OPENING NOTE FROM EUGENE
My blood test came back last week.
My chronological age is 64. My biological age tested at 67.
That is a three-year gap. Three years older on the inside than on the calendar. That number bothered me. Good. It should.
Before I show you the full results, I want to give you the honest context. Because without context, numbers are just data. With context, they become something you can actually learn from.
Over the past year I gained about 10 pounds. I was not eating the way I should have been. More pizza than I needed. More alcohol than was good for me. Nothing extreme. Just the slow drift that happens when you stop paying attention. I knew it was happening and I let it go on too long.
Two weeks before this test, I made a sharp change. I went strict carnivore. I cut out alcohol completely. I moved my eating to a four-to-six-hour window in the morning. My sleep improved almost right away when I stopped drinking. That was not a small signal. It was one of the clearest things my body has ever told me.
I also found something out about my own biology that I did not expect. If I eat in the afternoon or evening, my deep sleep collapses. Not a little. Dramatically. Fifteen minutes or less some nights. Some nights zero. When I kept my eating to the morning and stopped by early afternoon, my deep sleep came back. More on that next week.
So these results were taken two weeks into that change. Some markers still reflect the drift of the past year. Some already show the early benefit of the pivot. This is a snapshot taken mid-transition. Not at rock bottom. Not at peak. The most honest starting point I could give you.
Here is everything the test showed.
MAIN BRIEFING: THE FULL PICTURE
Let me start with what is working.
My inflammation score (hs-CRP) came back at 0.42 mg/L. Optimal is under 1.0. Good. My resting heart rate is 44 beats per minute. My Vitamin D is 72.4 ng/mL, well inside the good range. My BMI is 24.7. I am not starting from zero.
Now for the areas that need work.
Heart health. My ApoB is 118 mg/dL. Think of ApoB as a count of the harmful particles floating in your blood. The more you have, the more likely they are to stick to your artery walls and build up over time. Optimal is 40 to 70. The acceptable range tops out at 90. I am at 118. Most doctors only test cholesterol. ApoB tells a much more complete story. This is the number I am most focused on right now.
There is a related number that adds more context. My LDL to ApoB ratio is 1.32. A good ratio is 1.5 to 2.0. When this ratio is low, it means the harmful particles in your blood tend to be small and dense rather than large. Small dense particles are more dangerous. Same cholesterol number, very different risk depending on the particle type. Mine needs work.
My HDL (the protective cholesterol) is 46 mg/dL. Optimal is 80 to 100. HDL helps carry harmful particles out of your blood and back to the liver. Mine is low. My total cholesterol to HDL ratio is 4.8. A good ratio is under 4.5.
Hormones. My total testosterone is 689 ng/dL. In 2020 it was 942. That drop matters. But total testosterone is only part of the picture.
My SHBG is 62.8 nmol/L. SHBG is a protein that grabs onto testosterone and locks it up so your body cannot use it. Because mine is high, only 1.46 percent of my testosterone is actually free and available to my cells. Optimal is 1.9 to 2.5 percent. High SHBG is a hidden reason men feel low-testosterone symptoms even when their total number looks fine.
The number that concerns me most right now is my DHEA-S at 78.8 ug/dL. Optimal starts at 128.8. DHEA-S is the raw material your body uses to make testosterone and handle stress. When it is low, the whole hormonal picture suffers. This is a marker most standard panels miss completely.
Ferritin. Mine came back at 511.8 ng/mL. The good range is 50 to 150. High ferritin in men can mean too much stored iron, inflammation, or metabolic stress. I do not know yet which one is driving mine. This is going straight to my doctor.
Sleep and recovery. I am averaging 44 minutes of deep sleep per night. Optimal is 76 to 112 minutes. My heart rate variability (HRV), which measures how well your body is recovering day to day, is 36.5 milliseconds. Optimal is above 86. These two numbers together tell me my body is not bouncing back the way it should. More on this next week.
Blood sugar. My HbA1c is 5.5 percent, just outside the optimal range. My triglycerides to HDL ratio is 2.17. Good is under 1.5. The metabolic picture is drifting in the wrong direction.
