Breath Test Shows Diabetes Patients Have Lower Hydrogen Gas Production
- Authors
- Inna Misnikova, Yulia Kovaleva, Svetlana Shokur, Tyler W. LeBaron, Oxana Povarova, Oleg Medvedev
- Journal
- Nutrients
- Year
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.3390/nu17050917
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Russia
- Health Condition
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Body System
- Digestive
TL;DR
This study found that people with type 2 diabetes produce less hydrogen and more methane gas after eating, which may be linked to higher blood sugar levels after meals.
Key Finding
People with type 2 diabetes produced significantly less hydrogen gas and more methane gas in their breath after eating fiber-containing foods compared to people without diabetes, and these gas patterns correlated with higher blood sugar spikes.
Summary
This study compared how the bodies of people with type 2 diabetes and people without diabetes produce gases in their intestines after eating foods containing different types of fiber. Researchers measured hydrogen and methane in exhaled breath as markers of intestinal gas production. They found that people with type 2 diabetes produced less hydrogen gas and more methane gas than people without diabetes, and these gas patterns were linked to how much their blood sugar rose after eating.
Practical Takeaway
This early human study suggests that intestinal gas production patterns might reflect how well someone's body handles blood sugar after meals. However, the study is small (28 people total) and doesn't test hydrogen water directly—it only measures natural gases produced by the gut. More research is needed to determine whether these findings could lead to new treatments or whether hydrogen water specifically would have any effect on these processes.
Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between postprandial glycemic levels based on flashmonitoring and the production of intestinal hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) gases based on the measurement of the amount of these gases in exhaled air. Materials and Methods: We studied 14 subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 14 individuals without diabetes (control) with two food load tests, including two types of dietary fiber (inulin and guar gum), with the simultaneous determination of gases in exhaled air and the assessment of glucose levels. Results: All subjects in the control group had a significant increase in exhaled H2. OR for increased hydrogen production in patients with T2DM was 0.17 (95% CI 0.031-0.93, p = 0.043). The level of H2 in exhaled breath after food load in patients with T2DM was lower than in normoglycemic subjects. There was an inverse correlation between maximum glucose rise and maximum H2 in exhaled air after food load in normoglycemic subjects (r = -0.569, p = 0.034). Patients with T2DM had direct correlations between the level of CH4 in exhaled air and the parameters of postprandial glycemia in the lactulose test (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The confirmation of a causal relationship between decreased H2 production, increased intestinal CH4 production, and more severe postprandial glycemia may identify new therapeutic targets in the correction of postprandial glycemia in patients with T2DM.