What are the key takeaways from this This Week in Startups episode?

Key insights include: **Insulin Testing Gap:** Insulin levels are among the most predictive biomarkers for metabolic health, yet fewer than 1% of Quest lab submissions include an insulin test. Function Health data shows 65% of members have elevated insulin despite normal blood sugar readings — meaning standard glucose checks miss early metabolic dysfunction by years, sometimes decades.; **Biomarker Accessibility Pricing:** Function Health's $365 annual membership delivers 160+ biomarkers tested twice yearly, plus optional add-ons including whole-body MRI scans now priced at $899. The same lab panel retails at approximately $15,000 through traditional healthcare channels. Partnering with Quest's 2,000+ draw stations makes at-home or walk-in blood draws widely accessible nationwide.; **GLP-1 Risk Management:** GLP-1 medications carry a 4% serious adverse event rate and cause muscle loss in most users who neglect strength training. Anyone using these drugs should pair them with adequate protein intake and resistance training three times weekly, targeting all major muscle groups, to avoid ending up metabolically worse after stopping than before starting.

What did Mark Hyman discuss on This Week in Startups?

Dr. Mark Hyman, founder of Function Health, explains how his platform delivers 160+ biomarker lab tests for $365 annually, democratizing data-driven preventive care previously available only through $25,000–$250,000 concierge medicine programs, while covering GLP-1 microdosing, metabolic dysfunction, wearables, and psychedelic psychiatry research. Key topics include: **Insulin Testing Gap:** Insulin levels are among the most predictive biomarkers for metabolic health, yet fewer than 1% of Quest lab submissions include an insulin test. Function Health data shows 65% of members have elevated insulin despite normal blood sugar readings — meaning standard glucose checks miss early metabolic dysfunction by years, sometimes decades.; **Biomarker Accessibility Pricing:** Function Health's $365 annual membership delivers 160+ biomarkers tested twice yearly, plus optional add-ons including whole-body MRI scans now priced at $899. The same lab panel retails at approximately $15,000 through traditional healthcare channels. Partnering with Quest's 2,000+ draw stations makes at-home or walk-in blood draws widely accessible nationwide..

How long is this episode of This Week in Startups?

This episode is 58 minutes long. SignalCast provides an AI-generated summary so you can get the key insights in about 3 minutes.

This Week in Startups

Dr. Mark Hyman on Function Health & GLP-1 microdosing | E2334

September 4, 2026

58 min episode · 2 min read

Mark Hyman

Episode

58 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Health & Wellness, Relationships, Startups

AI-Generated Summary

Published Sep 5, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Insulin Testing Gap: Insulin levels are among the most predictive biomarkers for metabolic health, yet fewer than 1% of Quest lab submissions include an insulin test. Function Health data shows 65% of members have elevated insulin despite normal blood sugar readings — meaning standard glucose checks miss early metabolic dysfunction by years, sometimes decades.
✓Biomarker Accessibility Pricing: Function Health's $365 annual membership delivers 160+ biomarkers tested twice yearly, plus optional add-ons including whole-body MRI scans now priced at $899. The same lab panel retails at approximately $15,000 through traditional healthcare channels. Partnering with Quest's 2,000+ draw stations makes at-home or walk-in blood draws widely accessible nationwide.
✓GLP-1 Risk Management: GLP-1 medications carry a 4% serious adverse event rate and cause muscle loss in most users who neglect strength training. Anyone using these drugs should pair them with adequate protein intake and resistance training three times weekly, targeting all major muscle groups, to avoid ending up metabolically worse after stopping than before starting.
✓Strength Training as Longevity Currency: Muscle functions as the body's primary metabolic sink, absorbing glucose and regulating inflammation. Hyman began strength training at 59 and reached 10% body fat by his mid-60s. Even 20-minute sessions three times weekly covering major muscle groups produce measurable improvements in metabolic health, bone density, and long-term disease risk reduction.
✓Nutritional Roots of Mental Health: Low omega-3s, vitamin D deficiency, B-vitamin insufficiency measured via homocysteine, and insulin resistance each independently produce psychiatric symptoms including depression and anxiety. Stanford and Harvard now run dedicated metabolic and nutritional psychiatry programs. Addressing these biomarkers through diet and supplementation before prescribing SSRIs or stimulants represents a clinically supported, underutilized first-line intervention.

What It Covers

Dr. Mark Hyman, founder of Function Health, explains how his platform delivers 160+ biomarker lab tests for $365 annually, democratizing data-driven preventive care previously available only through $25,000–$250,000 concierge medicine programs, while covering GLP-1 microdosing, metabolic dysfunction, wearables, and psychedelic psychiatry research.

