Question 1

What does my fermentation score mean?

Accepted Answer

A single Fermentation Score on its own may not tell you much. Your FoodMarble device is meant to be used overtime so that users can see trends and patterns in their fermentation based on their hydrogen and methane readings. By taking regular breath tests throughout the day, you will gain a deeper insight about your digestion and digestive system over time. We also strongly encourage users to log their symptoms, meals, sleep, and stress.

It's important to consider that foods you ate earlier in the day or yesterday can affect your current fermentation levels. This is why we recommend logging all your foods and symptoms. Through regular logging, you can get an overall picture of your response to different foods over the course of the day.

Your levels of fermentation are unique to you and can be affected by:

The type of food you eat
Any medications you may be taking
Any recent use of alcohol or smoking
Stress
Poor sleep
Intensive exercise

High fermentation isn't necessarily a bad thing. For this reason, symptom logging is very important. By using the FoodMarble app to record your fermentation scores and your symptoms, you will soon learn to distinguish the good fermentation from the bad fermentation (i.e. the fermentation that causes symptoms). Your device helps you find out which food components are most compatible with your digestive system and which ones trigger symptoms. Though, symptoms may also be exasperated by stress and even

Question 2

Your Results: Hydrogen & methane

Accepted Answer

Bacterial Fermentation in the Gut

Gases are produced directly during fermentation by the bacteria in your gut. Bacterial fermentation is normal and healthy. In fact, it helps to keep our body and gut in good shape. Fermentation only becomes problematic if a rapid build-up of these gases occurs, as it can cause bloating, pain and other symptoms.

Hydrogen

An important point to keep in mind is that hydrogen levels tend to be more responsive to what you eat. This makes hydrogen more useful for assessing which foods you can digest best.

When it comes down to it, before now, it hasn’t ever been possible to measure hydrogen and methane levels day-to-day. This means that it’s not yet known by the scientific community what to fully expect and what the levels of hydrogen and methane will mean for you. You’re exploring new ground. By tracking what you eat and how you feel, along with your breath measurements, you can better understand your unique digestive system.

Methane

Most people have methanogens in their gut. These are a type of microbe that can convert hydrogen to methane. The more methanogens you have, the more methane will be produced. The number of methanogens increases with age, but also relates to diet, ethnicity and factors like medications.

Despite most people having methanogens in their gut, it's important to be aware that you must have a certain amount of methanogens in your gut in order to produce enough methane that is detectable in the brea

Question 3

AIRE 2: Combined Fermentation Score Explained

Accepted Answer

A high fermentation score means that there is a high level of gas production happening in your digestive system. The key is understanding how this gas production is affecting you by logging your symptoms.

In relation to how the scores are split, a score of 6.0 with a 1:1 hydrogen to methane split would mean a 3.0 score of both hydrogen and methane - which is low for each gas.

As you may be aware from the information within the app, f-scores are categorised as low, medium and high:

Low = 0 - 3.4
Medium = 3.5 - 6.7
High = 6.8 - 10

Some users find that if they have a generally high background methane level, their hydrogen scores seem to have a greater effect on their symptoms.

It is also good to note that for a challenge day, you can proceed with the challenge with an elevated methane level, provided your hydrogen score is low.

Question 4

Meal Logging - A step by step guide

Accepted Answer

Meal Logging - A step by step guide

Did you know we have helpful tutorials on the FoodMarble app? If you haven't already, make sure to complete our meal logging tutorial. This tutorial is interactive and guides the user through the process of logging a meal in excellent detail.

You can also reference the screenshots below, for an easy to follow step by step guide:

![](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/f8a5

Question 5

SIBO monitoring with AIRE 2

Accepted Answer

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a build up of certain types of bacteria in the small intestine. That’s where you absorb nutrients from your food. Instead, the bacteria can ‘eat’ the food, producing gases in the process. The build up of the gases can leave you bloated and in pain, but there are loads of other symptoms of SIBO like unintended weight loss, brain fog and skin issues.

AIRE 2 can help you monitor your SIBO and track any changes over time. Monitoring your gas levels will allow to see what’s helping bring the levels down.

Here's a good approach to take:

1. Measure your baseline See what your gas levels are like now while tracking your symptoms and other relevant aspects.

2. Make a change Make adjustments in your diet or follow a suggested protocol to bring down the gas levels.

3. Monitor and improve Assess your progress and keep learning about your digestion.

Please be mindful that during treatment of SIBO there is a series of complex changes happening in our gut microbiome and fermentation levels may appear erratic for some time. Again, this is why day to day breath testing can be so helpful and should help you to assess the changes happening over time.

As with any serious medical condition, when dealing with SIBO it's always best to remain in frequent consultation with a trusted healthcare provider as they can offer the best guidance and support as you undergo treatment.

Question 6

Food Library Entries vs Custom Foods

Accepted Answer

The Food Library vs Custom Foods

If you have been using the FoodMarble app to log your meals, but feel that our food library is somewhat limited and sometimes you can't find the exact food you want to log, please read on. We want to explain some points about FODMAP information and meal logging that we hope you'll find interesting.

FODMAPs - A relatively new area of research

First things first, it's important for our users to be mindful that FODMAP content in food is a relatively new field of research and while it is a growing area of research, it's still behind basic nutritional data. In essence, FODMAP information is not as readily available as basic nutritional data and as a result of this, there aren't many extensive FODMAP databases or apps out there. In fact, the FoodMarble app is one of the very few apps which enables users to calculate the FODMAP content of their meals and log this information day to day.

Custom ingredients

If you've searched, but still can't find the food you're looking for, don't give up and decide not to log a whole meal. You can create a custom entry and even though this won't have the FODMAPs estimated, it's still worthwhile. Why? What's the point? The point is that you are recording what was eaten and when it was eaten, and this is very important information to have when you're looking back over your data for emerging trends. When you're trying to overcome digestive difficulties, keeping a log of all your meals is rea

Frequently Read Articles

Browse All Categories