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H2 Breath Detection: Game-Changer for Gastrointestinal Health

June 19, 2019 By Dr. William Davis

Anyone who remembers the days before finger stick blood glucose meters became available to people with diabetes will recall how awful life was for diabetics. All they had was urine dipsticks which were sloppy, yielded only crude non-quantitative feedback on blood sugars, and gave you a gauge of what blood sugars were in the recent past, not the present. It meant that dosing insulin or diabetes drugs was grotesquely imprecise and accounted for many episodes of hypoglycemic coma and acceleration of diabetic complications. It was not uncommon in those days, for instance, for a type 1 diabetic to be blind and experience kidney failure in their 20s.

Then, in the early 1980s, finger stick blood glucose meters became widely available. Because they allowed more accurate tracking of blood sugars, this technology proved a game-changer for diabetics. Insulin and other drugs could be dosed more precisely. Low blood sugars could be identified before loss of consciousness developed, high blood sugars could be identified before dehydration and diabetic ketoacidosis took hold, better blood sugar control meant diabetic complications were delayed.

That same kind of game-changing technology is now available for gastrointestinal health in the form of hydrogen gas, H2, breath testing. While formal H2 breath testing has been available for a number of years, the test is cumbersome, most doctors know nothing about it, and costs around $150 to several hundred dollars each time you undergo the test (which is typically needed several times to assess response to treatment and identify recurrences).

Now a consumer device called AIRE made by the Food Marble company is available, a sleek and easy-to-use device that talks via Bluetooth to your smartphone. (By the way, I have NO relationship with the company. I have talked with the founders, but I have no reason to promote this device except that it’s exceptionally helpful and cool.) I’ve discussed how to use this device in an earlier Wheat Belly Blog post, especially tracking H2 levels (on a 0-10 scale) after consumption of a prebiotic fiber to trigger H2 release and determine time-response to determine whether small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, SIBO, is present. The faster H2 is released, the more likely it is that you have SIBO (since bacteria have to be in the upper gastrointestinal tract to cause H2 release).

I’ve argued that SIBO is present at epidemic levels in the U.S. now, likely harbored by something like 100 million people, or 1 in every 3 or 4 Americans. If not identified and corrected, real health complications can be in your future such as autoimmune conditions, diverticular disease, neurological diseases such as Parkinsonism and Lou Gehrig’s disease, Alzheimer’s dementia, heart disease, and colon cancer. So this is not something to stick your head in the sand over. Once identified, you can take steps—even without the involvement of your doctor—to manage SIBO and thereby reduce or eliminate risk for all these health conditions.

If you have any of the telltale signs of SIBO such as intolerance to prebiotic fibers, fat malabsorption, or have been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome or fibromyalgia, then consider identifying excessive breath hydrogen with this do-it-yourself-at-home device. For further discussion on how to manage SIBO once identified, you will find a detailed protocol, an in-depth 2-hour workshop, and weekly live video interactions in our Undoctored Inner Circle to help you craft a program.

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Filed Under: DIY Healthcare, Health Information, Latest News Tagged With: autoimmune, diy health, diy healthcare, diyhealth, diyhealthcare, dr william davis, dysbiosis, inflammation, sibo, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, undoctored, wheat belly

About Dr. William Davis

William Davis, MD, FACC is cardiologist and author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wheat Belly series of books. He is also author of the new Undoctored: Why Health Care Has Failed You and How You Can Become Smarter Than Your Doctor.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ian

    June 21, 2019

    The Aire device a game changer and Dr Davis the foremost game changer. You are leading the healthcare and wellness movement as far as I’m concerned. There’s always loads of useful information we can take away from your talks and posts

  2. tony adams

    June 27, 2019

    hi – i dont think this device tests for methane which other tests do

    • Bob Niland

      June 27, 2019

      tony adams wrote: «…i dont think this device tests for methane…»

      That’s correct. It’s just H₂ (which I don’t think FoodMarble is especially forthcoming about). Reportedly, they had wanted the device to also do CH₄, but obviously that hasn’t happened yet (and if they do, it will interesting to see how they differentiate the capabilities).

      re: «…which other tests do

      If you know of any economical home tests for that (or SO₂), please report.

