Eating Food Before Uric Acid Blood Test

[d q]

@nobody and @keith – hope you gents are doing well.

Just a quick one for you; my next blood test is due in a few days however on the day before the blood test a few of us are invited out for a steak lunch in which I will also indulge in. I was wondering if I should delay the blood test a few extra days in order to avoid skewed results from only a 24 hours gap between the steak meal and scheduled blood test.

What do you think?

cheers

---

[nobody]

Keith used to recommend eating the exact same thing at the same hour before blood tests. I assume it makes a difference but I’m doubtful as to whether it makes more difference than random noise in test result… unless of course you go out of your way to eat/drink in ways that increase one’s SUA.
So I think it would primarily depend on how much you intend to indulge. Delaying a test a day or two has precious few downsides anyway.

[Keith Taylor]

I apply a different set of standards to home uric acid testing compared with regular blood tests. Because in the home setting it’s extremely important to try to minimize the number of variables that might affect your results outside the lifestyle changes you are trying to measure. But this is probably overkill for standard lab tests.

In particular, uric acid blood tests should always be accompanied by liver function and kidney function. As far as I am aware, kidney function tests are one of a few blood tests that call for fasting before the test. So that fasting period is supposed to eliminate any unusual impact on results from recent food intake.

Of course, you might argue that large portions of red meat 24 hours earlier might impact the uric acid test result. But so might many other factors (eg weather, exertion, etc). So you get to a point where you have to decide if you control gout or gout controls you.

In my opinion, arranging uric acid tests around your eating plans puts you in the latter camp. But that’s just my opinion.

[nobody]

DQ isn’t talking about a routine lab test. He’s trying to determine if a new medication indirectly impacts his SUA.
If it has a large effect, the dinner won’t matter. But if the effect is subtle, it might conceivably be masked by an evening’s indulgence.

[d q]

Thanks guys, yea I decided to delay it a few days.

I figured with the new medication and the fact that I am still ultimately searching for the ideal maintenance dose (and the fact that I have very few of these steak meals) it would probably be better to keep things in check dose wise for a few more weeks. Once a reliable trend figure is established I’ll be more comfortable with seeing strange figures from the odd meal.

I’ll update you both on the latest results in a few days.

Thanks

[Author]

Posts