AI-Driven “Functional” Blood Testing Memberships: Read Before You Buy

Introduction

Welcome back to the Immune Edit. This week I’m gonna share with you an email that I received and I’m gonna read it and then we’re gonna dissect it a bit because this is interesting. Here’s the email. We are pleased to offer a new, individualized, functional blood testing membership called Blank. I’m gonna leave the company out ‘cause I don’t wanna throw them under the bus.

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The Email (Verbatim)

Unlike most blood tests that cost 1000 to $2,000 and require a visit to a clinic to collect multiple vials of blood, we offer a painless at home kit and access to AI driven results for only $49 a month. This cutting edge benefit includes three tests per year. Results available within 48 hours.

Biological age-based on results. AI-driven supplement suggestions based on individual results, test panels that evaluate hormones, metabolism, insulin resistance, nutrient levels, and more access to high quality supplements at group pricing. So that’s the offering. Now, let’s break this down just a bit.

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Breaking It Down

“Functional blood testing membership”

Functional blood testing membership. Anytime you hear functional testing, you can think you’re being sold something. Uh, a lot of times these groups will try to almost demonize traditional medicine by saying we don’t order enough tests, or we don’t understand the tests we actually do. It’s just a lot of what’s being ordered are not.

Validated. They’re not scientifically proven. They may be a waste. Okay? If you’re actually not going to do something with those results, or it’s going to influence what you’re going to do, we shouldn’t be ordering the tests. It raises the cost it a lot, which is why in this email it says, unlike most blood tests that cost one to $2,000 and require a visit to a clinic.

Cost & clinic-visit claims

They’re painting that as a bad thing, that you’re ordering a bunch of blood tests at one to $2,000 and requiring a visit to a clinic. Why would they require a clinic to a visit? Because in those instances, they may be requiring you to actually see a doctor to interpret those results. Well, what they’re selling to you is you don’t need the doctor anymore.

We can just have AI interpret this. But the only thing. That they’re offering after that is $49 per month, but you only get three tests per year. So you’re paying $49 a month for three tests per for quarterly tests, basically. Then you’re having AI driven supplement suggestions. Let’s go over that one. AI driven supplement suggestions.

‍AI-driven supplement suggestions

Why does it have to be that? Because AI can’t prescribe medication and they’re playing on the whole thing of supplements? Well, in a previous podcast we talked about this issue of over supplementation. So I think the thing that supplements mainly supplement are the manufacturer’s income. I think that’s mainly where it’s driven.

Because supplements do not have FDA oversight. So you truly don’t know what you are getting, how much of what you’re getting. They are not subjected to the high scrutiny that medicines are subjected to. So we don’t have an accurate, uh, side effect profile. We don’t have accurate research on what they’re actually doing to you or for you in any clinically proven way.

They will often say, well, research shows what research, who funded the research? Where did that come from? Can those results be reproducible? Are the results even statistically significant? These are often questions that are left unanswered. And even if you look on the supplement bottles again, uh, in a previous podcast we referenced this, where on the cover they’ll have really nice colors, really nice marketing, they’ll make some claims and next to those claims about boosting your immune system and supporting your immune system, which are not scientific terms by the way.

We don’t use those terms. Those are marketing terms. Next to those claims, there’s gonna be an asterisk, and then that asterisk, if you read the fine print, it’s gonna basically be set, tell you it hasn’t been approved or looked at or investigated by the FDA, and it’s not intended to diagnose or treat anything.

So again, it raised the question, what’s the purpose of this? If they actually had legitimate research, and by the way, we know the research that’s being done on this is really poor because at the end of the day, they’re stuck with making claims of boosting and supporting, which again are marketing terms, not scientific terms.

If they actually had legitimate evidence, I guarantee you they would be telling you, this is the legitimate evidence. It would specifically tell you this is how, what it’s specifically doing to your immune system in a beneficial way. This is, uh, and these are the specific risks. This is how it fared versus placebo.

This is how it fared versus a different perhaps medication. You’re never getting that kind of data from the supplement industry. Why? Because they don’t have it. If they did, they would tell you, but they don’t. So they’re stuck with these hedge terms, this nonsense that’s being out there. Now, am I saying I’m against every supplement that’s out there?

