A lab report reads your results against biomarker reference ranges for cardiometabolic health and tells you whether each number is inside the population's range. It rarely tells you whether the number is right for the life you intend to keep living. The distinction between reference range and clinical target is the whole reason a Biomarker Audit exists. It is also the reason a panel read once by a portal message is not the same thing as a panel read four times a year by a clinician who knows you.
Below are the reference ranges most United States labs print for the core cardiometabolic markers, alongside the tighter targets many lipid and metabolic specialists work to when the goal is prevention rather than population screening. Every range carries the same two warnings, so we will state them once here and let the table carry the rest. Labs vary in their units and their cutoffs. And a reference range describes the average result of the people who get tested, which is not the same as the result that predicts a good decade.
- A reference range says where the tested population sits. A clinical target says what lowers risk for you specifically.
- HbA1c below 5.7 percent, ApoB below 90 mg/dL and hs-CRP below 1.0 mg/dL are commonly cited starting points for cardiometabolic health.
- Lp(a) is largely inherited and is measured once to inform lifetime risk, then tracked alongside ApoB.
- GoodLife Health includes one full Biomarker Audit every 90 days, four per year, inside the $299 monthly membership.
The ranges, side by side
| Marker | Common lab reference range | Tighter target many clinicians pursue | Why the target differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| HbA1c | Below 5.7 percent is normal | Below 5.7 percent, with trend watched every 90 days | 5.7 to 6.4 percent is prediabetes and the trend matters before the label |
| Fasting glucose | Below 100 mg/dL is normal | Below 100 mg/dL with fasting insulin read alongside it | Glucose is late to move in the insulin resistance process |
| Fasting insulin | Lab ranges vary widely, often roughly 2 to 25 uIU/mL | Many clinicians look for single digits | Population ranges include people whose insulin has already compensated for years |
| LDL cholesterol | Below 100 mg/dL is optimal | Below 100 mg/dL, judged with ApoB | LDL mass and particle count are related but not identical |
| ApoB | Below 90 mg/dL for most adults | Below 70 to 80 mg/dL when risk factors stack | ApoB counts the atherogenic particles directly |
| Lp(a) | Below 30 mg/dL or 75 nmol/L depending on assay | Measured once, then treated as a fixed risk input | Lp(a) is largely inherited and sets the lifetime risk floor |
| hs-CRP | Below 1.0 mg/dL is lower cardiovascular risk | Below 1.0 mg/dL and stable | Inflammation moves with illness and training, so the pattern matters |
| Triglycerides | Below 150 mg/dL is normal | Below 100 mg/dL when insulin resistance is present | Triglycerides track closely with metabolic health |
| Blood pressure | Below 120 over 80 | Below 120 over 80 confirmed across readings | One office reading is a snapshot of a moving number |
| TSH | Roughly 0.4 to 4.0 mIU/L | Judged against symptoms, not the range alone | A normal TSH can coexist with symptoms that need attention |
Why the population range is not the goal
A reference range is built from the distribution of results in people who get tested. By definition, half of them are above the midpoint. That is useful for flagging disease and nearly useless for deciding whether the number predicts the future you want. Fasting insulin is the clearest example. The printed range on many lab reports is so wide that a person whose insulin has spent a decade compensating for insulin resistance still reads as normal, while the same value at the top of that range is exactly the finding a cardiometabolic clinician wants to see early.
ApoB tells the same story from the cholesterol side. A standard lipid panel reports the mass of cholesterol carried in lipoproteins. ApoB counts the particles that actually enter the artery wall. The two usually move together and when they disagree the particle count is the one that answers the question. This is why our panel runs ApoB alongside the standard lipids rather than instead of them.
Lp(a) is the special case. It is largely set by genetics, it moves little across a lifetime and it is not captured by a standard panel at all. Measuring it once changes how every other lipid number is interpreted for the rest of your life. If it is elevated, the ApoB target tightens and that conversation is worth having at 40 rather than at 60.
How a clinician actually uses these numbers
The ranges in the table are inputs. The clinical work is in what happens around them. A single elevated marker with everything else quiet gets a different response than a cluster of borderline values trending the same direction. That is why the audit repeats every 90 days. The trend is the diagnosis in the cases that matter most and a trend cannot be built from one draw.
Consider the common patterns. Fasting insulin at the top of its range with HbA1c still normal is the earliest actionable window and the one where lifestyle changes carry the most leverage. Normal cholesterol with a high ApoB changes the risk conversation entirely. hs-CRP that spikes and settles is often noise while hs-CRP that sits above 3.0 mg/dL across two audits is a signal worth investigating. None of these judgments comes from a reference range alone. They come from reading the whole panel against your history, twice, three times, four times a year.
This is also why we are skeptical of any service that sells the panel without the reader. The table above is public. What is not public is which of your values would be treated as a target, which are waiting for the next draw and which are the number your clinician would follow first.
