List of Blood Tests for Preventive Health Tracking

Preventive health tracking is less about chasing “perfect” numbers and more about building an early-warning system you can actually act on. The right lab markers help you spot silent trends (insulin resistance, inflammation, liver workload, nutrient depletion) months or years before symptoms show up.

Below is a practical list of blood tests to consider for preventive health tracking, plus how to use them as a repeatable system.

How to use a preventive lab “stack” (so it’s not just data)

A single lab value is a snapshot. Preventive tracking works when you treat labs like a dashboard:

• Start with a baseline (when you feel “normal”) so future changes are interpretable.
• Retest consistently (same lab method when possible, similar time of day, similar fasting state).
• Look for patterns across related biomarkers rather than one flagged result.
• Tie results to decisions: nutrition changes, training adjustments, sleep and stress interventions, medication review with your clinician, or deeper testing.

If you’re choosing tests for the first time, aim for a core set that covers the major longevity domains: cardiometabolic risk, liver and kidney function, inflammation, blood health, thyroid, and key nutrients.

Core blood tests for preventive health tracking (most adults)

These are the “foundation” labs that make it easier to interpret everything else.

Complete Blood Count (CBC)

A CBC is a broad view of oxygen-carrying capacity, immune status, and clotting components.

What it helps track:

• Anemia patterns and red blood cell indices
• Infection or immune activation signals
• Platelet trends that can reflect inflammation or bone marrow stress

Common components include WBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCV, RDW, and platelets.

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)

A CMP is one of the highest-value preventive panels because it touches liver, kidney, electrolytes, and protein status.

What it helps track:

• Kidney filtration proxies (especially creatinine)
• Electrolyte balance (sodium, potassium, chloride, CO2/bicarbonate)
• Liver enzymes and bilirubin patterns
• Protein status (albumin, total protein)

Fasting glucose and HbA1c

These are core markers for metabolic health.

• Fasting glucose is a point-in-time reading.
• HbA1c reflects average blood sugar over roughly 2 to 3 months.

For screening context, the USPSTF recommends screening adults 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Lipid panel (and beyond)

A standard lipid panel typically includes total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, and triglycerides. It’s useful, but for preventive tracking, many people add more specific risk markers.

High-impact add-ons for longevity and cardiometabolic risk

If your goal is proactive prevention, these tend to provide more actionable signal than “basic” labs alone.

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)

ApoB is a proxy for the number of atherogenic particles that can enter the artery wall. Many preventive clinicians use ApoB to refine cardiovascular risk beyond LDL-C.

Related Vitals Vault resource: Apolipoprotein B

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a))

Lp(a) is largely genetic and is often measured at least once in adulthood to identify hidden inherited risk.

Related Vitals Vault resource: Lipoprotein(a)

High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)

hs-CRP is a widely used marker of systemic inflammation and is often tracked alongside lipids and glucose for cardiometabolic risk.

Related Vitals Vault resource: hs-CRP

Fasting insulin (often paired with fasting glucose)

Fasting insulin can help detect early insulin resistance even when glucose and HbA1c still look “normal.” It is best interpreted in context rather than alone.

Liver workload and metabolic strain markers

Your liver sits at the intersection of alcohol exposure, fatty liver risk, medication metabolism, and metabolic health. These labs are useful for both prevention and performance.

ALT and AST

ALT and AST are enzymes that can rise with liver stress, muscle injury, medications, and other conditions. Trends matter.

Vitals Vault resource if you want deeper interpretation: AST

GGT

GGT is often discussed as a sensitive marker of liver workload and oxidative stress exposure, particularly in the context of alcohol use and fatty liver risk.

Vitals Vault resource: GGT

Total bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase (ALP)

These can help contextualize liver and bile flow patterns (especially when interpreted with GGT, ALT, and AST).

Kidney health markers (blood-focused)

Creatinine (and calculated eGFR)

Creatinine is a foundational kidney marker. eGFR is typically calculated from creatinine (and sometimes includes age and sex). Interpretation should consider muscle mass, hydration, and recent intense exercise.

Electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, CO2)

Electrolytes can shift with hydration, diet, medications, adrenal issues, kidney function changes, and endurance training load.

Iron status and blood health

Iron markers are a frequent source of confusion because inflammation, infection, and training stress can distort interpretation.

Ferritin

Ferritin reflects iron storage but is also an acute phase reactant, meaning it can rise with inflammation.

Vitals Vault resource: Ferritin

Serum iron and transferrin saturation

These help contextualize ferritin and can clarify whether you’re dealing with iron deficiency, iron overload patterns, or inflammation-related shifts.

Nutrients commonly worth tracking

These are popular in preventive programs because they are modifiable, and deficiencies can quietly undermine energy, mood, immune function, and training adaptation.

Vitamin D (25-OH)

Vitamin D status is common to track because it is influenced by latitude, season, skin exposure, and supplementation.

Vitals Vault resource: Vitamin D, 25-Oh, Total

Vitamin B12 (often paired with folate)

B12 and folate status matters for red blood cell formation and neurologic function. If B12 is borderline, many clinicians pair it with functional markers.

Homocysteine

Homocysteine can function as a “metabolic stress” marker influenced by B vitamins, genetics, thyroid status, kidney function, and lifestyle.

Vitals Vault resource: Homocysteine

Thyroid labs for energy, weight, and lipid context

Thyroid function affects cholesterol handling, heart rate, body temperature, and energy. For preventive tracking, a common starting point is:

• TSH
• Free T4
• Free T3 (often added if symptoms persist)

Autoimmune thyroid risk is often evaluated with thyroid antibodies (TPO and Tg antibodies) when clinically appropriate.

Hormones and performance tracking (optional, but high value for many)

Hormone testing can be helpful when it’s tied to a specific question (fatigue, libido changes, sleep disruption, fertility planning, recovery issues). In preventive programs, common blood tests include:

• Total testosterone and free testosterone
• Estradiol (method matters, many clinicians prefer LC-MS/MS for accuracy at lower ranges)
• DHEA-S
• Cortisol (timing matters)
• Gonadotropins such as LH and FSH when investigating fertility or testosterone patterns

Because hormones follow daily rhythms and respond to sleep, alcohol, training, and calorie intake, consistency in timing is crucial for trend tracking.

A practical “cheat sheet” table: what each test category tells you

How often to test (general cadence for tracking trends)

The ideal frequency depends on risk level and whether you’re actively changing something.

If you’re using labs to guide decisions, consistency matters more than chasing ultra-frequent testing.

Prep tips that improve the accuracy of preventive lab tracking

A few controllable variables can make your results far more comparable over time:

• Fast consistently if you are checking fasting glucose, insulin, triglycerides, or certain lipid markers (your clinician may recommend 8 to 12 hours).
• Avoid heavy training the day before if you are tracking liver enzymes (AST/ALT) or muscle-influenced markers.
• Limit alcohol for several days before testing when you are investigating liver markers like GGT.
• Hydrate normally (over-hydration and dehydration can both skew labs).
• Test at the same time of day for hormones and cortisol whenever possible.

Also document what changed before a draw (illness, travel, new supplements, poor sleep week) so you can interpret outliers with context.

Turning a list of blood tests into an actual preventive program

A list is useful, but the leverage comes from:

• Choosing a panel that covers the basics plus your personal risk areas
• Getting interpretation that connects biomarkers to next steps
• Tracking progress over time instead of treating labs as a once-a-year event

Vitals Vault is designed for that workflow: you can order comprehensive panels (100 to 160+ biomarkers) without a doctor referral, get clinician-reviewed insights in days, and follow longevity protocols tailored to your biology. Plans start at $99, are HSA/FSA eligible nationwide, and include a guarantee of at least 3 actionable insights or your money back.

If you want help interpreting patterns across markers (instead of guessing at isolated flags), you can also read the Vitals Vault guide to reading blood test results or explore the testing options at Vitals Vault.

Important note

This article is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. If you have symptoms, abnormal results, or chronic conditions, review your testing plan and results with a licensed clinician.