Panels vs. Individual Tests: How to Choose What to Order

If you're new to ordering your own blood work, the catalogue can feel overwhelming. Hundreds of tests, dozens of categories. Where do you start?

The short answer: start with panels.

We're actively adding new panels to the catalogue. If you don't see a panel that groups the tests you're looking for, you can always order them individually. New panels are added regularly.

Why Panels Exist

A panel groups tests that are related to each other. Not because it's convenient (though it is), but because isolated numbers often don't tell you enough. The tests in a panel are chosen because they give context to each other. One result changes the meaning of another.

When you order a single test, you get a number. When you order a panel, you get a picture.

Example: Testosterone

Say you test your total testosterone and it comes back low. Now what?

Without related markers, that result is a dead end. You know it's low, but you don't know why, and neither does your practitioner.

A hormone panel includes LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) alongside testosterone. These are the signals your brain sends to tell the testes to produce testosterone. They change the meaning of a low result completely:

Low testosterone + high LH/FSH: your brain is sending the signal loud and clear, but the testes aren't responding. This pattern points toward a testicular issue (primary hypogonadism).
Low testosterone + low LH/FSH: the brain isn't sending the signal in the first place. This points toward a pituitary or hypothalamic issue, which can be driven by stress, poor sleep, or in some cases something more serious like a pituitary tumour.

Same testosterone number. Completely different meaning depending on what's beside it. Without LH and FSH, you're stuck with a number and no direction.

Example: Blood Sugar and Metabolic Health

This isn't limited to hormones. The same logic applies to metabolic markers.

Say you test your fasting glucose and it comes back at 5.2 mmol/L. That's well within the normal range. You might look at that and assume your metabolic health is fine.

But fasting glucose only tells you what your blood sugar is right now. It doesn't tell you how hard your body is working to keep it there.

A metabolic panel adds fasting insulin and HbA1c alongside glucose:

Normal glucose + elevated fasting insulin: your blood sugar looks fine, but your pancreas is overproducing insulin just to maintain it. This is early insulin resistance. Glucose is the last marker to move. By the time it goes out of range, the problem has been developing for years.
Normal glucose + normal fasting insulin + rising HbA1c: your fasting snapshot looks good, but your average blood sugar over the past two to three months is trending upward. Something is shifting.
Normal glucose + normal fasting insulin + normal HbA1c: genuinely healthy metabolism. Now you have a baseline to compare against in the future.

Glucose alone would have told you "everything's fine." The panel tells you whether that's actually true.

When Individual Tests Make Sense

Panels are the right starting point for most people. But there are times when ordering individual tests is the better choice:

You're working with a practitioner who has told you exactly which markers to test. They've already done the thinking about what provides context for what.
You're retesting a specific marker after making a change. You adjusted your vitamin D supplementation and want to see if it's working. You don't need to reorder a full nutrition panel, just the vitamin D test.
You already have a baseline and want to check one or two things, not a broad set.

If you know what you need, order what you need. If you're not sure, panels take the guesswork out of it.

Start with Panels. Retest with Purpose.

Browse our panels to get a complete picture, or pick individual tests if you already know what you're looking for.

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