Can I drink water before testing liver function?

As we all know, liver diseases are usually checked by blood tests, and the blood tests are usually done in the morning, requiring patients to fast for eight hours, because only in this way can the blood tests be effective. If we eat before meals, it is likely that the blood tests will not have any reaction. So can we drink water before testing liver function?

We know that drinking water in the morning is good for health, so many people have the habit of drinking a glass of water after getting up in the morning. Testing liver function requires blood tests. Drinking water and eating will affect the components in the blood and affect the results of liver function tests. Many values ​​of liver function tests are related to diet. For example, drinking alcohol can easily increase the values ​​of certain serum enzymes, and eating greasy food can increase blood lipids.

Therefore, you cannot drink water before testing your liver function and you must be on an empty stomach. In general, the fasting time is 8-12 hours, especially for those who are checking their liver function for the first time. Besides this, what other precautions are there for liver function tests? Experts say that it is best not to drink alcohol or take medicine the day before a blood test. This will make the test more reliable and avoid affecting the results of liver function tests and causing misdiagnosis.

Since water does not have a particularly large impact on the gastrointestinal tract (except after drinking a lot of water), drinking a small amount of water generally does not affect the accuracy of liver function. Even if there is an impact, it generally fluctuates within the range of +-2. Therefore, you can drink a small amount of water before testing liver function. However, in order to ensure the accuracy of the liver function test results, it is recommended not to drink water within 8 to 12 hours before testing liver function.

So why can't you eat before testing your liver function? This is mainly because liver function includes sensitive indicators such as bilirubin and transaminase. When the human body eats food, the gallbladder will secrete bile, causing the bile to be absorbed together with the digested food, which will then cause an increase in total bilirubin in the blood. The predecessor of transaminase is alkaline protease, which means that after absorbing protein, it will increase the level of protease. Therefore, you cannot eat within 8 to 12 hours before testing your liver function.

In addition, to ensure the accuracy of the liver function test results, special attention should be paid to getting more rest before the test. You should not drink alcohol the day before the test, eat spicy, fried, or irritating foods, or take drugs that may damage the liver, etc., so as not to increase the burden on the liver and induce abnormal fluctuations in liver function, which will adversely affect the comparison of test results or efficacy evaluation.

To sum up: drinking a small amount of water generally will not affect the accuracy of liver function results, so in your case, it is recommended that you have a timely recheck.