Don’t drink alcohol before a cholesterol test
You don’t want anything to alter your triglycerides (one of the four components measured in a cholesterol profile), which could lead to needlessly worrying results.
‘The precaution to abstain 24 hours prior to cholesterol test is based on the potential increase in triglycerides that could result soon after drinking alcohol,’ says Joon Sup Lee, MD, chief of cardiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-director of the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute.
In addition, you should avoid sweets, high-fat foods, and generally overeating before the test. ‘All of these in large quantities can affect the triglycerides in the short term,’ Dr. Lee says.
