Marek Health Costs: How Expensive Is It?

Many years ago, I relied on my conventional doctor to help me with my health. There was a multi-month period where I saw multiple doctors and made back-to-back urgent care visits swearing something was wrong with me. All they could say was “your test results are normal” and “here’s some anti-anxiety medication.”

After hitting this wall over and over, I surrendered the pursuit altogether in 2016. I’ve been doing everything myself ever since, using diet, lifestyle, and other natural healing methods.

In hindsight, I’m glad it happened this way. I’ve learned how to rely more on my intuition/own body and less on external validation. This has been a useful life skill.

But I still had questions…

• Is my current diet and lifestyle a sufficient source of vitamins and minerals? (Especially since I don’t supplement with synthetics)
• Are my organs functioning optimally?
• How is my metabolic health considering the fruit and raw dairy I eat?
• Are there any early signs of imbalance in my body that I may not be able to feel yet?
• Is there a way to test my “hunches”? (example: that I have histamine sensitivity)
• I am 10 months postpartum – are my vitamins/minerals restored and is my body chemically optimal to conceive again?
• Do I have an unhealthy amount of heavy metals stored in my body?
• Can I optimize myself even further?

I used to think I needed to see a doctor to help me answer these questions, order labs for me to test the “deeper” markers, and do the interpretation. And due to my lack of trust in providers, this always felt like a steep feat. So I just said “maybe later” and left the idea on the table.

Recently, I learned there is another way!

Enter: Marek Diagnostics (formerly known as Marek Health).

With Marek, they have lab markers (galore) available for blood work, urine, and genetic testing. You literally add a package (or build your own) to your cart and checkout. Marek sends you a requisition form, you go down to a local LabCorp for the blood draw (and/or urine sample), and they send you your results via email.

You also have the option to see a health coach or a provider through Marek if you want to receive treatment or need help with results interpretation.

(If you move forward with Marek, ASHLEYR will get you 10% off.)

Read on to learn about my experience getting comprehensive labs done with Marek and how much their services cost.

Note: if you have a wonderful relationship with your doctor, my mentioning of these services is not intended to deter you away from that. This is geared toward the folks like me who are DIYers and have not had great experiences with providers. The more I can do myself and for my family without the influence of a provider, the more empowered and equipped I personally feel (and the more I learn!). marek health cosst

Marek Health costs

If you landed on this post, you’re probably interested in how much Marek’s services cost.

Marek’s services are broken down as follows:

• Blood panel packages (results only)
• Blood panel packages (with health coach consultation)
• Build your own lab panel (results only)
• See a provider for treatment

Blood panel packages

Mark offers blood panel packages that anyone can purchase. It’s super easy. You add a package to your cart, checkout, then Marek sends you a requisition form, you go down to a local LabCorp for the draw, and Marek sends you the results to your email once they’re available.

Their packages range from $250-850. Below is a list of the packages they currently offer and their prices.

• Basic Panel Package: $250
• Comprehensive Panel Package: $450
• Complete Panel Package: $850
• Basic Hair Panel: $450
• Comprehensive Hair Panel Package: $700
• Comprehensive Thyroid Panel Package: $300
• Comprehensive Vitamin & Mineral Panel: $325

Check out their packages here.

I also have two blood panel packages I created with Marek:

• Basic Panel
• Comprehensive Panel (Two options: Results only or Results + Review)

If you’re interested in one of my panels, check them out here. Also, check out this blog post if you’d like to learn more about how and why they were created.

If you’d like to move forward with a package from Marek, you can choose to:

• get the results only
• add on a consultation with a health coach for help with results (note: this option is available if you select my comprehensive panel)

The consultation with the health coach is an additional $55 on top of the package price. You have the option to add that service when selecting the panel (“with review” vs. “without review”).

Don’t forget to use ASHLEYR for 10% off at checkout. This code will work with any package purchased.

Build your own lab panel

If you’re a DIYer like me and prefer to build your own panels, that option is available with Marek’s Lab Builder.

Individual lab markers range from a few bucks each to thousands of dollars.

Check out the lab markers they have available here…there’s nearly 300 to choose from!

It’s $5 for a venipuncture fee plus the cost of the lab markers you choose.

With this option, the results will be emailed to you.

ASHLEYR for 10% off will also work at checkout if you build your own panel.

See a provider for treatment

If you are looking to see a provider with Marek and possibly receive treatment, the process works a bit differently.

Your initial visit is an intake evaluation with a patient care coordinator where you will discuss symptoms, goals, and blood testing requirements.

Then you will get a blood panel done.

Once the results from the blood panel are in, the patient care coordinator will go over them with you and get you ready for the appointment with your provider.

Then you’ll have the appointment with your provider.

In order to book the initial appointment, you pay a $250 fee that covers the intake consultation, lab review, and provider visit. It also grants you annual eligibility into Marek’s platform as they do not have membership fees. The blood panel you get will be paid for out of pocket (usually around $450+).

Prescriptions, treatments, etc. after the provider appointment are all additional costs.

