cholesterol test

[sakiliya]

Why do we need to fast before we have a cholesterol test and what would be the results if we didn't ? Would chewing gum or a small sip of water effect the test and how ?
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[Type2_2000]

I think the idea is that they want to be sure that all food has been digested because fat levels in the blood can temporarily increase after meals just like sugars do.

I'm sure water is fine and possibly gum might be but don't take my word for it - I'm sure someone wiser will be along to give a more authoritative answer.


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[noblehead]

I think the idea is that they want to be sure that all food has been digested because fat levels in the blood can temporarily increase after meals just like sugars do.

That's my understanding too.

Plain water is fine but avoid tea and coffee, if I were you I would avoid chewing gum too as they contain sugar/artificial sweeteners.

 

[Vern]

Hi there,

Fasting means exactly what it say. No food. Water is fine as is black tea, no sweeteners at all. If you add milk it has fat and glucose which stimulates the liver. Hence you will get a false/positive reading as the liver dumps cholesterol regularly. Hope that helps?


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[mpe]

I think the idea is that they want to be sure that all food has been digested because fat levels in the blood can temporarily increase after meals just like sugars do.

Sugars are water soluble thus are carried dissolved in the blood. Lipids (which include fats, sterols, sterol esters) are not water soluble. In order to be carried in the blood special structures called lipoproteins are used.

There are five different types of plasma lipoprotein. Many people are only aware of the two smallest (and highest density) types. It's also fairly common to confuse lipoproteins (in effect "shipping containers") with their contents ("cargo").

Just to confuse things the largest (and lowest density) type are called "chylomicrons" (rather than something like "ULDL"). There are also complex interactions between different types of lipoproteins.

 

[mpe]

Fasting means exactly what it say. No food. Water is fine as is black tea, no sweeteners at all. If you add milk it has fat and glucose which stimulates the liver. Hence you will get a false/positive reading as the liver dumps cholesterol regularly. Hope that helps?

Not sure what you mean by the liver "dumping" cholesterol.
It produces VLDL, which contains mostly liver synthesised fats along with some cholesterol.
Also the liver produces bile for digestion. Bile contains cholesterol and "bile acids" are sterols (quite a few of them look to be cholesterol with an amino acid added).

If the liver cannot synthesise enough cholesterol for VLDL and/or bile production it will take it from lipoprotein particles in the blood. So it's actually possible that eating would reduce the quantity of cholesterol being carried in the blood.