Helpful Tips to Understand Your Results

Look for High Readings

When your breath test readings rise into the high range, it can feel concerning — but it doesn’t always mean something is “wrong.” What it suggests is that part of what you ate or drank wasn’t fully digested. Instead, those carbohydrates are being fermented by bacteria in your gut, producing gas that shows up in your breath results.

After each test, the app will match your logged meals with your readings. It highlights the amount of hard-to-digest FODMAPs in each meal, helping you connect changes in your breath results to specific foods or drinks. Over time, these patterns can give you clarity on which foods are harder for you to tolerate and which ones are easier.

It's Personal to You

Everyone’s gut microbiome is unique. The mix of microbes in your digestive tract determines how well you can break down and tolerate different FODMAPs. That means your results are a reflection of your body’s own biology.

For example, you might eat a food high in FODMAPs and notice little or no change in your breath readings, while someone else might see a big spike. That’s because your microbes may not be able to ferment that FODMAP, or they may handle it differently.

This is why your results are personal—and why tracking your own responses is much more valuable than relying only on general FODMAP food lists.

Quantity Matters

Tolerance is rarely all-or-nothing. Most people can handle at least a small amount of any given FODMAP. What matters is finding your personal threshold—the amount of each FODMAP you can consume before symptoms or high breath readings appear.

For instance, a small portion of apple (fructose) may be fine, but a larger serving might trigger gas and bloating. Careful logging helps you discover these limits so you can eat with more flexibility and confidence.

Timing Matters

Digestion takes time, and the timing of your readings can tell you a lot:

Liquids move through the stomach more quickly, so their effects on breath readings tend to show up faster.

Solid meals take longer to break down and move into the intestines, so you might see a delayed rise.

Different FODMAPs also ferment at different speeds.

• Simple ones like fructose or lactose ferment quickly, leading to early spikes.
• More complex ones like inulin take longer to ferment, but they can produce a prolonged rise in breath readings.

Recognizing these patterns helps you match symptoms and readings to specific foods more accurately.

Gut Sensitivity

Gas production isn’t the only factor that causes symptoms. Some people’s guts are more sensitive to distension—the stretching caused by gas and water in the intestines.

• Fermentation produces gases that can inflate the gut.
• Certain FODMAPs, especially simple sugars like fructose and lactose, draw extra water into the gut.
• The combination of gas + water can cause bloating, discomfort, and even pain.

Even if your breath readings aren’t extremely high, heightened gut sensitivity can make you feel symptoms more strongly.

Gut Transit

How quickly gas moves through your digestive system also matters.

• In some people, gases clear quickly, so symptoms may be milder.
• In others, gas lingers or moves more slowly, building up and leading to more bloating and discomfort.

Tracking breath results alongside symptom severity and timing helps you see whether your symptoms are due to higher gas production, slower clearance, or increased sensitivity.

Bringing It All Together

✅ By combining breath readings with meal and symptom logs, you can:

• Identify your personal triggers and tolerances
• Understand how much and when certain foods affect you
• Work with your healthcare practitioner to refine your IBS or SIBO management plan

✨ Remember: your goal isn’t to eliminate fermentation completely — it’s to understand how your body responds so you can eat with more freedom and confidence.

Updated on: 01/09/2025