Health: What Can Actually Be Measured?
Health is often described in subjective terms:
“I feel healthier.”“I have more energy.”“My diet is better.”“I think the treatment is working.”
These observations matter—but they do not always tell us what is changing physiologically.
If we want to know whether a nutritional, exercise, lifestyle or clinical intervention is genuinely working, we need something more than impressions. We need a baseline, meaningful measurements and follow-up over time.
The objective is not to measure everything. It is to identify the measurements that are relevant to your health goals and then track whether they are moving in the right direction.
1. Body Measurements
Body weight is useful, but it does not distinguish fat from muscle.
Someone may lose very little weight while reducing abdominal fat and gaining lean muscle. Another person may lose weight rapidly but also lose valuable muscle mass.
More informative measurements can include:
Body weight
Waist circumference
Waist-to-height ratio
Body-fat percentage
Visceral or abdominal fat
Lean muscle mass
Hip, thigh and upper-arm circumference
Blood pressure
Resting heart rate
The significance of each measurement depends on the goal. Waist circumference may be especially relevant for metabolic health, while lean mass and limb measurements may be more important during a muscle-building or healthy-ageing program.
2. Physical Performance
Good health is not simply the absence of disease. It also includes the ability to function.
Useful performance measures may include:
Grip strength
Lower-body strength
Push-up or sit-to-stand capacity
Walking speed
Cardiovascular fitness
Balance
Mobility
Range of motion
Exercise recovery
Ability to perform everyday activities
Strength and physical capacity are particularly important as we age. A person may have acceptable blood-test results but still be losing strength, balance or functional independence.
Performance measures show what the body can actually do.
3. Biomarkers
Blood and urine testing provide another layer of information. Depending on the person’s history and goals, relevant biomarkers may include:
Glucose regulation
Fasting glucose
Fasting insulin
HbA1c
Oral glucose tolerance testing
HOMA-IR as an estimate of insulin resistance
Cardiovascular risk
Total cholesterol
LDL cholesterol
HDL cholesterol
Triglycerides
ApoB
Lipoprotein(a)
Blood pressure
Inflammation
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein
C-reactive protein
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate
Ferritin, interpreted with full iron studies
Nutritional and metabolic status
Vitamin D
Vitamin B12 and folate
Iron studies
Magnesium where clinically appropriate
Liver and kidney function
Thyroid function
Omega-3 Index
Hormonal health
When clinically indicated, testing may include:
Testosterone
Oestradiol
SHBG
Calculated free testosterone
Cortisol
DHEAS
Thyroid hormones
Reproductive hormones
A biomarker is not a diagnosis by itself. Results must be interpreted alongside symptoms, medications, body composition, lifestyle, medical history and other investigations.
4. Lifestyle Measures
Some of the strongest influences on long-term health occur outside the pathology laboratory.
These can also be measured:
Average sleep duration
Sleep regularity
Night-time oxygen levels when indicated
Daily steps
Weekly resistance training
Aerobic exercise
Sedentary time
Protein and fibre intake
Alcohol intake
Smoking exposure
Stress levels
Recovery
Social connection
Treatment adherence
Wearable devices can provide helpful trends, but their results should be treated as estimates rather than unquestionable clinical facts.
5. Symptoms and Quality of Life
Not everything important appears in a blood test.
It can also be valuable to track:
Energy
Pain
Sleep quality
Mood
Mental clarity
Digestive symptoms
Libido
Exercise tolerance
Recovery
Ability to work and participate in normal life
These outcomes become more useful when they are recorded consistently—for example, with a weekly rating scale—rather than recalled several months later.
One Result Is Only a Snapshot
A single measurement tells us what was happening at one point in time.
Hydration, sleep, illness, stress, recent exercise, medications and even the time of day can influence results. This is why trends are usually more informative than isolated numbers.
A useful monitoring process involves:
Establishing a baseline
Defining the desired outcome
Selecting relevant measurements
Introducing the intervention
Reassessing after an appropriate period
Adjusting the strategy according to the response
The reassessment period should match what is being measured. Blood pressure may change relatively quickly. HbA1c reflects approximately the previous two to three months. Meaningful changes in muscle mass, strength and body composition generally require longer-term consistency.
Measure What Matters
More testing is not automatically better.
The right measurement is one that:
Relates to the person’s goals
Can be interpreted reliably
May change clinical management
Can be repeated meaningfully
Helps determine whether the intervention is working
Health is multidimensional. No single test, scan or wearable score can capture it completely.
The clearest picture comes from combining:
Body + Performance + Biomarkers + Lifestyle + Symptoms
That creates a practical health dashboard—one that can show where you are now, whether your strategy is working and what may need to change next.
ASSESS • MEASURE • STRATEGISE • THRIVE
Dr D Michael Elliott MSc. D.C. CFMP Able Bodied Healthcare & Chiropractic
