Ben Walker

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

I'm a cardiologist. After 40, stop guessing about your health. These numbers tell you whether you're building a long, vibrant life — or quietly declining without knowing it.

I run these on myself. I run them on every patient I care about. Most are cheap bloodwork. All are available now. And together, they paint a picture no standard annual physical will ever give you. Print this. Bring it to your next appointment. Your 60-year-old self will thank you.
ꟷꟷꟷ
𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻
Target: below 5 μIU/mL. Ideal: 3-4.
This is the 10-year warning bell your standard panel completely misses. Your glucose and A1c can look "normal" for a decade while your pancreas is working overtime to keep them there. Fasting insulin catches insulin resistance 5-10 years before your A1c moves. By the time A1c rises, the damage is already extensive.

𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔-𝗜𝗥
Target: below 1.0.
Calculated from fasting insulin and fasting glucose. The single best measure of insulin sensitivity. Above 1.0 and your metabolism is already under strain. Above 2.5 and you're insulin resistant — even if every other number looks fine.

𝗛𝗯𝗔𝟭𝗰
Target: below 5.4%.
Not below 5.7% — that's the threshold where medicine calls you "prediabetic." By then you've been metabolically compromised for years. Optimal is below 5.4%. Blood sugar mastery is longevity mastery.

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗹𝘆𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲 : 𝗛𝗗𝗟 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼
Target: below 2. Ideal: below 1.
Your metabolic health crystal ball. This ratio predicts insulin resistance, cardiovascular risk, and metabolic syndrome better than any single lipid number alone. A ratio above 3.5 is a red flag regardless of what your total cholesterol says.

𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗕
Target: below 80 mg/dL for moderate risk. Below 60 for high risk.
I've written about this extensively. ApoB counts every atherogenic particle hitting your artery walls. A 2024 analysis found 54% of patients had dangerous levels that standard LDL testing completely missed. If you only know your LDL, you're driving with one eye closed.

𝗟𝗽(𝗮)
Test once in your lifetime.
100% genetic. 1 in 5 Americans are elevated. Triples heart attack risk independently of everything else on this list. Diet and exercise cannot lower it. The 2026 ACC/AHA guidelines now recommend everyone be tested. Most never have been.

𝗵𝘀-𝗖𝗥𝗣
Target: below 1.0 mg/L.
You can have perfect cholesterol and inflamed arteries silently preparing to rupture. hs-CRP measures the fire behind the plaque. The JUPITER trial proved that finding and treating inflammation saves lives — even when lipids look fine. If this number is elevated, your mouth, your gut, your metabolic health, and your visceral fat are the first places to investigate.

𝗩𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗗
Target: 50-80 ng/mL.
Not the bare minimum of 30 your doctor accepts. Suboptimal vitamin D is linked to higher inflammation, weaker immunity, increased cardiovascular events, worse mood, and poorer outcomes across nearly every disease I treat. Supplement D3 with K2 — without K2, calcium deposits in your arteries instead of your bones.

𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 (𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 + 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲)
Men: optimal range 600-1000+ ng/dL total.
Declining testosterone is an independent predictor of cardiovascular death in men. It's tied to insulin resistance, arterial stiffness, visceral fat accumulation, and systemic inflammation. DHEA-S drops 10-20% every decade after 30. Tracking these isn't about vanity — it's evaluating your body's systemic resilience.

𝗕𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲
Target: below 120/80. Aim closer to 110/70.
Every point above optimal is cumulative arterial damage. Buy a home cuff. Measure morning and evening, seated quietly for five minutes, arm at heart level. White-coat readings in the office miss what's really happening. The smartest $40 investment in cardiac self-care.

𝗩𝗢𝟮 𝗠𝗮𝘅
Men over 40: above 40 mL/kg/min. Women over 40: above 35.
Cardiorespiratory fitness is the single strongest predictor of all-cause mortality — stronger than smoking, diabetes, or heart disease as individual risk factors. A landmark study in JAMA found that extreme fitness was associated with the lowest mortality with no upper limit of benefit. You can estimate VO2 max with a timed mile, a rower test, or a wearable. Get faster every year.

𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Target: as few as possible.
Every medication you're on should be earning its place. I just wrote about five commonly prescribed drugs that do more harm than good with long-term use. Bring your full medication list to every appointment. Ask: "Do I still need this?" Deprescribing is one of the most powerful and underused tools in medicine.
ꟷꟷꟷ

Thirteen numbers. Most available through cheap bloodwork and simple tests. Get them once or twice a year. Here's what I want you to understand: these numbers don't just tell you where you are. They tell you where you're heading. A fasting insulin of 8 today becomes diabetes in five years. An ApoB of 120 today becomes a heart attack in ten. An hs-CRP of 3 today means your arteries are inflamed right now — regardless of how healthy you feel. The standard annual physical checks a fraction of these. It was designed to find disease that's already there. This panel finds the disease that's coming — years before it arrives.

