Should You Eat Before a Blood Test?

Whether or not to eat before a blood test is a common question that people have. The answer is: it depends on the type of blood test that you are having. In general, you should not eat before a blood test that measures your sugar levels or cholesterol levels. However, you may be able to eat before other types of blood tests. In this blog post, we will discuss the different types of blood tests and whether or not you should eat before them!

If you are having a fasting glucose blood test that measures your sugar levels, it is important to fast for at least eight hours before the test. This means that you should not eat or drink anything (except for water) during this time period. Fasting helps to ensure that your sugar levels are measured accurately.

If you are having a cholesterol blood test, you also need to fast for at least nine hours before the test. Once again, this ensures that your cholesterol levels are measured accurately.

However, there are some types of blood tests where fasting is not necessary. For example, if you are having a full blood count (FBC) test, you do not need to fast beforehand. The same is true for most blood tests.

You will not need to fast for any of the blood tests in our health checks. We use HbA1c test to test your sugar levels. This test is more accurate and gives you a long term insight into your blood sugar levels, rather than the fasting glucose test which only looks at your glucose levels over the last 24 hours.

As always check with your practitioner if they want you to fast, but the general rule of of thumb is that in most cases you will not need to fast. If you need a blood test, please check out our health assessments or contact us directly for a specific blood test not included in our health checks.