You are scheduled for a cholesterol test, and have been told you need to fast. Fasting before a blood test? It sounds vague isn’t it? But, fasting before a test is extremely important. You must be wondering why and how. In fact fasting before any kind of blood test is important. Its importance increases before you get tested for certain things, like diabetes and cholesterol. The fast serves a very specific purpose: it gives the doctor a reading of your blood, this helps him get the answers to his questions about your health.
Why the doctors ask you not to eat any food is because, after eating, the body has to process food which can take hours. As it processes the food, components of the food breakdown and travel through the blood. Cholesterol tests check the level of fat in the blood, any food consumed and the resulting fat it produces in the bloodstream can throw the test off completely. Fasting before you go in for blood work gives the doctor a true picture of how the blood looks before it has to do its job. If your fat (lipid) levels are high in a fasting state, that means you are at risk for high cholesterol and all of the health problems it can cause: heart disease, stroke, heart attack, blocked arteries and more.
Don’t be concerned about the fast before the test. You’ll get to eat again as soon as the doctor is finished. In general, a fast means that you don’t eat food, but you can drink water. Generally you are only asked to fast overnight or for most of a day before the blood is drawn. Do not worry much about it. It’s the best way to know what’s happening within the body.
