Cholesterol Test Preparation

dancinqueen91

Long-time MFP user, rarely post on here though.

I have a blood lipid panel later this week as part of a fitness assessment. I've never had my cholesterol tested before so I'm not sure where I stand. I generally eat a well-balanced diet, but was wondering if there are any foods I should/shouldn't eat in the days leading up to the test? I obviously don't want to skew the results, but any advice would be appreciated!

VBnotbitter

Cholesterol levels don't change quickly so no there is nothing that you can do now that will alter results. The test is usually fasted in any case, you should double check this to see how long they want you to fast for prior. It's usually 12-18 hours

SharonNehring

If you will be having your lipids checked, there are actually recommended guidelines for diet the evening before. It may vary a bit from lab to lab but for our hospital, it's asked you avoid alcohol for 48 hrs, avoid full fat dairy, butter/ margarine, salad dressing, fried foods and fatty meats for dinner the night before. Nothing except water, diet soda or unsweetened tea/ coffee after dinner, then fasting overnight.

Cholesterol does take a while to change like the previous poster said, but triglycerides are greatly affected but foods.

Mangopickle

I used to recommend to patients who we're going for a life insurance work up to go vegan for 3 months prior to the application. You can't fix genetic cholesterol but you usually lose wt and optimize your labs.

dancinqueen91

Thank you everyone for the advice! I'll just stick to my normal eating habits and try to limit extremely fatty foods the day before.