Note: if you purchase a comprehensive panel package (with review) and you would like to see a provider after that, you have the option to do so. marek health costs

Testing options

If blood or urine testing with Marek interests you and you want to move forward, to reiterate what I mentioned above, here are the options:

• choose one of my pre-packaged panels
• choose another pre-packaged panel (Marek has a few available, as does Paul Saladino)
• build your own custom panel (using Marek’s Lab Builder)
• choose a pre-packaged panel + add whatever additional lab markers you want (using Marek’s Lab Builder)

You can also choose to:

• get the results only
• have a health coach help you interpret results (and offer lifestyle recommendations + suggest supplements)
• see a provider for results interpretation + treatment

The packages

I created two panels that I thought would be useful to most people. marek health costs

• Basic Panel
• Comprehensive Panel (Two options: Results only or Results + Review)

To view my packages, check out my landing page.

Here is a spreadsheet that shows what markers are tested in each package.

If a marker is highlighted in red, that means it’s found in the comprehensive panel but not in the basic panel. I did this so you can quickly see the difference between those two panels.

If you choose the Comprehensive Panel, you have the option to:

• receive the results only
• have a health coach help you interpret results + offer recommendations

For the Basic Panel, the only option is to receive the results only.

You can also choose to see a provider for treatment through Marek (with any panel) if you decide to go that route.

Here are two other panels that may be of interest to you:

• Marek’s Comprehensive Vitamin & Mineral Panel
• BYO Fertility/Postpartum Panel through Marek’s Lab Builder

With Marek’s Comprehensive Vitamin & Mineral Panel, you can test core vitamins & minerals. The panel includes:

• Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)
• Vitamin B9 (Folate)
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin A (Retinol)
• Vitamin A (Beta Carotene)
• Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol)
• Vitamin E (Gamma Tocopherol)
• Vitamin D (25-OHD)
• Vitamin C
• Zinc
• Magnesium, RBC
• Copper
• Ceruloplasmin
• Selenium

I’d suggest also adding an iron panel and any other vitamins & minerals that you want to get checked. Use the sorting tool on the Lab Builder page and select “Vitamins & Minerals” to see what markers are available.

With the BYO Fertility/Postpartum panel, use Marek’s Lab Builder to build your own panel of essential fertility/pregnancy/nursing vitamins and minerals. This is geared toward women who are:

• postpartum and wondering if their diet/supplementation is holding up
• pre-conception and wondering if their body is optimal/ready for pregnancy
• having fertility issues and wondering if they have a deficiency somewhere

These are the markers I recommend:

• Iron panel + B12 + folate (or full Anemia Profile)
• Calcium
• Zinc
• Iodine
• Selenium
• Copper
• Magnesium
• OmegaCheck (EPA + DPA +DHA)
• Vitamin A & Vitamin E (Alpha-Tocopherol & Gamma-Tocopherol) & Beta Carotene
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D

And of course, any others that resonate with you based on your own unique situation. marek health costs

How I selected the markers for my packages

When creating my packages, I leaned heavily on Paul’s and Marek’s for templates. Their panels are very similar to one another, with just a few differentiating markers. marek health costs

One of the owners of Marek is Derek from More Plates More Dates. During my discussions with the marketing team, I was told that Marek spent a lot of time crafting their panels. To do so, they use the latest research from Huberman and other experts in the health and biohacking fields.

And as for Paul’s panels, my thinking around health – for the most part – is aligned with his. And his research makes sense to me.

So I studied their panels while creating my own, and made just a few minor changes.

My basic panel is identical to Paul’s, except:

• NO Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) under “Inflammatory Markers”
• ADD “Magnesium” for males
• ADD “Blood glucose” + “HbA1c”

My comprehensive panel is identical to Paul’s, except:

• ADD Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) under “Inflammatory Markers”
• ADD “Magnesium” for males
• ADD “Uric Acid” under “Insulin Sensitivity”

Why?

• It didn’t make sense that ESR was on Paul’s basic panel and not on his comprehensive, so I switched that around.
• I added magnesium for males too. I’m sure why it was only included on his female panels.
• I wanted a few insulin sensitivity markers on the basic panel so those who choose the basic panel can get some insight into that department.
• I wanted to provide as thorough of a panel as possible (without skyrocketing the cost), and uric acid was an easy marker to add to the insulin sensitivity section. (See Marek’s Complete Panel Package for the most thorough panel available.)

Note: if you see a package that is not mine (for example, one of Paul’s or Marek’s) that you resonate with more, you can still use my code (ASHLEYR) for a discount on that package.

Additional markers to consider

When I was building my panel for my first blood test through Marek, I felt like a kid in a candy store. There are nearly 300 markers to choose from! marek health costs

I moved forward with:

• my Comprehensive Panel (to get a good baseline for my organ systems, metabolic health, and hormone health)

I also added a few markers (using the Lab Builder) that resonated with me:

• Histamine (testing a hunch that I am sensitive to histamines)
• Copper (curious about my iron/copper relationship)
• Ceruloplasmin (curious about my iron/copper relationship)
• Folate (curious about my postpartum levels)
• OmegaCheck (testing the efficacy of my fish eggs supplement)

Below are a few snapshots of my results.

