The use of blood tests is a crucial aspect of clinical practice since they assist clinicians in establishing whether a patient has or does not have a particular condition. In order to understand the root cause of weight gain or weight loss blood tests are very important. There are many diseases associated with increased weight, like Diabetes, Hypertension, Cardiovascular Diseases and other diseases like Thyroid, PCOD, Dyslipidemia, etc.

A complete blood work helps to understand the root cause of weight gain and helps the 1-1 Doctor/Nutritionist to design the diets in such a way that medical aspects are also taken care of while managing weight.

Here is the list of blood tests and their purpose :

• CBC – Complete Blood Count

A complete blood count (CBC) is a blood test used to evaluate your overall health and detect a wide range of disorders, including anaemia, infection and leukaemia. A complete blood count test measures several components and features of your blood, including: Red blood cells (which carry oxygen), Haemoglobin, ESR, WBC, RBCs etc.

• Lipid Profile

Lipid profile is a panel of blood tests that serves as an initial broad medical screening tool for abnormalities in lipids (fats), such as cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides. It is the first tool to know the onset of any heart related issues.

• Kidney Function Test

The kidneys play several vital roles in maintaining health. One of their most important jobs is to filter waste materials from the blood and expel them from the body as urine. The kidneys also help control the levels of water and various minerals in the body. In addition, they are critical to the production of:

• Vitamin D
• Red blood cells
• Hormones that regulate blood pressure

To test your kidney function, doctor will recommend a set of tests that can be used together to estimate your glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR tells the doctor how quickly your kidneys are clearing waste from your body. Tests include Blood Urea Nitrogen, Uric Acid levels, etc. Most of the weight management diets are rich in proteins which can sometimes be not very good for the kidney health. These parameters help to design a diet taking into consideration the amount and kind of protein to be prescribed to a certain individual.

• Liver Function Test

Liver function test LFTs or LFs ia a group of blood tests that give information about the state of a patient’s liver. These tests include alkaline phosphatise, albumin, bilirubin direct and indirect, and others.

It is important to know the liver health before prescribing any kind of diet as liver is the power house of our body and is involved in the metabolism process.

• Thyroid Profile

A thyroid profile is a group of tests that are often ordered together to help evaluate thyroid gland function and to help diagnose thyroid disorders. The tests included in a thyroid profile measure the amount of thyroid hormones in the blood. This test is important as elevated thyroid hormone is also one factor which may increase the weight, so if it is diagnosed in time diet therapy would work in sync with the thyroid medicines.

• Blood Glucose and HbA1C Tests

A blood glucose test measures the amount of a sugar called glucose in a sample of your blood, which can be a indicator of Diabetes or early signs of Diabetes.

HbA1C provides an average of your blood glucose control over the past 3 months and is used along with home blood sugar monitoring to make adjustments in your diabetes medicines and diet therapy.

• Other Tests

Some other tests like serum calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, prolactin, insulin resistance are also as important as the above listed tests as they help to diagnose the deficiencies of certain nutrients and elevation of certain hormones which may be related to weight gain.