Can i brush my teeth while fasting for hdl test?

QUESTION: Can i brush my teeth while fasting for hdl test?


ANSWER: Hi,

There is no scientifically proven theory on brushing your teeth while fasting for HDL test. However, some doctors prefer to advise their patients on not to brush their teeth while fasting for HDL test or before the test for glucose tolerance.

The explanation of this is hidden in the content of the toothpaste. There is a little bit of sugar and fatty acids in the toothpaste. Therefore, these doctors support the idea that this small amount of fat acids is going to influence the result of HDL test.

When you are brushing your teeth, you are putting in your mouth a substance which has fat acids in it. These fat acids are able to go directly in to the blood stream without swallowing the toothpaste via the help of sublingual absorption as for any other substance that enters the mouth.

If one substance enter through sublingual absorption, its metabolism in the liver is avoided due to anatomical position of the arteries. For that reason, the absorbed substance is going directly to the blood stream and changes the parameters which are required to be measured.

However, you have to know that the amount of fat acids in the toothpaste is too small to affect the metabolism of the organism or to change the parameters.

Besides this, if there is an elevation in the cholesterol level or in the amount of fat acids, it is going to be permanent. If the amount of cholesterol and fat acids in your organism is normal, 0.1mg of fat acids are not going to increase this amount.

You can brush your teeth whenever you want, before or after fasting for HDL test, without being worried. However, you should also consult your doctor when you decide to do something for better understanding in your particular case.

Hope it helped!

Dr.Alba

Drink For Low Cholesterol Before Test

QUESTION: What can i drink the night before to keep my cholesterol low before a blood test that next morning?


ANSWER: Hi there,

First of all there is no beverage, which can return your blood cholesterol to normal levels. However, you can try to drink 2-3 cups of red wine.

Important fact about this is that alcohol is able to reduce the cholesterol concentration. In addition, this reduction is individual and it not depends on the amount of alcohol acquired, so don’t overdo it.

The other thing, which you can do, is to make yourself a dinner, which is containing small amount of cholesterol.

In this way, you are going to reduce the intake of cholesterol, which will lead to smaller concentration of cholesterol in the morning and better results.

However, this reduction, although slight, is short term. If you have problems with your cholesterol you have to start doing something about it.

Just for example, you have to prepare a diet, which is covering all your needs (ensuring you enough proteins, minerals, vitamins, glucose and others) and which provides you no more than 300 mg of cholesterol per day.

This step is going to improve your lipid status, but it is not enough for you to achieve perfect results.

In addition you can start doing exercises - like running for half an hour in the evening. This will help you to burn the excessive amount of cholesterol and fats in your organism, which is characterized by reduction in the cholesterol concentration.

Other useful thing is to start/continue drinking small amount of alcohol in the evening. It is scientifically proved, that alcohol is reducing the cholesterol in your blood.

However, as I mentioned you don’t have to use high amount of alcohol to reduce your cholesterol concentration.

Important thing for your self is to continue doing blood cholesterol tests every month. In this way you will know, what the exact condition of your lipid status is.

Besides you are obligated to show the results at your doctor, if severe changes are observed.


Hope it helped!

Dr.Alba