      Due to co-morbidities, it may turn out that eradicating an overgrowth of H₂-generating microbes may also deal with other undesired upper-GI gas emitters.
      ________
      Blog Associate (click my user name for details)

  3. Kel

    June 27, 2019

    If one has colonized their small intestine with L. Reuteri by using the L. Reuteri yogurt, wouldn’t they get a similar H2 profile to a person with SIBO?

    • Bob Niland

      June 28, 2019

      Kel wrote: «If one has colonized their small intestine with L. Reuteri by using the L. Reuteri yogurt, wouldn’t they get a similar H2 profile to a person with SIBO?»

      Great question. The answer appears to be: no

      The metabolic pathway charts I’ve seen for Lactobacillus reuteri show it as a CO₂ generator.

      In one trial with constipated subjects, L.reuteri (DSM 17938) caused a mild decrease in H₂ production (so, clearly no increase), and a significant decrease in CH₄ production, evidently due to the effect on competing bacteria.
      ________
      Blog Associate (click my user name for details)

  4. Kel

    June 28, 2019

    Thanks. I’ve been playing with a simple H2 and CH4 detector. Just for grins I held it near some of my yogurt and it registered both H2 and CH4. Most gas sensors will respond to multiple gases, but neither of mine chart a potential CO2 response. Might have to test with a known CO2 source.

    • Bob Niland

      June 28, 2019

      Kel wrote: «I’ve been playing with a simple H2 and CH4 detector.»

      Is this a retail device?

      re: «Just for grins I held it near some of my yogurt and it registered both H2 and CH4.»

      This is the L.reut yogurt, or a commercial yogurt?

      re: «Might have to test with a known CO2 source.»

      Testing breath CO₂, as is apparently done in some ailments, is a bit of a challenge, requiring tagged CO₂, because humans are naturally prodigious CO₂ emitters.
      ________
      Blog Associate (click my user name for details)

      • Kel

        June 28, 2019

        Homebrew Arduino based detector with separate Hydrogen and Methane gas sensors. I was checking with my L. Reuteri yogurt. I’d be curious if anyone with a commercial device like the Aire gets a reading off their L. Reuteri yogurt.

        • Bob Niland

          June 28, 2019

          Kel wrote: «I’d be curious if anyone with a commercial device like the Aire gets a reading off their L. Reuteri yogurt.»

          Alas, I don’t let mine ferment long enough for it to become a lifeform that can blow a liter or so of air into the AIRE.☣

          Just holding the AIRE over the yogurt is unlikely to generate useful readings. I suppose that one might hold it over the yogurt and inhale, but even then, it’s mostly going to be room air.

          re: «I’d be curious if anyone with a commercial device like the Aire gets a reading off their L. Reuteri yogurt.»

          There are any number people following the Undoctored program who are using the AIRE to track SIBO treatment. Many are also consuming the yogurt (the program protocol is permissive on that). No one has so far reported that the yogurt is causing an H₂ issue.
          ________
          Blog Associate (click my user name for details)

          • Kel

            June 28, 2019

            I ferment my yogurt in an instant pot. It keeps most of the gas inside. I opened the cover gently, lowered the sensor into the space above the yogurt. Since the gases diffuse, it entered the sensor and registered. I’d think the same might happen with the Aire, if not, take a spoonful, swish it in your mouth, then blow. I’m sure that would get some into the Aire.

            Again, most gas sensors respond to a variety of gases, so it’s possible that there’s something else it’s picking up (alcohol?). Not sure if that’s a possible result with the L. Reuteri process…

            So far my yogurt hasn’t taken on any human shapes or walked around the kitchen on it’s own 😁

          • Kel

            June 28, 2019

            Just was looking at the metabolic pathways chart, and see L. Reuteri makes ethanol… Bet that’s what I’m detecting. I think the Aire device cautions that alcohol can affect the readings, so I’d guess they’re using identical/similar sensor technology…

            Waiting to hear if anyone else picks up the yogurt gases with the Aire…

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