What gets measured gets improved. Optimize with the foundation I write about every week on this platform:
Zone 2 cardio plus resistance training 3-4 times per week. High-protein whole-food nutrition. Sleep 7-9 hours — non-negotiable. Morning sunlight. Stress management. And the targeted supplements I've covered in detail — creatine, magnesium, CoQ10, D3+K2, glycine, omega-3, psyllium husk.
The breakthroughs coming in the next decade — gene editing for cholesterol, cellular reprogramming, senolytics that clear senescent "zombie" cells driving inflammation and aging, GLP-1 drugs rewriting metabolic medicine — will be most powerful for people who've already built the metabolic foundation to receive them.

The future of medicine is personalized. But it starts with knowing your numbers today. Print this list. Book the bloodwork. Own the data. Prevention isn't passive. It's the most aggressive thing you can do for the decades ahead.

[Tarleton State Men's Basketball @TarletonMBB]

Strip and score for Kade 😤

[Tarleton State Men's Basketball @TarletonMBB]

Turnaround jumper for Kade Douglas

[Tarleton State Men's Basketball @TarletonMBB]

Yessir Kade Douglas!

Back-2-Back Triples 🤩😤

[Ben Walker @uncabub57]

@NeglectedCarrot He was to go before a grand jury tomorrow on a negligent homicide charge due to an auto accident.

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

They call him Treway for a reason 👌

#BuckEm 🐎 | #EmptyTheTank 🪫

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

.@GreatKade buries the corner three, and he's got a team-high 17 for the Mavs

#BuckEm🐎 | #EmptyTheTank🪫

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

.@GreatKade with 20! That ties his career high, which was set against Alcorn last season

#BuckEm🐎 | #EmptyTheTank🪫

[DaREALtalkNation @PaulMDaRealTalk]

I’M HERE NOW!!! Live n Direct from Lancaster, Tx… its the @ShowcaseSnoop:

At the HALF:

@BUBasketball2 17

@TigersLhs 47

TIGERS
@thekdouglas is on FIYAAAAH, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,EIGHT THREES!!!

Stay tuned…

#DaREALtalkNation

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

We are wearing the UTA White today against Evansville

@E6Sportswear

#BuckEm🐎 | #EmptyTheTank🪫

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

.@GreatKade is on fire with a trio of threes right off the bench, he's got 9, and Mavs lead 29-14 just under 10 to go first half

#BuckEm🐎 | #EmptyTheTank🪫

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

Tonight's starting 🖐️ at Missouri State, presented by the @UTABookstore

#BuckEm🐎 | #EmptyTheTank🪫

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

Almost time 👀

#BuckEm 🐎 | #EmptyTheTank 🪫

[Cotton @aplayerscoach]

Lancaster - Ferrin Douglas (@TigersLhs)

Coach Douglas in his 16th season as the head coach of the Lancaster Tigers has established a winning culture in the program, celebrating over 400 career victories.

Under his leadership, Lancaster has achieved remarkable success, including three state championships, four regional championships, and twelve district titles. He has been honored as District Coach of the Year eight times and received the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year award multiple times.

Coach Douglas has played pivotal roles at various schools, including Lincoln High School, where he was an assistant coach on the state and national championship team featuring NBA legend Chris Bosh.

His coaching philosophy emphasizes not only winning but also developing young men into responsible individuals. His commitment extends beyond the court, focusing on building character and leadership in young athletes.

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱, 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 🔥🔥

#BuckEm 🐎 | #EmptyTheTank 🪫

[Ben Walker @uncabub57]

@NeglectedCarrot @BarkyBoogz US Olympic Committee pays $37,500 for gold and $22,500 for silver. Hope it was worth it to him.

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

𝙎𝙤𝙤𝙣… ⏳

#BuckEm 🐎 | #EmptyTheTank 🪫

[UT Arlington Men’s Basketball @UTAMavsMBB]

Trewayyyyy 👌👌👌

#BuckEm 🐎 | #EmptyTheTank 🪫

[Lancaster Basketball @TigersLhs]

Coach of the year! @FerrinDouglas2

[Ben Walker @uncabub57]

@deontrellb1 Back-to-back, outstanding defensive work!