My brother claims he was told by his Dr. not to drink any alcohol 3-4 days before having blood drawn for a cholesterol test. I understood him to say that was because alcohol distorts the trigylceride reading. Is this true? Or did he misunderstand? Thanks,

My brother claims he was told by his Dr. not to drink any alcohol 3-4 days before having blood drawn for a cholesterol test. I understood him to say that was because alcohol distorts the trigylceride reading. Is this true? Or did he misunderstand? Thanks,

Alcohol affects the blood sugar. Blood Sugars affect Triglyceride levels. The Dr. needs the blood results be as true a reading as possible for a good baseline.
Thus, that is why he must not eat or drink any thing other then water or (maybe black coffee only) for the prescribed time.
It is important t follow the Dr.s advice.

My brother claims he was told by his Dr. not to drink any alcohol 3-4 days before having blood drawn for a cholesterol test. I understood him to say that was because alcohol distorts the trigylceride reading. Is this true? Or did he misunderstand? Thanks,

I can't believe his Doctor told him to cheat on his blood test... and that is exactly what he he asked him to do... cheat.

This is true that alcolhol effects your triglyceride levels... but to say it "distorts" these numbers is not accurate at all. I would say that the true distortion would be caused by changing your diet right before the blood test just so that some numbers look good. In short... a lie.

You should not change your diet or drinking habits one bit before taking a lab test. WHat's the point?

The whole goal of the test is see what your blood lipids are during your normal day to day... including for those of us that are boozers.

Best of luck. :)

I doubt the Dr. really told him that, that's why I said he "claims" the Dr. said that. Thanks for the responses.