is improving glucose control by looking at fasting glucose, A1c, and insulin together.
- Goes beyond a basic cholesterol test with ApoB and LDL particle measures to clarify lipid-related risk patterns.
- Flags common keto-related shifts like rising LDL-C with low triglycerides and higher HDL, and helps you interpret what that combination may mean for you.
- Checks inflammation and liver enzymes to spot signals that your current approach may be stressing recovery, liver health, or overall cardiometabolic risk.
- Screens thyroid patterns that can change with calorie restriction, rapid weight loss, or low-carb intake and may affect energy and weight trends.
- Includes kidney function and electrolytes to support safety—especially if you are dehydrated, training hard, or using diuretics/GLP-1s.
- Helps identify nutrient gaps that can show up on elimination-style diets (for example vitamin D, B12, folate, iron status, and magnesium).
What is the Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced panel?
The Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced is a bundled blood test panel that measures multiple biomarkers commonly affected by low-carb and ketogenic diets. Instead of focusing on one analyte, it is built to answer practical questions like: Are you actually becoming more insulin sensitive? Are lipid changes a simple “keto pattern,” or do they suggest higher atherogenic particle burden? Are your liver, kidneys, and electrolytes keeping up with your current training, hydration, and supplement routine?
A typical keto transition changes how you store and use fuel. Many people see lower triglycerides and higher HDL-C, but some see meaningful increases in LDL-C and ApoB. Some people see rapid improvements in fasting insulin, while others still show insulin resistance despite low carbs (often related to sleep, stress, total calories, protein intake, or underlying metabolic health). This panel is designed to help you interpret those differences using multiple data points.
Because this is an “advanced” panel, it usually includes expanded lipid risk markers (like apolipoprotein B and particle counts), insulin markers, inflammation, thyroid screening, and nutrient status. The most useful interpretation comes from looking at clusters: lipid particle burden plus inflammation, insulin plus triglycerides, thyroid plus symptoms and calorie intake, and kidney/electrolytes plus hydration and medications.
If you are experimenting with keto for weight loss, metabolic health, endurance performance, or appetite control, this panel can help you make changes based on physiology rather than guesswork.
What do my panel results mean?
Low (or lower-than-expected) patterns in this panel
A “low” pattern in a keto-focused panel often shows up as low fasting insulin and low triglycerides, sometimes with lower fasting glucose and a stable or improving A1c. That combination can be consistent with improved insulin sensitivity, especially if liver enzymes and inflammation markers are also low. However, “low” can also be a warning sign in certain contexts—such as low thyroid signals (for example low free T3) alongside fatigue, cold intolerance, hair shedding, or stalled weight loss, which can happen with aggressive calorie restriction or rapid weight loss. Low ferritin or low-normal B12/folate can also explain low energy or poor training tolerance even when glucose markers look great.
Optimal patterns in this panel
An “optimal” pattern is when multiple systems point in the same healthy direction: triglycerides are low, HDL-C is supportive, insulin and glucose markers are in a healthy range, ApoB and LDL particle measures are not elevated, hs-CRP is low, and liver/kidney markers look stable. Thyroid markers are also steady without a pattern that suggests under-fueling. Nutrient markers (vitamin D, B12, folate, iron status, magnesium) are adequate, which supports energy, recovery, and adherence. In practice, optimal results usually mean your current keto approach is working for you and is likely safe to continue while you monitor trends.
High (or higher-risk) patterns in this panel
A “high” pattern can mean different things depending on which group of markers is elevated. The most common keto-specific concern is a rise in LDL-C accompanied by high ApoB and/or high LDL particle number, which suggests a higher number of atherogenic particles even if triglycerides are low. Another high-risk pattern is elevated fasting insulin or A1c despite low carbs, which can signal persistent insulin resistance, inadequate sleep, high stress hormones, or a mismatch between calories, protein, and activity. Elevated ALT/AST (liver enzymes) or higher hs-CRP can suggest inflammation, fatty liver risk, overtraining/poor recovery, alcohol effects, or another medical issue that deserves follow-up. Abnormal kidney markers or electrolyte imbalances are less common but important—especially if you are dehydrated, using diuretics, or experiencing frequent cramps, palpitations, or dizziness.
Factors that influence keto panel results
Your panel results are influenced by more than macros. Recent weight loss (or weight regain), total calorie intake, alcohol, sleep quality, and training load can shift glucose, liver enzymes, inflammation, and thyroid markers. Lipid markers can change with saturated fat intake, fiber intake, genetics (including familial hypercholesterolemia patterns), thyroid status, and how long you have been keto-adapted. Hydration and sodium intake can affect kidney markers and electrolytes, and supplements (magnesium, creatine, biotin, high-dose vitamin D) can alter specific labs or their interpretation. Medications also matter: GLP-1s, statins, thyroid hormone, steroids, oral contraceptives, and some blood pressure medications can shift lipids, glucose markers, and electrolytes. The most reliable way to interpret this panel is to consider your symptoms, your routine over the prior 2–4 weeks, and whether you are trending in a consistent direction across related markers.
