Your cholesterol levels and how your body handles blood sugar are the two most important tests of your metabolism. Cholesterol and sugar handling are influenced by your diet, weight, exercise, sleep, stress, your genes and more. They give you a great "holistic" window into how your body is doing.

High cholesterol and poor sugar handling are major risk factors for heart disease, stroke and dementia.

A one-off test will tell you if you have high cholesterol levels and how well your body has been handling sugar over the last few months which can indicate if you have pre-diabetes or diabetes. The real benefit of testing your cholesterol and sugar handling comes when you test every year or so. Then you can track your levels over time. Even if your levels are normal today, if they're creeping up little-by-little over time it's a sign that your body is struggling. You'll know that you need to take action before your health is affected.

Guidelines recommend checking your cholesterol and sugar handling regularly, particularly if you're over 45 or are at risk of heart disease because you're overweight, not physically active or have close family with type 2 diabetes.