Abstract: Fasting for at least eight hours prior to a lipid test has been standard practice in India and internationally for many years. However, a growing body of evidence and international expert opinion suggests that a non-fasting lipid profile can be used in most situations. Factors That Contribute to an Individual’s Usual Cholesterol Level: The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) has the following recommendations to ensure that individual lipid measurements are clinically useful. Individuals should be on their regular diet and their weight should be stable for at least 2 weeks before their lipids or lipoproteins are measured. Patient preparation and blood collection procedures should be standardized according to these guidelines: Variation in lipid values- Age and gender, Posture, Venous Occlusion, Anticoagulants. Prolonged tourniquet application (2–5 min) can increase cholesterol from 5 to 15%. Biological variation is <5% for cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol and 20 to 30% for triglycerides, Considerable variation can occur from one assay to another between clinical laboratories, For patient care, it is important to know if the LDL is calculated or is measured directly, In order to compare results from different laboratories, it is important to know which assay method is utilized, If patient is non-fasting, a direct LDL test is recommended, Sudden changes in lipid values may indicate a change in diet, medications, or onset of a new disease state. When attempting to answer whether fasting or non fasting lipids are most appropriate, it is important to first think carefully about the clinical scenario and consider what question is to be answered with the results.