I have about one week before a cholesterol and lipid test. Is this enough time to prepare in order to test well by limiting fats?

LOVE this post. I am 58 & have always had strong blood panel results. 5' 3" & 110 lbs. I have worked out daily for yrs. I walk 4 miles every eve & do a 45 min workout at night.. My life insurance put me as an elite status in March. I thought I had it going on! ;-) I had cut out most all sugars when the Pandemic hit. I had another blood panel couple mos ago (have to have twice a yr for my Hypothyroidism-not a big deal) and for the very 1st time ever: my LDL was high. WTH!
Doc said rest of my cholesterol panel is low overall, so he isn't concerned. Well, I googled & talked to the Docs in my family & cut out the considerably minimal Alcohol I was consuming. All the limited sugar (good chocolate) all cheese (except they say Ricotta or Cottage Cheese is lowest in cholesterol).. I am concerned & on a mission to get this LDL down. Docs say could be stress (my Dad passed in Jan & my Mom is EXTREMELY difficult-2 hrs from me).. I work..and biz was affected this Pandemic..
Anyhow: google for what to eat & what not to. I eat oatmeal with flax, blueberries, & cinnamon, apples, bananas, walnuts (best to lower LDL), salmon, olive oil, tomatoes, avo..kale/spinach, carrots, green tea... amongst other food items..
It's not my pattern to have higher LDL..so I am going to do another couple wks of this routine & get another blood test.
I also am taking a natural supplement which is high in garlic & niacin & CoQ10..
"Omega LDL-Nordic Naturals" & "Cholesterol Health-Emerald Labs" Get at your local Organic Market. They are quality supplements. Google & read...
***One of the most important things we can do is manage our stress & sleep levels... I told my Mom I couldn't handle her yelling & cussing at me when I am with her.. She told me I was "wimpy." NPD + Borderline. Tons of fun....

Did u get ur test and results?

I adore veggies and fruits as well and yet in August on my annual check up cholesterol test results were high.
Mine was different problem, I actually had to gain weight as I had no appetite following caregivers stress in Feb-March and I kept losing weigh, lots.
So as appetite returned by eating more and more, even though I ate salads, veggies, followed by half of loaf of bread with butter and cheese, ham, then chocolate and cookies etc., of course totally wrong.
Well, I gained weight, but now for two weeks eating nutrients dense foods, all the cravings for pastries etc are gone.
But, it is going to take about 3 or more months to reverse, so don’t know how much you can do in week or so.
Doctor told me to go for another test in 3 months.

Just looked it up, the average # for normal cholesterol levels were 240 in 1985. Its now 200 is the highest u should be. They wanted to put my DH on Cholesterol meds at 205. He said he would diet. 3 months later he was 20 pts down. All he did was cut out foods he new raised his cholesterol.

My boss felt that they were lowering the #s so the Pharmaceutical companies can make more money. The Am diet is awful. Too much salt, sugar and fat. And we eat this from childhood. So younger people are being given Statins because their cholesterol is so high. Used to be an older persons problem. We have seen it on this forum, 60 yr olds getting Dementia. Would love to know if they have been taking Statins for a while. And Statins are bad for the liver. Moms dr said once the enzymes become high, the Statin should be stopped permanently.

My daughter is Vegan. She said plant based diets are the best for lowering cholesterol.

I had a lot of cholesterol tests years ago when I was on a ‘fats’ medical trial. One consistent requirement was no alcohol for 24 hours before hand. No-one’s mentioned that so far, so worth knowing.

Interestingly, I turned down the glass of wine at the end of a board meeting because of my test the next morning, and said that there were 3 morning tests in a row so off the alcohol for the whole time. A very respectable business man said quite seriously, ‘Then I couldn’t do that’!

If 2 tests in 4 months were normal, I wouldn't do anything except ask the doctor why she wants to do more lab work.

We have a very holistic doctor that recommends a Mediterranean diet, lots of fruit and veggies and limit the fatty red meat and processed meats. She doesn't think being a little above the recommended numbers is concerning because she knows everyone is different.

Personally, I will never take a statin, it interferes with our brains, which need cholesterol to function properly, I see a correlation between rampant dementia and the introduction of the cholesterol lowering drugs. This is part of science keeping us alive no matter the cost to us.

You will not change the test appreciably no matter WHAT you do.
You need to be fasting, nothing after midnight, or follow your lab/doctor instructions before the test.
Most cholesterol comes of our genes, but you can limit it a bit by eating a better diet. Though that would be over many months/years of doing so.
You should not want to altar a test by doing this. You want a real reading so your doctor and you can go forward with options on real results.

Pronker, a stating is a medication that lowers cholesterol.

Some folks have side effects from these medications. My brother developed muscle weakness. My husband has had no side effects.

Pronker, I don't have cites w/o doing some research, but over the years I've found lists of various foods and corresponding cholesterol levels.

While this isn't a medical opinion, just a personal observation, my father could eat anything he wanted, but not only was never diagnosed with diabetes, he maintained an enviable weight all his life. A lot depends on the individual person.

My daughter is Vegan and says plant based diets will help with cholesterol. Watch ur Triglycerides I think they contribute diabetes.

My husband lowered his by cutting out anything using hydrogenated shortening. That meant his Tastycakes. I made a no egg/no shortening cake so he eats that. Chicken cheesesteaks instead if beef. Low fat cheese and ham. Pretzels instead of potato chips. It was 3 months before Dr. wanted another test. He went down 40 pts. Please do not allow them to talk u into a Satin. They contribute to Dementia and effect the liver.

Be a label reader. There are some fats you can eat and some you can't.

Every time I answer survey questions etc, I get told I need to check for diabetes. I guess it’s my age (75) and the fact that I don’t get a lot of exercise (scoliosis). When I check (rarely these days) I always get a clean bill of health. I’m not overweight and my diet is excellent. However, if my lifestyle had given me diabetes, of course I would like to know! Don’t fudge the test, it’s silly.

Glad you are doing well!

Eat like you normally do and fast before the test if that's what they instructed you to do. I'm glad you're doing better than you thought!

"If you have type 2 diabetes, you might have high cholesterol levels, too. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn't regulate or use glucose (sugar) the way it should. That can lead to too-high levels of glucose in your blood. High glucose levels can contribute to other health conditions, including high cholesterol."

Source: https://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/high-cholesterol-diabetes

I vote for “keeping it real” and just seeing where you are with your current diet. If the results aren’t what you want to see, it will be all the more motivation to tweak things a bit.

Good luck! 😊

Eat as you normally do. Trying to make your numbers look good by limiting this or that does you a huge disservice. I once knew someone who wouldn’t take his anti cholesterol meds as directed but would start to take them a couple of weeks before his medical checkup. Then he’d discontinue them right after seeing his doctor, who had no idea his patient wasn’t compliant. Well, finally the guy had a disabling stroke. Why? Because his cholesterol was 367, the highest his stroke doctor had ever seen. The guy never fully recovered and developed serious post-stroke issues. You need to know what’s going on with your body. You need to stay well.

I am trying to understand the thinking about the cholesterol/diabetes connection. I think you need to have a more in depth discussion with your doctor about your understanding of these different issues.

Why would you try and skew the test? Don't you want to know what your numbers are with your current diet? If you are old you should have higher than average cholesterol it is protective as you are. Doctors need to stop looking at numbers and start looking at each patient as an indivual.