The OmegaCheck panel was a cool panel. I barely eat fish (maybe a few times per year) and I take a fish egg supplement in place, so I was curious to test the efficacy of the supplement as it relates to my omega-3 levels, especially since I’m nursing. I was also curious about linoleic acid and my omega-6 levels too.

Lipid panel + inflammatory markers + metabolic health:

I have been loosely following The Root Cause Protocol and was curious about my iron/copper relationship (iron panel + folate + ferritin + ceruloplasmin + copper):

According to my results, my histamine was in the normal range. I’m not entirely convinced that I don’t have a problem with histamine as I have heard that even if your blood levels are normal, you could have a problem at the cellular level. But a blood test is a good gauge to determine if you have any obvious problems with it (I know someone who knows someone that had 180+ histamine on a blood test).

I was pleased with my vitamin D levels as I stopped synthetic supplementation at the beginning of this year (a few months ago) and have been using only Cod Liver Oil and sunning. Those two things seem to be holding up, even during winter. Looking forward to getting it even higher in the spring/summer.

Before my husband and I try to conceive next, I also plan to test the rest of the fertility markers I suggested in a few sections prior.

Below are some additional markers that Marek offers that you may want to consider adding if they’re applicable to you.

Infections:

• Toxoplasma gondii Ab, IgG
• Candida Antibodies IgG, IgA, IgM
• Helicobacter pylori, IgM Ab
• EBV (Can be associated with POTS/MCAS/dysautonomia)

Dysautonomia/POTS:

• Aldosterone
• Renin
• Aldosterone/renin ratio

Fertility:

Aside from the markers I suggested for Fertility/Postpartum in the section above…

• MTHFR genetic testing (Having MTHFR mutations can be associated with miscarriages. You can also test through 23 and Me and search the raw data. That’s what we did to determine our family’s MTHFR status.)
• Homocyst(e)ine (High homocysteine is usually indicative of MTHFR gene mutations. It could be a good starting point since this test is cheaper than the genetic test.)
• Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) (a marker that corresponds with your egg count)

Cancer:

• Cancer Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) (tests the amount of a protein in the blood that responds to cancer in the body)
• Cancer Antigen 125 (CA 125) (can serve as a marker for ovarian cancer as well as tumors of the uterus, breast, pancreas, colon, or lung)
• Cancer Antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) (can be associated with breast cancer)
• AFP (α-Fetoprotein), Tumor Marker (can be associated with liver disease or of a tumor in the liver, ovaries, or testicles)
• Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) (can be associated with prostate cancer)

Autoimmune:

• Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-α) (can be associated with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases)

MTHFR mutation:

• MTHFR genetic testing (You can also test through 23 and Me and search the raw data. That’s what we did to determine our family’s MTHFR status.)
• Homocyst(e)ine (High homocysteine is usually indicative of MTHFR gene mutations. It could be a good starting point since this test is cheaper than the genetic test.)
• B6, Folate, B12 (Having MTHFR mutations can be associated with a deficiency in these vitamins.)

Allergies/MCAS:

• Histamine (if you suspect you have histamine intolerance)
• Allergen Profile, Dairy (IgE)
• Allergen Profile, Meat (IgE)
• Allergen Profile, Vegetable I (IgE)
• Allergen Profile, Grains (IgE)
• Allergen Profile, Egg (Ovalbumin) (IgE)

Additional vitamins/cellular health markers:

• K1
• COQ10 (can be associated with mitochondrial health disorders)

Additional hormone markers:

• Pregnenolone
• Parathyroid hormone

Heavy metal testing:

• Heavy metals panel: lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium (I hear that hair testing is ideal if you want to see mineral stores, and blood testing is ideal if you want to see your body’s current mineral state. I chose to do hair mineral testing for heavy metals/minerals, but there is a blood test available with Marek for heavy metals if that resonates with you instead.)
• Fluoride
• Aluminum

If any of your baseline markers are off:

• Consider a deeper dive into the organ system. For example, if your thyroid markers (TSH, Free T3, Free T4) are off, you could test thyroid antibodies (Thyroglobulin Antibody (tgAb) + Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody (TPOab)) and Reverse T3 to see if something deeper is going on.

Note: Marek also has a handy sorting tool on the lefthand side of the Lab Builder page that can help you narrow down lab tests based on what you’re looking for. marek health costs

How to get your blood tested

If you’d like to move forward with testing with Marek:

1. Decide if you’d like to see a health coach/provider or if you’d like to interpret your own results.
2. Decide what package you want or if you’d like to build your own panel.
3. If going with a package, decide if you want to add any additional lab markers.
4. Add all packages and markers to your cart and checkout. Use ASHLEYR at checkout for a 10% discount.
5. Follow the directions from Marek. They’ll send you a requisition form via email 1-2 days after your purchase with a full set of instructions.

Note: Marek also offers urine tests. A full urinalysis is included with my Comprehensive Panel.

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