Most people understand blood sugar as a number that moves over days, weeks, or months. John Mulder is focused on something longer-lasting: the biological footprint left behind by years of lifestyle choices.
As CEO of Diagnoptics Technologies, Mulder leads a company built around measuring advanced glycation end products, commonly known as AGEs. These compounds form when sugars react with proteins, both inside the body and during certain cooking processes. Over time, AGEs can accumulate in tissue and contribute to stiffness, inflammation, and metabolic damage.
Unlike an HbA1c test, which reflects blood sugar trends over roughly two to three months, AGE measurement offers a longer-term view. Mulder describes it as a kind of metabolic memory, showing how the body has dealt with food, stress, inflammation, exercise, and other lifestyle factors over years.
That long view is central to Diagnoptics’ technology.
The company’s AGE scanner uses fluorescence to detect AGE accumulation in the skin. A small amount of light is directed into the skin, reaching the collagen layer where AGEs accumulate. Some AGE compounds naturally fluoresce, and the scanner measures the returning signal. A stronger signal indicates higher AGE levels.
For Mulder, the power of the technology is its simplicity. Within about a minute, a person can receive a score that reflects hidden metabolic risk.
That matters because AGE-related damage is often invisible until late in the process. People may feel healthy while their AGE levels are already elevated. Others, especially people with poorly controlled diabetes, may show much higher levels than average.
Mulder believes this creates an opportunity for practitioners, including dietitians, naturopaths, health coaches, and other wellness professionals, to engage clients earlier and more effectively.
The challenge is not simply identifying risk. It is helping people change.
According to Mulder, lifestyle improvement works best when it happens gradually. Asking someone to change ten or twenty habits at once often leads to overwhelm. Instead, he favors small, sustainable steps: reducing sugar in coffee, changing breakfast choices, walking after meals, managing chronic stress, or improving food preparation methods.
AGE formation is slow, and reducing the rate of accumulation takes time as well. That makes patient engagement critical.
A visible score can give people a reason to stay motivated. It turns an abstract warning about lifestyle into something measurable.
Mulder also emphasizes that AGEs are not tied to one behavior alone. Diet matters, but so do cooking methods, physical activity, inflammation, smoking, and chronic stress. The best advice, he says, must be personalized to the individual.
For practitioners, the technology offers more than a diagnostic tool. It can support stronger client relationships by giving people a reason to continue working on their health over time.
Mulder came to healthcare after a career across industries including tobacco, telecom, education, publishing, and consumer goods. What connected those roles was innovation: bringing new ideas into the market.
At Diagnoptics, that mission has become more personal. Mulder says he had never heard of AGEs before joining the company. Now, after studying the science, he believes more people need to understand what they are, how they form, and why they matter.
His message is straightforward: hidden damage is still damage.
The earlier people can see it, the better chance they have to change course.
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