Your Breath May Reveal Clues About Your Gut Health

No stool samples or blood draws required. 

The Epoch Times/Shutterstock

A new study published in Cell Metabolism found that chemicals released by intestinal microbes can be captured from breath and used to identify the bacteria living in a child’s gut. When researchers tested children with asthma, they found the breath analysis could predict the presence of Eubacterium siraeum, a specific bacterium associated with the respiratory condition.

“The data is very promising and exciting, especially if it can lead to improvement in care of patients with common childhood disorders such as asthma,” Dr. Pradnya Mitroo, a board-certified gastroenterologist and president and CEO of Fresno Digestive Health, who was not involved in the study, told The Epoch Times.

How the Test Works

The team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia analyzed breath and stool samples from 27 healthy children ages 6 to 12. They found that volatile organic compounds—chemicals that microbes release when digesting food—travel from the gut into the bloodstream and are eventually exhaled in breath.