Gut Health Breath Tests
Take control of your digestive health through a simple at-home hydrogen and methane breath test.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
TAKING THE GUESSWORK OUT OF DIGESTIVE HEALTH
Digestive problems are a common source of discomfort for people worldwide and affect quality of life. In the UK alone, almost nine million adults experience irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and 3.4 million experience small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO). It’s not always easy to work out what’s wrong if you’re suffering from regular bouts of bloating, cramps, flatulence, diarrhoea that are affecting your overall health.
Specialists in gut health often use diagnostic tests, including hydrogen methane breath tests (HMBT), to help find out what the problem is. By finding out what’s wrong, you can start treatments or make changes to your lifestyle and diet that will make your life easier and mean you can start living more comfortably.
TECHNOLOGY
WHAT IS A DIGESTIVE HEALTH BREATH TEST?
We work with our partners at the Functional Gut Clinic to provide fast, trustworthy breath testing kits to help people take control of their digestive health.
Breath analysis can be used to help diagnose SIBO or dietary intolerances such as lactose (milk) intolerance or fructose (fruit) intolerance. To ensure accurate results, you may need to do a few things, such as stop taking certain medications, for up to four weeks before doing your test. If you are not sure what test you need, we have a dedicated area on our FAQs page that will help you make an informed decision.
Doing the hydrogen breath test is easy and giving a breath sample is simple. You just blow through the straw provided into the collection tubes at the right times and write down any symptoms you’re experiencing. The whole process takes a little over two hours (SIBO) or three hours and twenty minutes (food intolerances).
Once you’ve finished, post it back to us in the envelope provided and you will receive your results in a report in just a few days.
Read our blog: Gut health breath tests: in-clinic vs at-home
THE PROCESS
HOW DOES THE GUT HEALTH BREATH TEST WORK?
The breath tests detect small amounts of hydrogen and methane gases in your breath. Our bodies cannot produce these gases themselves, they are made by micro-organisms living in our intestines. Many people breathe out these gases, but too much of these gases can be a sign of illness and an imbalance within the bacteria in your gut.
In intolerances, the sugars you’re intolerant to don’t get absorbed by your body so the micro-organisms in your large intestine convert them into hydrogen and methane. Some of the hydrogen and methane can cause flatulence, while the rest is absorbed into your blood where it makes its way to the lungs and you breathe it out.
In SIBO, the bacteria in your small intestine can convert the sugar you eat into hydrogen and methane, which are again released into the bloodstream and exhaled in your breath.
Read our blog: What do Hydrogen and Methane tell you about your Gut Health
NEXT STEPS
HOW CAN I PURCHASE A TEST?
Currently breath testing kits for SIBO and food intolerances are only available to people in the UK, and can be purchased for £250. The cost includes expert advice on choosing which test would be best for you based on your symptoms, the hydrogen breath kit itself and results, as well as result interpretation and treatment advice from gastrointestinal experts
If you are a patient interested in testing your gut health at home, you can purchase a kit yourself. Please fill in the form with your contact details and the team will be in touch regarding the next steps.
If you’re a specialist UK-based clinician please fill in the form on our dedicated page for healthcare professionals and we will be in touch.
Once you have completed and sent back your at-home gut health test, the results will be sent to your own consultant, or a detailed report of your results will be sent to you, which you can take to your GP, or should you wish, you can arrange to see one of our recommended consultants.
Enquire About Your Kit Today
If you are interested in purchasing one of the kits, please fill out the form below and we will be in touch. If you are not sure what test you need, we have a dedicated area on our FAQs page that will help you make an informed decision.
Take control of your gut health with simple at-home breath tests.