No, I’m not. I think there are targeted, uh, targeted vitamins, mineral supplements that can be used in certain circumstances and in clinic. I do recommend a number of these. For specific reasons, perhaps their vitamin D level is low, perhaps their magnesium is low, perhaps their vitamin B12 or folate or something else is deficient that we can prove.

I don’t need a proprietary blend of bullshit to give to somebody in order to supplement that we can go after, you know, really inexpensive. Nice products that are, that are on the market, but for specific reasons, not some AI driven scheme to get you to buy their pharmaceutical or their, their nutraceuticals.

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The “painless at-home kit” claim

So this particular email, for instance, is selling you two things. They’re selling you on the tests. And by the way, this at-home kit, that’s painless. If it’s not blood work, how is it? How is it painless? First of all, they’re saying they have individualized functional blood testing, so there’s gonna be a needle involved.

So I’m curious how they mention in one sentence that it’s blood testing and then in the next sentence, it’s a painless at home kit. That doesn’t make sense to me. There’s gonna be some pain involved if there’s needle involved, right? So how do they make that claim? But then next, it, it’s, it’s like they’re getting into their, so they’re selling you on their kit, but then next, the point that they’re making here is they’re going to sell you their nutraceuticals that have no valid data to back any of it up.

What you’re really being sold

So what you’re being sold here, that that’s packaged to you is a whole lot of nothing. They’re trying to remove thought, they’re trying to remove, uh, individualization to you. They’re, they’re putting it in there with their AI driven individualized supplements based on your blood test results, but yet they’re going to recommend products to you that I would be curious to know how, is there any clinical evidence to back that up?

Again, I’m not saying this can’t work or it doesn’t work for some people. Just be aware of what you’re being sold. Be aware ‘cause you’re being sold on two levels here. Testing that’s not validated and products that are not validated. Uh, sometimes the medical industry gets, uh, a lot of bad rap.

Pharma vs. supplements: regulation & evidence

Pharmaceutical industries often will get a bad rap, and granted, I think there’s a lot of overpricing that’s happening in those situations. It also takes, I think, on average, a billion dollars to get a drug to market nowadays because of all the regulation that’s there, but that regulation that’s there also monitors.

Um, it ensures there’s stringent testing in most cases, a placebo controlled trials, um, different phases of those clinical trials. There’s phase one, there’s phase two, there’s phase three, there’s post marketing. Every adverse reaction is reported to the FDA. It’s scrutinized by the FDA that is part of a package insert that can help educate you and make sure you’re making an informed decision In those package inserts, it will include the key clinical trials that actually show whether that product is safe and effective.

And when they say safe and effective, does that mean completely devoid of side effect? No, it doesn’t. There, there may be different side effects associated with that product, but at least they’re transparent, they’re listed, you’re aware of those things. And then it comes down to like everything in life, a risk benefit analysis is the, is the potential risk of this product outweigh the benefit, or does the benefit of this product outweigh those risks?

And the legitimate series of clinical trials through, you know, primarily phase two and phase three clinical trials, post-marketing trials. That helps us make informed decisions. And we also know exactly what we’re gonna target and what we’re gonna go after, not this generic. Pay us $49 a month for quarterly tests that you’re not gonna see a doctor on.

So that we can give you supplements that haven’t been properly tested, haven’t been properly vetted, don’t have a FDA oversight, and really very little clinical evidence to support it. And again, we’ve talked about how we know there’s not legitimate clinical evidence because they don’t say it. If they had it, they would say it boosting, supporting.

Those are the red flag keywords.

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Closing Thoughts & The Immune Edit

Um, so that’s the email that I got this week, and if you’re going to spam email me from a company. Should kind of be careful of that because I may take it down. That’s it for the immune edit. What I would suggest for you is again, pay attention to what you’re being sold, pay attention to what kind of marketing is there.

Pay attention to more than just the headline. Read the actual articles, read the actual meet, think critically so that you’re making the best decisions for you. Thank you.

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