The argument, measured
A normal resultis a statement aboutwhat was measured.
Not about what wasn’t. Here is a routine adult panel, exactly as broad as it actually is.
Routine adult panel — schematic
Specimen: whole blood, serum
All flags: in range
A schematic of the tests on a routine adult blood panel, with standard adult reference ranges. No patient results are shown.
| Analyte | Reference | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Metabolic PanelCMP | |||
| Glucose, fasting | 70–99 | mg/dL | |
| Sodium | 135–145 | mmol/L | |
| Potassium | 3.5–5.2 | mmol/L | |
| Chloride | 96–106 | mmol/L | |
| Carbon dioxide | 23–29 | mmol/L | |
| Blood urea nitrogen | 7–20 | mg/dL | |
| Creatinine | 0.7–1.3 | mg/dL | |
| eGFR | > 60 | mL/min/1.73m² | |
| Calcium | 8.6–10.2 | mg/dL | |
| Albumin | 3.5–5.0 | g/dL | |
| Total protein | 6.0–8.3 | g/dL | |
| Bilirubin, total | 0.1–1.2 | mg/dL | |
| Alkaline phosphatase | 44–147 | U/L | |
| AST | 10–40 | U/L | |
| ALT | 7–56 | U/L | |
| Analyte | Reference | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lipid PanelLIPID | |||
| Cholesterol, total | < 200 | mg/dL | |
| LDL cholesterol, calculated | < 100 | mg/dL | |
| HDL cholesterol | > 40 | mg/dL | |
| Triglycerides | < 150 | mg/dL | |
| Analyte | Reference | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Blood CountCBC | |||
| White blood cells | 4.5–11.0 | 10³/µL | |
| Hemoglobin | 13.5–17.5 | g/dL | |
| Hematocrit | 38.8–50.0 | % | |
| Platelets | 150–450 | 10³/µL | |
| Analyte | Reference | Unit | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ThyroidTSH | |||
| Thyroid-stimulating hormone | 0.4–4.0 | mIU/L | |
Reference ranges are typical adult values and vary by laboratory.
The report says
Everything is normal.
What the report can say is narrower: every analyte drawn from this blood sample sits inside its reference range. That is a statement about 24 numbers in a tube — not about a body.
Lufkin’s argument
A result inside the reference range is not the same as a result you should want. He teaches the distinction between a “normal range” and an optimal target.
4 groups, 24 analytes. Schematic: real test names, real units, standard adult reference ranges, and no patient values shown.
Six measurements he
keeps pointing at.
This page is educational. It is not a diagnosis, not a recommendation to order any test, and not medical advice. Which tests are appropriate for you is a decision for you and your clinician. If something is wrong right now, get help immediately.
5 of them are not blood tests. A panel cannot return them — not because it failed, but because it was never looking.
Hemoglobin A1c
Blood
It is a blood test, but it is not part of a standard metabolic panel — it is ordered separately, and usually only once diabetes is already suspected.
Visceral fat
CT
Not a blood test. Blood chemistry cannot report where fat is distributed in the body — that requires cross-sectional imaging.
Coronary artery calcium score
CT
Not a blood test. A lipid panel reports circulating cholesterol; it does not show whether plaque has formed in an artery wall.
Arterial age
Derived from CT
Derived from imaging that a routine blood panel does not include.
Liver fat
CT
Liver enzymes (AST, ALT) can stay inside their reference range while fat accumulates. Quantifying the fat itself requires imaging.
Bone density
CT / DEXA
Not a blood test. Requires a densitometry or CT-based measurement.
Three diseases.
One argument.
We are taught to expect them separately, and to expect them with age.
Diabetes
Cancer
Alzheimer’s
Lufkin’s argument
Insulin resistance
Insulin resistance is the thread connecting diabetes, cancer and Alzheimer’s — the argument he sets out under the heading “Metabolic Syndrome: The Silent Killer?”
The only number on this page that is his, not the lab’s.
20–10 years earlier
the window he argues these open
Today
panel first flags something
Lufkin’s argumentThe markers he points to reveal metabolic dysfunction 10–20 years before a standard lab panel can detect anything wrong.
So ask for the ones that weren’t run.
The 5 numbers standard lab work routinely misses — what they measure, why they matter, and what you can actually do about them. That is what the free training covers — which measurements he asks for, and how to raise them with your own doctor.
The next step
Everything on this page is education. Taking it further means talking to a clinician.
The questionnaire is free and answering it commits you to nothing. Availability depends on where you are — see the current list of licensed states.