What is albumin?
Of all the proteins in your blood, albumin is the largest share, roughly sixty percent. Your liver makes well over ten grams of it every day, and it lasts a few weeks. It does two things. It keeps water in your blood vessels: without enough albumin fluid leaks into the tissues and you get swollen ankles or fluid in the abdomen. And it is the carrier of everything that does not dissolve in water by itself: calcium, zinc, fatty acids, bilirubin, thyroid and sex hormones and many medicines. That makes albumin a value about three things at once. About your liver, which makes it; about your diet, because without enough protein the liver cannot make it; and about inflammation, because with every inflammation the liver switches its production from albumin to inflammation proteins, and the value falls within days. That last one is in practice the most common reason for a low albumin, and the least alarming. Your report shows albumin in g/L. Normal is about 35 to 47 g/L for a man of 19 to 50 years and 35 to 45 g/L for a woman, and the band falls slowly with age. It is a concentration, so thickened blood gives a higher number, and standing upright lifts it a few percent compared with lying down.
Why is albumin relevant?
Albumin is the protein value that shows whether your body is in build-up mode. Anyone who eats too little protein, on a strict diet, in a period of little appetite, getting older or eating plant-based without paying attention, sees albumin slowly fall, and an albumin at the low end goes together in older people with less muscle, slower recovery and more frailty. Enough protein at every meal, meat, fish, dairy, eggs or legumes, and strength training bring it back. For anyone who does sport or is recovering from surgery it is a measure of the reserve the body draws on. The second reason is that albumin makes other values readable. Well over forty percent of your calcium travels bound to albumin, so with a low albumin your calcium looks too low while the free calcium is fine; corrected calcium exists for that. Zinc travels on albumin too, and a low zinc with a low albumin says mainly something about the protein. And medicines that bind to albumin work more strongly when there is less albumin. The third reason is that a low albumin without inflammation and with enough protein points at a liver or kidneys. A liver making less through disease, or kidneys letting protein through into the urine, let albumin fall while CRP is normal. That is the combination you take seriously: low albumin, normal CRP, and then the liver values and the urine.
Albumin reference ranges
What counts beside the number:
- CRP from the same draw, because an inflammation is the most common reason for a low value
- ALT and bilirubin, which say whether it is the liver
- Creatinine and protein in the urine, which say whether it is the kidneys
- How much protein you eat, and whether you are losing weight or have little appetite
- How much you drank, and whether you sat, stood or lay at the draw
- Your calcium and zinc, which travel on albumin and have to be corrected for it
The bands above are where the labs overlap from 19 to 50 years; albumin falls slowly with age by nature, and not every lab builds that into its band. It is a concentration: drinking too little, a tourniquet that sits for long and standing upright lift the value a few percent. With an inflammation albumin is temporarily low without anything being wrong with your liver or your diet. Always read albumin beside CRP.
What Dutch labs actually use
35 – 45g/L
Between 32 and 35 and between 45 and 52 it depends on the lab, because each sets its limits on its own method and population. Above 52 every lab calls it abnormal.
every lab calls 35 – 45 g/L normal. Between 32 and 35 and between 45 and 52 it depends on the lab.
Every age, per lab
| Laboratory | Group | Reference range |
|---|---|---|
| Unilabs(Saltro, Medlon, SHO, Atalmedial)2026 | All ages | 35–50 g/L |
| Star-shl2026 | All ages | 35–52 g/L |
| Certe2026 | Women 13–19 yrs | 34–46 g/L |
| Women 19–50 yrs | 32–45 g/L | |
| Women 50–65 yrs | 33–44 g/L | |
| Women 65–80 yrs | 32–43 g/L | |
| Women from 80 yrs | 31–42 g/L | |
| Men 13–19 yrs | 35–48 g/L | |
| Men 19–50 yrs | 35–47 g/L | |
| Men 50–65 yrs | 33–45 g/L | |
| Men 65–80 yrs | 31–44 g/L | |
| Men from 80 yrs | 30–42 g/L | |
| Clinical Diagnostics2026 | From 18 yrs | 35–52 g/L |
Each band as the lab publishes it, retrieved in 2026, unless marked otherwise.
Albumin high or low: what it means
A low albumin means less production, more loss or dilution. The most common explanation first: an inflammation or infection, a liver condition, a kidney disease in which protein leaks into the urine, taking in too little protein, and rarely a gut disease in which protein is lost. Look first at CRP: if that is high, the low albumin is a consequence of it and recovers once the inflammation is over. If CRP is normal, ALT and bilirubin say whether it is the liver, protein in the urine whether it is the kidneys, and your eating pattern whether it is the diet. A high albumin is almost always blood thickened by drinking too little, or a tourniquet that sat for a long time. Drink normally and have blood drawn again. A genuinely too high production does not exist. What you do about it: with too little protein, protein is the lever, spread over the day and at every meal, with strength training alongside; count on weeks, because albumin lasts a few weeks. With an inflammation you do nothing about the albumin and everything about the inflammation. With a liver or kidney picture, investigation of those belongs. Read albumin beside CRP, and beyond that beside ALT and bilirubin, creatinine and protein in the urine, and correct calcium for it. Have blood drawn normally hydrated, and compare over time in the same posture and at the same lab.
