As consumer desire for personal health data continues — fueled by wearables, AI wellness chatbots, telehealth offerings and niche health trackers — Function Health is looking to stand out.
The telehealth platform launched in 2022 with direct-to-consumer medical testing, including labs for nutritional deficiencies, hormone irregularities and other biomarkers it says are often missed in traditional medical visits. Today, it’s raising awareness of nutritional deficiencies identified in lab tests of Function’s nearly 500,000 telehealth users through the launch of a limited-edition Erewhon smoothie.
“We have almost half a million members now, and we’re seeing 65% have really high insulin levels, 54% have high ApoB that’s related to cardiovascular risk, and 70% are low in many nutrients like vitamin D, B vitamins, omega 3s, iron and magnesium,” Mark Hyman, MD, co-founder and chief medical officer of Function, told Glossy. “The smoothie is designed to address a lot of the gaps … and to get people to think about food and their biology together.”
Function Health’s Erewhon smoothie was released on Tuesday in brick-and-mortar Erewhon locations and will be available for one year. It includes blueberries, greens, plant protein, omega-rich oils, chia, flax and prebiotic fibers. It is bottled, found in the juice section, and will retail for $16. The smoothie comes with a $25-off coupon for new Function members in an effort to boost customer acquisition.
Function offers around 160 lab tests to its members, as well as medical imaging through its 2023 acquisition of elective MRI provider Ezra. Function membership starts at $365 per year and includes AI-powered medical data analysis and storage. According to Function, about 80% of its users have at least one biomarker outside the healthy range. Function Health was valued at $2.5 billion last year.
According to Dr. Hyman, the average American eats around 135 pounds of sugar and 130 pounds of flour per year, which he says is driving up the occurrence of acne, fertility issues, diabetes, cancer, dementia and many more issues. Dr. Hyman told Glossy that, according to its lab partner Quest, testing blood sugar levels is being widely ignored.
“Nobody’s testing insulin — less than 1% of doctors will measure an insulin level when they check your labs,” he said. “[We’re testing everyone we treat] and we’re seeing this massive problem; sixty-five percent of the population has this [high blood sugar] problem, but nobody’s looking for it, nobody’s diagnosing it, and nobody’s treating it — and it’s the biggest killer in America.”
This marks the second food-based partnership this year for Function. In January, Sweetgreen unveiled a new year-focused salad designed by Dr. Hyman. He told Glossy the Function team is open to more partnerships, as well.
“We’re able to help people understand what’s going on, what to do about it and what the root causes are — not just do the old medicine better, but really do a different type of medicine,” Dr. Hyman said. “It’s based on understanding your body as a system and a network, and optimizing and creating health.”
Erewhon operates 10 locations in Los Angeles. They sell hot and prepared foods; juice, coffee, and smoothies, as well as beauty and wellness products, and groceries. The company declined to be interviewed for this article. According to Forbes, Erewhon generated more than $171 million in profit in 2023.
Function joins the growing cohort of celebrities and brands that have partnered with Erewhon on the collab smoothie trend. This includes Hailey Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendall Jenner, plus brands like Salt & Straw, Dedcool, and YSE Beauty.
