Wellness

[depglass]

I have a few friends that do this to some degree, meaning eat well for a couple weeks before the tests.  One of them is a pharmacist.  What is the point?  If you can't get accurate results you don't really know what you are doing wrong and what meds you probably should be on. 

[Lipstickdiva]

I'm not sure how you can "prepare" for a blood test.  If you have high cholestrol, a few days or even a few weeks of healthy eating isn't going to change your numbers that much is it?

My DH has to have his A1C done every 3 months.  That test shows his average blood glucose readings over a 3 months period so eating good for 2 weeks out of that 3 months period is useless. 

I'm just not sure how you can prepare for a blood test.  

[jaxs mom]

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@Lipstickdiva wrote:

I'm not sure how you can "prepare" for a blood test.  If you have high cholestrol, a few days or even a few weeks of healthy eating isn't going to change your numbers that much is it?

My DH has to have his A1C done every 3 months.  That test shows his average blood glucose readings over a 3 months period so eating good for 2 weeks out of that 3 months period is useless. 

I'm just not sure how you can prepare for a blood test.  

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It does make a difference, which is why they tell you to fast before having your cholesterol tested. 

[Laura14]

My personal choice but I can control my cholesterol fairly well with good eating.  

If I have been a bit bad or if my appointment falls around the holidays that year, "prepping" saves me a lecture and several "no thank yous" for offered medication.  

I am not a fan of popping pills for anything except irreversible or unchangeable lifestyle needs or conditions.  

As someone else said, it's not a huge number changer but if you're borderline, it can save you some time in the naughty corner when you go in plus you should be doing it anyway.  And anything that reverts you back to better habits is a good thing.          

[Yardlie]

All my doctor asks is for me to come in fasting for my annual lab work so that he can get an accurate reading of my cholesterol, etc. He told me that those tests basically show how you've been eating for the past few months, so you really can't trick them. Why anyone would want to try is beyond me. Isn't the idea of a physical or lab work to find out how healthy you actually are? Why try to fool the system into thinking that you are healthier than you really are? That's dangerous in my mind.

[Tinkrbl44]

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@depglass wrote:

I have a few friends that do this to some degree, meaning eat well for a couple weeks before the tests.  One of them is a pharmacist.  What is the point?  If you can't get accurate results you don't really know what you are doing wrong and what meds you probably should be on. 

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@depglass

Boggles the mind that people do this .....   It's like cheating on a test, IMO .....  or misrepresenting yourself.    I can picture a few posters prepping with a healthy diet, etc etc for a few weeks before the bloodwork is taken, having it done,  and then downing a whole pint of ice cream that evening because "they don't have to be good anymore".    It's lying to your doctor ....  so why even bother to get checkups at all?

[151949]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@depglass wrote:

I have a few friends that do this to some degree, meaning eat well for a couple weeks before the tests.  One of them is a pharmacist.  What is the point?  If you can't get accurate results you don't really know what you are doing wrong and what meds you probably should be on. 

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@depglass

Boggles the mind that people do this .....   It's like cheating on a test, IMO .....  or misrepresenting yourself.    I can picture a few posters prepping with a healthy diet, etc etc for a few weeks before the bloodwork is taken, having it done,  and then downing a whole pint of ice cream that evening because "they don't have to be good anymore".    It's lying to your doctor ....  so why even bother to get checkups at all?

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Exactly right. I know many people who spend a week practically starving so they'll have a good fasting blood sugar - of course their A1c is awful, but they think they can pull the wool over their doctor's eyes. They aren't!You only hurt yourself when you lie to the doctor.

[Nightowlz]

You would have to eat well longer then a couple of weeks to make a difference on your labs. I just have mine done. It is what it is. My cholesterol went up because I was eating too much eggs, bacon & sausage so I had to cut back. They just need to have their labs done to see where they actually stand so then they know what they need to change.

[noodleann]

From what I've read about the A1C, it's not evenly weighted across the prior 3 months. It's weighted more heavily with the prior month, and then less so the farther you get from the time the test is done.

If true, that means that behaviors (diet, exercise, meds) that keep blood glucose in the low end of normal for the month prior to the test might help you get a better number if you otherwise aren't diligent about those variables. So be good for 4 weeks, and it will help.

I have no idea whether tests for lipids and liver and kidney function could be affected like this as well. 

[hckynut]

@depglass

If it is a complete blood test, some numbers will not change enough to skew the results. Vitamin deficiency are generally going to still show this via the readings. Now if the "preparation" is months or a year? 

I do agree with you that a person should want the most accurate results, not results that might satisfy their doctors. Accuracy and my interpretation of the numbers is all I will settle for with my blood results.

Let me decide, via a copy of the resulting numbers, if this is "normal" for me, I really am not interested in what is considered "normal" for the population in general. A majority of the population does not live my lifestyle and classifying by a group tells me little.

hckynut(john)