What the $299 membership does with them
GoodLife Health is a $299 per month Cardiometabolic Optimization Membership, month to month after a two-month start. The fee includes one comprehensive Biomarker Audit every 90 days, four per year, covering the markers in the table plus full hormone and thyroid panels, along with asynchronous messaging and video visits with clinicians licensed in all fifty states.
The fee is the same whatever is prescribed and whatever the dose, because medication is unbundled. When treatment is clinically indicated, your clinician sends the prescription to the pharmacy you choose and the pharmacy bills you at its own price. GoodLife Health sets nothing, sees nothing and takes nothing on that transaction. There is no molecule upcharge and no dose upcharge. One flat fee pays for the doctor and the pharmacy bills the medicine at cost.
The $598 first charge covers the first two months and the first audit. It is held at sign-up and charged only once a clinician accepts you into care. If the clinician cannot accept you, the hold is released and you are never charged. Once accepted, the first two months are charged and non-refundable.
The membership is $299 a month with a two-month start: $598 for the first two months, held at sign-up and charged only once a clinician accepts you. Four full Biomarker Audits a year and the clinical relationship around them are included. Medication is billed separately by the pharmacy at pharmacy cost with zero markup.
Method and limitations
The ranges above reflect commonly published United States guidance and the conventions most national labs print. Two limitations matter. First, units and cutoffs vary by assay, particularly for Lp(a), which is reported in mg/dL by some labs and nmol/L by others, so a number taken from one lab cannot be read against another lab's table. Second, a reference range is a population statistic. It can describe where you sit relative to everyone else and still say nothing about whether your value is moving toward the future you are trying to protect. A clinician reading the trend, not the table, is the part that closes that gap.
For the glycemic ranges specifically, the CDC's diabetes testing guidance is the plainest public source and the prediabetes band is the one most people sit in for years without anyone drawing the insulin line.
Who this is for and who it is not for
This page is for the reader who wants to know what their numbers mean before deciding whether a membership is worth it and who would rather see the whole table than a teaser. It suits the person who has been told their labs are normal and has kept the symptoms anyway.
It is not for someone who wants a one-time draw with no clinical follow-through. It is not for anyone outside the United States, because our clinicians are licensed in the fifty states. And it is not insurance. The membership pairs with insurance for catastrophic coverage and replaces the primary-care relationship, not the policy.
FAQ
What are normal biomarker ranges for cardiometabolic health?
Commonly printed United States ranges include HbA1c below 5.7 percent, fasting glucose below 100 mg/dL, LDL below 100 mg/dL, triglycerides below 150 mg/dL, hs-CRP below 1.0 mg/dL and blood pressure below 120 over 80. Many lipid and metabolic clinicians work to tighter targets, such as ApoB below 70 to 80 mg/dL when risk factors stack, because the goal is risk reduction rather than population screening.
What is an optimal ApoB level?
Below 90 mg/dL is the commonly cited threshold for most adults and many clinicians pursue 70 to 80 mg/dL or lower when other risk factors are present. ApoB counts atherogenic particles directly, which is why it is read alongside rather than instead of the standard lipid panel.
Does Lp(a) change over time?
Lp(a) is largely inherited and stays relatively stable across adult life, which is why it is usually measured once to establish lifetime risk and then interpreted against every other lipid value. Assay units vary between labs, so the same blood drawn at two labs can print different numbers.
Can HbA1c be normal when insulin is high?
Yes and that is the clinical point of testing both. Fasting insulin rises early to compensate for insulin resistance and can sit high for years before HbA1c crosses 5.7 percent. The insulin line is the early-warning marker the standard panel usually omits.
How often should these markers be tested?
For prevention rather than diagnosis, four panels a year is a cadence that turns single values into trends, which is the cadence the Biomarker Audit runs on. More frequent testing is ordered only when there is a clinical reason and additional labs beyond the included cadence are billed at pass-through cost.
Are reference ranges the same at every lab?
No. Cutoffs and units vary by assay and by laboratory, particularly for fasting insulin and Lp(a). Trends should be followed within the same lab's method and a result from one lab should not be compared directly against another lab's printed range.
Is a normal TSH enough to rule out thyroid problems?
Not always. A TSH inside the common 0.4 to 4.0 mIU/L range can coexist with symptoms that warrant a fuller thyroid and hormone read. That is why our panel includes TSH with reflex to free T4 and the hormone markers that give thyroid results context.
One last thing
If you have a lab report in front of you, the most useful exercise is to mark the value that sits closest to the edge of its printed range. That is usually the number a clinician would want to watch and it is almost never the number the portal message flagged. If that sentence describes your situation, the eligibility check is free, takes a few minutes and never results in a charge unless a clinician accepts you into care.
Related Guides
- My labs are normal but I feel unwell
- ApoB vs LDL cholesterol test
- Lp(a) test results: what your number means
- hs-CRP test: what it means for heart risk
- Cardiometabolic Optimization: the definitive guide
References
- Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity (SURMOUNT-1). 2022. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35658024/
- Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity (STEP 1). 2021. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33567185/