What would make a cholesterol test come out lower (or higher) than it normally is?

Drink lots of palmagranet juice. I mean 2 gallons in the 2 days before the test.
take niacin every day. If you feel a heat flush after taking it, thats good.

suck it up and eat the cheerios, fruit and oatmeal. stay off sugar, salt and sauces. easier said than done, but yeah, you have to go there.

It could come out higher than it really is if you don’t fast beforehand.

If you actually want to know your real numbers, don’t do anything that will change them temporarily. Just follow your doctors orders.

I agree with @jackm
Fudging the test results isn’t like faking a drug test, for example. This is your health and life. A lifestyle change is needed to have good cholesterol.

I assume this is for life insurance. Stress will mess up your numbers, so don’t worry about the results. @filmfann has some good suggestions. A good flush can come from about 1000 mg of niacin daily, but can bring your numbers in quite a bit in about a month. After that, it can really dry your skin, so I’d stop the niacin after the test.

Cheerios! I don’t even watch TV and I know that.