Key Questions Answered

•Insulin Testing Gap: Insulin levels are among the most predictive biomarkers for metabolic health, yet fewer than 1% of Quest lab submissions include an insulin test. Function Health data shows 65% of members have elevated insulin despite normal blood sugar readings — meaning standard glucose checks miss early metabolic dysfunction by years, sometimes decades.
•Biomarker Accessibility Pricing: Function Health's $365 annual membership delivers 160+ biomarkers tested twice yearly, plus optional add-ons including whole-body MRI scans now priced at $899. The same lab panel retails at approximately $15,000 through traditional healthcare channels. Partnering with Quest's 2,000+ draw stations makes at-home or walk-in blood draws widely accessible nationwide.
•GLP-1 Risk Management: GLP-1 medications carry a 4% serious adverse event rate and cause muscle loss in most users who neglect strength training. Anyone using these drugs should pair them with adequate protein intake and resistance training three times weekly, targeting all major muscle groups, to avoid ending up metabolically worse after stopping than before starting.
•Strength Training as Longevity Currency: Muscle functions as the body's primary metabolic sink, absorbing glucose and regulating inflammation. Hyman began strength training at 59 and reached 10% body fat by his mid-60s. Even 20-minute sessions three times weekly covering major muscle groups produce measurable improvements in metabolic health, bone density, and long-term disease risk reduction.
•Nutritional Roots of Mental Health: Low omega-3s, vitamin D deficiency, B-vitamin insufficiency measured via homocysteine, and insulin resistance each independently produce psychiatric symptoms including depression and anxiety. Stanford and Harvard now run dedicated metabolic and nutritional psychiatry programs. Addressing these biomarkers through diet and supplementation before prescribing SSRIs or stimulants represents a clinically supported, underutilized first-line intervention.

Notable Moment

Hyman described a juvenile detention study where replacing ultra-processed food with whole real food caused violent incidents to drop 97%, physical restraints to fall 75%, and suicides to reach zero — outcomes no psychiatric drug trial has replicated, pointing to diet as a primary driver of behavioral and mental health crises.

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Episode Transcript

Most doctors don't use any kind of tech to make decisions. One in three Americans are, like, skipping going to talk to a doctor when they have an issue because they can't afford it. Six out of ten with chronic illness, ninety three percent with metabolic dysfunction, you know, or have seventy five percent are obese or overweight. I mean, is just we have a staggering problem that is not being addressed by our system, and we spend more and more money. We're getting sicker and sicker. Sixty five percent with high insulin levels, which never get checked. A Harvard study, chat GBTs, and the large language models basically were as accurate or more accurate than doctors. The preference of the patient in the bedside manner, the results from the LLN are better. Well, everything has gone from terrible to actually pretty good. This Week in Startups is brought to you by Rippling. Don't settle for AI that's all talk. Head to rippling.ai/twist and get the only AI built to give you full visibility across your startup and take complex actions across your entire organization. That's rippling.ai/twist. Sign up for exclusive access today. Northwest Registered Agent. Got a new business idea? Northwest Registered Agent helps you bring it to life. Get a free domain, email, phone number, and more with no purchase required. Learn more at www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist domain. Odoo, the all in one business platform. Your first app is free. Get started today at odoo.com/twist. Alright, everybody. Welcome back to the program. Super excited to have podcaster, entrepreneur, doctor, and all around great guy, doctor Mark Hyman is here. How are you doing, doctor Mark? Great. I'm feeling great. Awesome. Awesome. Life is good. How do you you you do have a great life. How do you split your time? I mean, you got this great podcast. I tune in once in a while. You know, I hear with the topic, and then I jump in. Sometimes it's for ladies. Sometimes it's for for guys. But it but it's great because you're so candid and honest during it. You obviously have function health is surging. Yes. We're gonna talk a lot about the entrepreneurial journey there. And then are you a doctor as well? Like, out of the world being a doctor? I'm a real doctor. I have a a practice up in Massachusetts where I'm now, and I I see patients. I have a limited, patient roster compared to how I used to, which was just full time all the time. Yeah. I know after tens of thousands of patients, I'm like, slow down a little bit. Actually, you know, function is my main focus because it's really a way to scale what I'm doing to millions, if not billions of people. And I think I can sit and see patients all day every day, and I'd never be able to sort of bridge the gap that's happening in health care right now, which is really to get people …

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