Biomarkers included in this panel
- Absolute Band Neutrophils
- Absolute Basophils
- Absolute Blasts
- Absolute Eosinophils
- Absolute Lymphocytes
- Absolute Metamyelocytes
- Absolute Monocytes
- Absolute Myelocytes
- Absolute Neutrophils
- Absolute Nucleated Rbc
- Absolute Plasma Cells
- Absolute Prolymphocytes
- Absolute Promyelocytes
- Absolute Reactive Lymphocytes
- Albumin
- Albumin/Globulin Ratio
- Alkaline Phosphatase
- Alt
- Amorphous Sediment
- Appearance
- Ast
- Bacteria
- Band Neutrophils
- Basophils
- Bilirubin
- Bilirubin, Total
- Blasts
- Bun/Creatinine Ratio
- C-Peptide
- Calcium
- Calcium Oxalate Crystals
- Carbon Dioxide
- Casts
- Chloride
- Chol/Hdlc Ratio
- Cholesterol, Total
- Color
- Creatinine
- Crystals
- Egfr
- Eosinophils
- Ferritin
- Free T4 Index (T7)
- Globulin
- Glucose
- Granular Cast
- Hdl Cholesterol
- Hdl Large
- Hematocrit
- Hemoglobin
- Hemoglobin A1C
- Hs Crp
- Hyaline Cast
- Insulin
- Ketones
- Ldl-Cholesterol
- Ldl Medium
- Ldl Particle Number
- Ldl Pattern
- Ldl Peak Size
- Ldl Small
- Leptin
- Leukocyte Esterase
- Lipoprotein (A)
- Lymphocytes
- Mch
- Mchc
- Mcv
- Metamyelocytes
- Monocytes
- Mpv
- Myelocytes
- Neutrophils
- Nitrite
- Non Hdl Cholesterol
- Nucleated Rbc
- Occult Blood
- Ph
- Plasma Cells
- Platelet Count
- Potassium
- Prolymphocytes
- Promyelocytes
- Protein
- Protein, Total
- Rbc
- Rdw
- Reactive Lymphocytes
- Red Blood Cell Count
- Renal Epithelial Cells
- Sodium
- Specific Gravity
- Squamous Epithelial Cells
- T3, Free
- T4 (Thyroxine), Total
- Transitional Epithelial Cells
- Triglycerides
- Triple Phosphate Crystals
- Tsh
- Urea Nitrogen (Bun)
- Uric Acid
- Uric Acid Crystals
- Vitamin D, 25-Oh, D2
- Vitamin D, 25-Oh, D3
- Vitamin D, 25-Oh, Total
- Wbc
- White Blood Cell Count
- Yeast
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to fast for the Keto Lab Test Panel Advanced?
Fasting is usually recommended because the panel includes triglycerides, fasting glucose, and fasting insulin. A typical fast is 8–12 hours with water allowed. If you cannot fast safely (for example, due to diabetes medications or pregnancy), ask your clinician how to prepare and note it when interpreting results.
How soon after starting keto should I run this panel?
A practical approach is to test at baseline (before or within the first week), then repeat after about 8–12 weeks of consistent eating. Lipids can shift quickly early on, while A1c reflects roughly the prior 2–3 months, so timing matters if you want a clean “before and after.”
Why can LDL cholesterol rise on keto even if triglycerides improve?
On low-carb diets, triglycerides often fall and HDL-C often rises, but LDL-C can increase in some people due to changes in fat intake, weight loss dynamics, thyroid status, and genetics. This is why the advanced panel includes ApoB and LDL particle measures—those help estimate atherogenic particle burden, which can be more informative than LDL-C alone.
If my ApoB or LDL-P is high, does that mean keto is unsafe for me?
Not automatically. A high ApoB/LDL-P pattern is a signal to take the result seriously and review it in context: family history, blood pressure, inflammation markers, glucose control, thyroid status, and your overall risk profile. Many people can improve the pattern with targeted changes (fat quality, fiber, calories, weight stability, thyroid evaluation) or medical management when appropriate. Use a clinician to decide next steps.
Can GLP-1 medications affect these results?
Yes. GLP-1s can lower appetite and body weight, which can improve triglycerides, glucose, insulin, and liver enzymes. They can also change hydration and food intake patterns, which may influence electrolytes and nutrient status. If you are on a GLP-1, interpret results as “diet + medication” unless you have a stable routine and consistent dosing.
Is it better to order this panel or pick individual tests?
If your goal is to understand how keto is affecting your body, a panel is usually more efficient because it captures related markers in one draw and makes pattern interpretation easier (lipids + ApoB/particles + insulin markers + inflammation + organ function). Individual tests can make sense when you are monitoring one known issue (for example, repeating ApoB after a change), but they are easier to misread in isolation.
What should I do if my thyroid markers look “off” on keto?
Do not change thyroid medication on your own. Low-carb diets, calorie restriction, and rapid weight loss can shift thyroid markers—especially free T3—without always indicating true hypothyroidism. If you have symptoms or a persistent pattern (for example abnormal TSH and free T4, or positive TPO antibodies), discuss it with a clinician and consider repeat testing when your intake and weight are stable.