picardo.

Albumin The main protein your liver makes

Also called Serum albumin and ALB Often on a standard checkup Fast for 12 hours

The short answer

Albumin is the main protein in your blood, and only your liver makes it. Below 3.5 g/dL is clearly low. That usually means your body is dealing with inflammation or illness, or losing protein, rather than that you’re not eating enough.1,3,5,8

A good result
Within Labcorp’s range for your age and sex, such as 3.9 to 4.9 g/dL for a woman aged 31 to 50, or 3.8 to 4.9 for anyone aged 51 to 60.9
If yours is low
Look for the cause, such as inflammation, the kidneys or the liver. Eating more protein rarely fixes it.1,2,3
Should you test?
It’s on most checkup blood tests. It matters most if you have liver or kidney disease, or swelling in your legs.1,9

Check your result

Type the number from your report. It stays on this page.

2.5 3.5 4 5.1
  • Very low Under 2.5
  • Low 2.5 to 3.4
  • Low end 3.5 to 3.9
  • Normal 4.0 to 5.0
  • High 5.1 or more

Enter your result to see what it means and what to do next.

Got a result from another lab? Ask Picardo about it. The app explains your results, and a physician can follow up.

Below 3.5, the MELD liver disease score starts counting albumin against you;5 below about 2.5, swelling can set in.9 Labcorp’s normal range depends on your age and sex. The bar isn’t to scale.

What is a normal albumin level?

Labcorp’s range depends on your age and sex: its lower limit runs from 3.6 g/dL over age 89 to 4.3 for men under 31.9 Clinically, the lines that matter most sit lower:5,9

Very low Under 2.5 g/dL

Very low: see a clinician soon

Albumin this low can let fluid seep out of your blood vessels, causing swelling in your legs or belly.9 Common causes are kidney disease that leaks protein into your urine, advanced liver disease and serious illness.1,9

How worried to be

See a clinician within a few days, and sooner if you have new swelling. If you’re pregnant, albumin falls most in the third trimester, so check it with your obstetric team.2

What to do next
  1. 1 Take this result to a clinician, with a urine test for protein.1
  2. 2 Expect your liver and kidney tests to be checked too.1,9
Low 2.5 to 3.4 g/dL

Low: find the cause

Below 3.5 is clearly low. It’s where the MELD liver disease score starts counting albumin against you, and it goes with worse outcomes after surgery.1,5 The most common cause is inflammation, from an infection, injury or long-term illness. Liver disease, extra fluid in the blood and pregnancy lower it too, and less often protein leaks out through the kidneys or gut.1,2,9

How worried to be

Not an emergency, but worth finding the cause in the next few weeks.

What to do next
  1. 1 If you’ve been ill recently, recheck in a few weeks. Albumin falls with inflammation and takes weeks to recover.1,2
  2. 2 Check your urine for protein, and look at the liver tests on the same report.1
  3. 3 Eating more protein won’t fix it if inflammation is the cause.2,3
Low end 3.5 to 3.9 g/dL

At the low end, or just under the range

Whether your report flags this depends on your age and sex. Labcorp’s lower limit is 3.6 to 3.9 for adults over 50, and 3.9 to 4.3 for younger adults.9 Pregnancy, birth control pills, a recent illness and IV fluids can all nudge albumin down.2,9

How worried to be

Not a worry on its own.

What to do next
  1. 1 If your report flags it, recheck at your next checkup, or a few weeks after any illness.1 For a man under 31, Labcorp’s lower limit is 4.3, so this is well under it and worth rechecking sooner.9
  2. 2 If it keeps falling, or you notice swelling, see a clinician.9
Normal 4.0 to 5.0 g/dL

In the normal range

Your albumin is in the usual range for adults, a sign your liver is making enough of it.1,9 Labcorp’s limits shift with age and sex, so a result here can still be flagged. 4.0 to 4.2 is just under the range for men under 31, as is 4.0 for men aged 31 to 50, and the top of this band is just over it for women over 30 and adults over 50.9 On its own, neither is a worry.

How worried to be

Nothing to worry about.

What to do next
  1. 1 No follow-up needed for albumin itself.
High 5.1 g/dL or more

Above the usual range

For men under 51, 5.1 is still within Labcorp’s range, and up to 5.2 for men under 31.9 Above that, the usual reason is being a little short of water when your blood was drawn.1,9 No illness makes your liver overproduce albumin.1

How worried to be

Nothing to worry about.

What to do next
  1. 1 Drink normally before your next test.
Comprehensive metabolic panel, $4.00
Results in 2 to 3 days, explained in the app
Order

What is albumin?

Think of albumin as the sponge that keeps water in your bloodstream. When it runs low, fluid seeps into your tissues, which is why very low albumin causes swelling.

Albumin is the main protein in your blood, and only your liver makes it.1,8 It holds fluid inside your blood vessels.9 Because the liver makes it, albumin falls as liver disease gets worse.1,8

What lowers albumin?

  • Inflammation, from an infection, injury, surgery or a long-term illness1,2
  • Kidney disease that leaks protein into your urine, such as nephrotic syndrome1,9
  • Liver disease, including cirrhosis1,9
  • Protein loss through the gut, as in Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis9
  • Extra fluid in the blood, from IV fluids or heart failure9
  • Pregnancy and birth control pills9

Does low albumin mean you’re not eating enough protein?

