Your Results: Hydrogen & methane

🧬 Bacterial Fermentation in the Gut

Fermentation is a natural and healthy process. In your gut, bacteria break down certain carbohydrates through fermentation, producing gases as byproducts — primarily hydrogen and methane.

Fermentation plays a vital role in maintaining a balanced gut environment. However, when gas builds up too quickly or in large amounts, it can lead to discomfort, such as bloating, cramping, or changes in bowel habits.

💨 Hydrogen

Hydrogen is produced during fermentation and tends to respond more directly to the foods you eat. This makes hydrogen levels particularly useful when you're trying to identify which foods are best tolerated by your body.

With your AIRE 2 device, you can now measure hydrogen levels regularly — something that wasn't previously possible outside of a clinical setting. This opens up new insights, but it's still a relatively unexplored area in scientific research. In other words: you’re helping to chart new territory.

By consistently tracking:

• What you eat
• How you feel
• Your breath readings

...you can better understand your own digestive patterns and food responses.

💨 Methane

Methane is produced when methanogens, a type of gut microbe, convert hydrogen into methane.

Most people have methanogens in their gut, however their levels can vary based on:

• Age (they tend to increase over time)
• Diet
• Ethnicity
• Medications or antibiotic use

Important note:

Even if you have methanogens, you may not always see methane in your breath test results. That’s because a threshold number of methanogens is required to produce detectable methane. So if your methane readings are consistently low or absent, it may simply mean your levels aren’t high enough to show up in your breath — not that they aren’t there at all.

⛔ Methane & Constipation

There is growing evidence that methane may slow down digestion, acting like a neurotransmitter in the gut. For this reason, elevated methane levels have been associated with constipation.

If constipation is something you experience — occasionally or chronically — keeping an eye on your methane levels could provide useful insight.

Sometimes, doctors may prescribe antimicrobials to target methanogens. After such treatment, it’s common to see a drop in methane levels and a rise in hydrogen, which makes sense: it takes about 4 hydrogen molecules to produce 1 methane molecule, so methanogens may actually help reduce the total gas load in your gut.

⚠️ Visceral Hypersensitivity & Symptom Threshold

People with gut issues often experience visceral hypersensitivity, meaning they’re more sensitive to gas build-up in the intestines.

Everyone has a unique symptom threshold — the point at which gas levels begin to cause discomfort. You can begin to understand your personal threshold by watching how your symptoms relate to your breath readings over time.

For example:

• If you feel good after a high fermentation score → your threshold may be higher.
• If symptoms worsen after even a moderate score → your gut may be more sensitive.

The key is balance. Fermentation is not bad — it's a healthy function of your microbiome — but too much gas too often can be disruptive. By tracking your meals, breath scores, and symptoms, you'll gain the insight you need to make more personalized dietary choices.

Updated on: 07/08/2025