What lowers it
Less production, more loss, or dilution.
| Cause | How often |
|---|---|
| Inflammation or infectionWith every inflammation the liver switches its production from albumin to inflammation proteins; the value falls within days and recovers afterwards, and CRP shows it | Often |
| Liver conditionA liver making less through disease; ALT, bilirubin and clotting are then usually abnormal too | Sometimes |
| Kidney diseaseKidneys letting protein through into the urine; frothy urine and swollen ankles belong with it, and protein in the urine confirms it | Sometimes |
| Taking in too little proteinOn a strict diet, with little appetite, getting older or eating plant-based without paying attention; falls slowly and recovers with protein at every meal | Rare |
| Gut diseaseCoeliac disease or a chronic gut inflammation in which protein is lost through the gut or poorly absorbed | Rare |
What raises it
Almost always thickened blood, not more protein.
| Cause | How often |
|---|---|
| DehydrationToo little drunk or plenty sweated; the plasma shrinks and all proteins look higher, and drinking and drawing again settles it | Often |
| Tourniquet or postureA tourniquet that sits for long and standing upright squeeze fluid out of the blood vessels; the value rises a few percent without anything having changed | Sometimes |
How does an albumin blood test work?
- Referral
- Not needed. Albumin is in every liver panel you can have measured yourself.
- Fasting
- Not needed. Albumin barely moves with food, but it does with fluid, so drink normally.
- When
- Not during or just after an infection, because then the value is temporarily low and says nothing about your liver or your diet.
- The draw
- One tube of blood from a vein in your arm, seated and without a tourniquet that sits for long. CRP, the liver values and calcium come from the same draw.
- Repeating
- A few weeks after an infection, or after two to three months of eating more protein; albumin lasts a few weeks, so earlier you see little.
- Which test
- Albumin is in the comprehensive test (€229) and in .
- Where to draw
- You can draw at 250+ locations near you, no referral needed. See the locations
Frequently asked questions
What is albumin?
The most abundant protein in your blood, made afresh every day by your liver. It keeps water in your blood vessels and carries what does not dissolve by itself: calcium, zinc, fatty acids, bilirubin, hormones and many medicines. So the value is about three things at once: your liver, your protein intake and inflammation, and it colours the results of other values.
What is a normal albumin level?
About 35 to 47 g/L for a man of 19 to 50 years and 35 to 45 g/L for a woman, where the labs overlap; the band falls slowly with age. More important than the band is CRP beside it, because with an inflammation albumin is temporarily low, and how much you drank, because thickened blood gives a higher number.
What does a low albumin level mean?
Less production, more loss or dilution. Usually it is an inflammation: the liver then switches its production to inflammation proteins, and CRP is high. Without inflammation it is a liver making less, kidneys letting protein through into the urine, or too little protein in the diet; rarely a gut disease. A low albumin with a normal CRP is the combination you take seriously, and then the liver values and the urine say where it sits.
What does a high albumin level mean?
Almost always thickened blood: too little drunk, plenty sweated, or a tourniquet that sat for a long time. The plasma shrinks and all proteins look higher without anything being added. Drink normally and have blood drawn again. A liver that genuinely makes too much albumin does not exist, so the high side is rarely the subject.
What does albumin have to do with eating protein?
The liver can only make albumin from protein that comes in. Anyone who eats too little, on a strict diet, with little appetite, getting older or eating plant-based without paying attention, sees albumin slowly fall, and in older people an albumin at the low end goes together with less muscle, slower recovery and more frailty. Protein at every meal, spread over the day, and strength training bring it back in two to three months.
Why does albumin belong with calcium and zinc?
Because well over forty percent of your calcium and most zinc travel bound to albumin. With a low albumin your calcium looks too low while the free calcium is fine; corrected calcium exists for that, which adjusts the total for the albumin. A low zinc with a low albumin says in the same way mainly something about the protein. So never read those values without albumin beside them.
What does an inflammation do to albumin?
With every inflammation or infection the liver switches its production: less albumin, more inflammation proteins such as CRP. Albumin then falls within days and recovers in the weeks after the inflammation. That is the most common reason for a low value and the least alarming. So do not have blood drawn during or just after an infection if you want to know what your liver and your diet are doing.
Do I need to fast for an albumin test?
No. Albumin barely moves with food, but it does with fluid and posture: drink normally, have blood drawn seated and do not let the tourniquet sit for long. CRP, the liver values and calcium come from the same draw, and without CRP a low albumin cannot be read.
Which tests include albumin?
Albumin is in the Liver function test (€59, also as an add-on for €15), in the Biological age test (€69, also as an add-on for €15), in the comprehensive test (€229) and in .
Related biomarkers
Sources
- 1.Unilabs, test catalogue (Dutch): albumin. 2026. bepalingenklapper.nl
- 2.Star-shl, test catalogue (Dutch): albumin. 2026. star-shl.nl
- 3.Certe, test catalogue (Dutch): albumin. 2026. bepalingenwijzer.certe.nl
- 4.Clinical Diagnostics, lab guide (Dutch): albumin. 2026. clinicaldiagnostics.nl
- 5.LESA Laboratory diagnostics (Dutch primary-care laboratory agreement). 2026. richtlijnen.nhg.org
Educational information only, not medical advice. Consult a healthcare professional for clinical decisions.
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