Usually not. US and international nutrition experts now say albumin shouldn’t be used to judge nutrition.3,4 Inflammation lowers it whatever you eat.3 In people who aren’t ill, albumin barely falls even after 6 months of near-starvation, or in long-term anorexia.1,2

So a low albumin is better read as a sign of inflammation or protein loss, and the fix is to find and treat the cause.2

How to raise albumin

  • Treating the cause

    Clearing an infection, calming inflammation or treating protein loss through the kidneys lets albumin recover, over weeks.1,2

    How much it helps
    A lot
    How sure we are
    Very sure
  • Eating more protein

    Rarely helps on its own. It won’t fix low albumin caused by inflammation or protein loss.2,3

    How much it helps
    A little
    How sure we are
    Fairly sure
  • Albumin infusions

    Given for some complications of cirrhosis, such as after draining a lot of fluid from the belly. Regular infusions to prevent problems are unproven.6,8

    How much it helps
    Some
    How sure we are
    Early evidence

Whether regular albumin infusions help people with cirrhosis is still unsettled. In an Italian trial of 431 people with cirrhosis and fluid in the belly, weekly infusions for up to 18 months raised survival from 66% to 77%, but the trial wasn’t blinded.7 Another trial, PRECIOSA, missed its main goal, and so far it’s been reported only as a 2025 conference abstract.8 A 2024 American Gastroenterological Association review advises against albumin for people with cirrhosis whose belly fluid is uncomplicated.6

Who should get an albumin test?

Albumin comes on the comprehensive metabolic panel, so most people get it with routine blood work. It matters most if:

  • You have liver disease. Albumin is part of MELD 3.0, the score that measures how severe it is.5
  • You have kidney disease that leaks protein.1,9
  • You have new swelling in your legs or belly.9

How to get an albumin test, and what it costs

It comes from the comprehensive metabolic panel, which costs $4.00 through Picardo.

Order the test

Comprehensive metabolic panel

$4.00
Labcorp 322000 · fast for 12 hours

The test this number comes from.

Order the comprehensive metabolic panel
  • Results in 2 to 3 days, in the app
  • Physician follow-up if you want one
  • Free Labcorp draw, or $75 at home
  • No other fees. HSA and FSA eligible.

It’s also part of the Base Core Annual – Men, Base Core Annual – Women, Heart Health, Brain Health Screening, Pregnancy, Postpartum, Fertility, Thyroid & Autoimmunity and Celiac / GI panels, if you’d rather test more at once.

Already have a result? Ask Picardo about it

Questions people ask

Can dehydration raise albumin?

Yes. It’s the only common reason for a high albumin. Being short of water concentrates your blood, so albumin reads higher.1,9

Why is albumin lower in pregnancy?

In pregnancy, more albumin moves out of your blood into your tissues as they hold more water. Blood albumin falls steadily from the first trimester to the third, so a result that would be low otherwise can be normal late in pregnancy.2,9

How quickly does albumin change?

It can fall within hours to days during a serious infection, injury or surgery, as albumin leaks out of the blood. Coming back up is slower. Albumin lasts about 18 to 20 days in your blood, so recovery takes weeks.2,9

Is blood albumin the same as urine albumin?

It’s the same protein, measured in different places. A urine albumin test looks for albumin leaking through damaged kidneys.1

Often checked alongside

Total protein
All the protein in your blood
Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio
Early kidney damage, from a urine sample
ALT
The enzyme most specific to liver damage
eGFR
How well your kidneys filter

Test details

Labcorp test
Metabolic Panel (14), Comprehensive, 322000
LOINC
1751-7
Sample
Blood
Fasting
Not needed for albumin itself. The metabolic panel it comes on asks for 12 hours, for its glucose result.
Typical lab range
Depends on age and sex. Ages 31 to 50, 4.1 to 5.1 g/dL (men) and 3.9 to 4.9 (women); ages 51 to 60, 3.8 to 4.9. Younger adults run a little higher, and older adults a little lower.9
Units
g/dL in the US. For g/L, multiply by 10.

Sources

  1. 1 Levitt DG, Levitt MD. Human serum albumin homeostasis: a new look at the roles of synthesis, catabolism, renal and gastrointestinal excretion, and the clinical value of serum albumin measurements. Int J Gen Med. 2016;9:229–255. doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S102819
  2. 2 Soeters PB, Wolfe RR, Shenkin A. Hypoalbuminemia: pathogenesis and clinical significance. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2019;43(2):181–193. doi.org/10.1002/jpen.1451
  3. 3 Evans DC, Corkins MR, Malone A, et al. The use of visceral proteins as nutrition markers: an ASPEN position paper. Nutr Clin Pract. 2021;36(1):22–28. doi.org/10.1002/ncp.10588
  4. 4 Jensen GL, Cederholm T, Correia MITD, et al. GLIM consensus approach to diagnosis of malnutrition: a 5-year update. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2025;49(4):414–427. doi.org/10.1002/jpen.2756
  5. 5 Kim WR, Mannalithara A, Heimbach JK, et al. MELD 3.0: the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease updated for the modern era. Gastroenterology. 2021;161(6):1887–1895.e4. doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2021.08.050
  6. 6 Garcia-Tsao G, Abraldes JG, Rich NE, Wong VWS. AGA clinical practice update on the use of vasoactive drugs and intravenous albumin in cirrhosis: expert review. Gastroenterology. 2024;166(1):202–210. doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2023.10.016
  7. 7 Caraceni P, Riggio O, Angeli P, et al. Long-term albumin administration in decompensated cirrhosis (ANSWER): an open-label randomised trial. Lancet. 2018;391(10138):2417–2429. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30840-7
  8. 8 Juanola A, Ginès P. Long-term albumin therapy in cirrhosis with ascites: not an answer yet. United European Gastroenterol J. 2026;14(7):e70278. doi.org/10.1002/ueg2.70278
  9. 9 Labcorp. Albumin, test 001081. Labcorp test menu. Accessed October 28, 2026. www.labcorp.com/tests/001081/albumin

Updated 28 Oct 2026.

This is general health information, not medical advice: talk to your clinician about your results and before changing any treatment.