Most people track health through visible numbers: steps, heart rate, sleep, glucose, weight, or BMI. John Mulder believes one of the most important signals may be much harder to see.

Mulder, CEO of Diagnoptics Technologies, focuses on advanced glycation end products, or AGEs. These compounds form when sugars react with proteins inside the body. They also appear in food during certain cooking processes, especially when browning, frying, or grilling creates that familiar golden crust.

The problem is not one meal or one dessert. It is accumulation.

Over time, AGEs can crosslink with tissue in the arteries, collagen, eyes, heart, kidneys, brain, and cartilage. That tissue can become stiffer and eventually lose function. Mulder describes this as hidden biological damage, often developing silently long before symptoms appear.

That is where Diagnoptics comes in.

The company’s AGE scanner uses fluorescence to measure AGE accumulation in the skin. A small amount of light is directed into the arm, where it reaches the collagen layer. Certain AGE compounds fluoresce, and the scanner reads the signal that comes back. A stronger signal suggests a higher AGE burden in the body.

For Mulder, this matters because many standard health metrics are short-term snapshots. Fasting glucose, HbA1c, inflammation markers, and wearable data can all be useful, but they do not always show the long-term effects of lifestyle. A person can look “normal” on a recent test while still carrying years of metabolic stress.

AGE scanning, by contrast, offers a longer view.

Mulder sees it as a tool that can help people understand how years of eating habits, stress, inflammation, sleep, exercise, and food preparation have affected the body. It is not a standalone diagnostic test, but it can add another layer of insight.

That insight may be especially valuable in longevity and preventive health, where the goal is not simply to live longer but to age better.

Mulder also warns against oversimplifying wellness. Diet matters, but so does stress. Exercise matters, but too much intense exercise can create oxidative stress and inflammation. BMI can be useful, but it misses important distinctions between muscle and visceral fat. Ultra-processed food can affect the gut microbiome, which may also influence AGE formation.

In other words, the story is personal.

That is why Mulder believes AGE data can help health coaches, dietitians, naturopaths, and other practitioners guide clients more effectively. When people can see a number tied to internal aging, the conversation changes. It becomes less abstract and more immediate.

Still, he does not argue for extreme behavior. His advice is practical: eat more whole foods, reduce sugar gradually, avoid constant snacking, move after meals, manage stress, and make small changes that can last.

For many people, the biggest challenge is not knowing what to do. It is changing habits long enough for those choices to matter.

Mulder’s central message is that prevention needs better visibility. The body may be carrying signs of damage before a person feels sick, and the earlier those signs are understood, the more opportunity there is to act.

For anyone interested in longevity, that may be the real shift: not just tracking what happened today, but understanding what the body has been recording for years.

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