That is the full report. Not the prettiest set of numbers. But real is where improvement starts. The next several issues are going to work through each of these variables, one at a time, in order of priority. You follow along as I address them. That is the deal.
LONGEVITY NEWS WATCH
Biological age testing is going mainstream. Multiple services now offer biological age scores based on your blood markers, wearable data, and other inputs. Research consistently shows that biological age is a stronger predictor of your health future than your birthday. Knowing your number gives you something real to move.
ApoB is now the preferred heart risk marker. In 2025, major cardiology groups updated their guidelines to prioritize ApoB over standard LDL cholesterol, especially for men with metabolic risk factors. If your doctor only checks your LDL number, ask about ApoB.
Low DHEA-S linked to faster aging in men. A 2025 study found that men with DHEA-S below 100 ug/dL aged faster and had higher all-cause mortality compared to men with optimal levels. DHEA-S is not just a hormone number. It is a measure of how much biological reserve you have left.
THIS WEEK'S PROTOCOL: GET THE FULL PANEL
If you have not had a complete blood panel in the past six months, that is your one job this week. Order it or schedule it.
The minimum panel worth getting right now:
ApoB (not just LDL cholesterol)
Total testosterone and free testosterone
SHBG
DHEA-S
Ferritin
HbA1c and fasting glucose
hs-CRP
Vitamin D
Full lipid panel with triglycerides
You cannot manage what you have not measured.
Three ways to get it done without a doctor's order:
Siphox Health ships a finger-prick kit to your door. No lab visit. Results in a few days. This is what I used for this report. I live 100 miles from the nearest Quest location, so this was not a convenience for me. It was the only practical option. If that is your situation, Siphox removes the excuse.
Get 20% off: SiPhox Health
Ulta Lab Tests lets you build a custom panel and draw at a lab near you. Good when you know exactly which markers you want.
Link: Ulta Labs
Private MD Labs another solid option for hormone and metabolic panels without waiting for a doctor's appointment.
Link: Private MD Labs
Get the data. Then we have something to work with.
NUMBER THAT MATTERS
2.9
The number of years my biological age exceeds my real age. I am 64 on the calendar. My body is testing at 67. That gap is not fixed. Every variable we work on in this newsletter is a variable that moves biological age. The goal is not to feel younger. The goal is to actually be younger at the cellular level. That is measurable. And it is reversible.
TOOL OF THE WEEK: SIPHOX HEALTH
The at-home EasyDraw panel I used for my April 29 results. Ships to your door. Results in a few days. The new EasyDraw device was quick, easy, and totally painless. I have used finger-prick systems, and this was much easier. The Longevity panel covers every marker we discuss in this series: ApoB, testosterone, SHBG, DHEA-S, ferritin, HbA1c, hs-CRP, Vitamin D, and more.
I chose SiPhox because the nearest Quest location to me is 100 miles away. At-home testing is not a luxury for me. It is what makes testing possible. If distance or time is your barrier, this removes it.
Link: SiPhox Health
Review your results with a doctor before making big changes to your protocol.
SPF Is Not Optional After 40
Health connection: Inflammation, ApoB, and cardiovascular age
The same chronic inflammation that drives up your ApoB and ages your arteries also ages your skin. UV exposure makes that process faster.
After 40, your skin loses collagen at about 1 percent per year. Sun damage accelerates that loss significantly. Applying a broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher every morning is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to slow visible aging.
Look for a formula with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. These sit on the skin rather than absorbing into it. Most men skip sunscreen because they do not like the feel. Modern mineral formulas are lighter than they used to be. Try one for two weeks and see the difference.
This week: Put SPF on your face every morning this week. That is it. One habit.
COMING NEXT
Next week I am going deep on sleep.
My deep sleep is averaging 44 minutes a night. Optimal is 76 to 112 minutes. I also found out that eating in the afternoon or evening drops my deep sleep to 15 minutes or less. Some nights it was zero.
Next Friday: what is actually happening during deep sleep, why it matters more than total hours in bed for testosterone and recovery, and the specific changes that have already started moving my numbers.
Do not miss this one.
2.9 years. That is the gap.
It is also an opportunity.
Measure. Manage. Improve.
Eugene
Men's Longevity Insider