What does a blood test for weight management show?

The weight management blood test looks at three key areas to understand your health including your risk for conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and thyroid disease.

The results of your blood test will help you make healthier life choices and find your healthy weight.

If you're losing weight without changing your diet or exercise routine, please do not use this test. You should see your GP to look into your unintentional weight loss.

The blood test for weight management includes:

• Cholesterol (lipid profile) - 7 biomarkers

  Cholesterol is an essential fat that your body produces. It helps make vitamin D and hormones. Your body needs cholesterol to stay healthy, but too much can increase your risk of heart disease. The cholesterol home test, also called a lipid profile test, measures the different types of fats in your blood.

  The cholesterol home test checks 7 biomarkers:

  • LDL (low-density lipoproteins)
  • Non-HDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol)
  • HDL (good cholesterol)
  • Total cholesterol
  • Triglycerides
  • Total cholesterol: HDL ratio
  • Triglycerides: HDL ratio

  High cholesterol has no symptoms, so regular testing is the only way to keep track of your levels.

  Healthy levels of cholesterol:

  Type of cholesterol	Healthy level
  Total cholesterol	Below 5mmol/L
  HDL (good cholesterol)	Above 1.0mmol/L for men Above 1.2mmol/L for women
  Non-HDL (bad cholesterol)	Below 4mmol/L
  LDL	Below 3mmol/L
  Triglycerides	Less than 1.7mmol/l (after fasting for 12 hours) Less than 2.3 (non-fasting)
  Triglycerides HDL ratio	There are no widely accepted normal values for the TG:HDL ratio. Generally, the lower your result the better.

• HbA1c (diabetes risk) - 1 biomarker

  “Blood sugar or glucose levels are a measurement that shows how much glucose (blood sugar) you have in your blood. Blood sugar is vital as it provides the body’s cells with energy. Diabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels become too high.” - Dr. Neel Patel

  An HbA1c test measures your average blood sugar (glucose) levels over the past 3 months. This can help you understand your risk of developing type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.

  When the amount of sugar in your blood rises, any that your body can’t use attaches to red blood cells to form glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c).

  Red blood cells live for around 3 months, which is why a HbA1c test measures the average blood sugar over the past few months.

  The at-home HbA1c test will show you whether you have healthy levels of HbA1c.

  Results include:

  Normal	Below 42 mmol/mol
  Prediabetes	42 to 47 mmol/mol
  Diabetes	48 mmol/mol or over

• Thyroid function — 2 biomarkers

  The thyroid is a gland at the front of your neck that produces hormones (T3 and T4).

  If it becomes underactive, it may not release the right levels of these hormones. This can result in symptoms such as weight gain, hair loss, migraines and fatigue. If your thyroid becomes overactive, it may release too many hormones. This may cause symptoms such as mood swings, anxiety and weight loss.

  The at-home thyroid blood test checks levels of free thyroxine (T4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which regulates the release of thyroid hormones.

  Healthy ranges include:

  Hormone	Ranges
  Free T4	Between 12-22 pmol/L
  TSH	Between 0.27 - 4.2 mIU/L