THE ONLY 3-GAS BREATH TEST FOR SIBO
The first step to feeling better
The Trio-Smart breath test is applicable to patients who experience bloating, gas, abdominal pain, constipation and/or diarrhea.
Trio-Smart measures the levels of hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide in your breath. Elevated levels of gases can indicate small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), intestinal methanogenic overgrowth (IMO), and/or excess hydrogen sulfide.
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Data from the Trio-Smart breath test can help guide treatment and is the first step towards feeling better. Learn more below.
How it works
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Order your kit, and we'll ship it to your home within 5 business days.
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Follow the included instructions to collect your breath samples at home.
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Receive your results within 7 business days.
Billing and Insurance
Trio-Smart is $349. If it is determined that the test is not right for you, you will be refunded the full cost of the test.
Along with your results, you will receive an itemized receipt (superbill) for use when filing an insurance claim. Trio-Smart is covered at least in part by many common insurance plans. If you're interested in asking your insurance provider about coverage, you can reference CPT code: 91065 (billed twice).
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Medicare and Medicaid may not cover online services. If you would like to use your Medicare or Medicaid coverage for Trio-Smart, please work with a local healthcare provider.
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Cancellation Policy:
Due to the advanced nature of our testing and the cost of the proprietary sample collection kit (provided to you for free), all orders are final. We cannot issue a refund after you place an order. If your kit never arrives or arrives damaged or incomplete, we will immediately send you another kit free of charge. If you have any questions before placing your order, please contact support@triosmartbreath.com.
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Residents in New York are subject to additional fees.
More about Trio-Smart
Trio-Smart is the only breath test available that can measure all three of the primary fermented gases in your microbiome: hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide.
Measuring the three primary fermented gases can offer you and your doctor valuable and more complete insight into your GI symptoms, leading to a personalized treatment plan more quickly.
How does the Trio-Smart breath test work?
Trio-Smart is a doctor-ordered breath test that uses an at-home sample collection kit. Using the kit, you collect your samples by breathing into 9 collection bags over a 2-hour period. The first bag is considered a “baseline” sample, and the remaining samples are collected after you drink a sugar substrate drink.
You then send your samples to our CLIA-certified lab (Prepaid shipping materials are included.), and the test results are reported to your doctor within a week.
A step-by-step sample collection instructional video is available here.
What does the Trio-Smart breath test measure?
The Trio-Smart breath test measures the three primary fermented gases in your microbiome by way of your breath before and after a sugar substrate drink is consumed. The gases measured are hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide.
Hydrogen is produced when certain bacteria consume sugars.
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Hydrogen levels are considered abnormal when they rise greater than ≥20 ppm (parts per million) from the baseline within 90 minutes.
Methane is produced when archaea (single-celled organisms similar to bacteria) consume hydrogen.
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Methane levels are considered abnormal if they reach ≥10 ppm (parts per million) at any point during the breath test.
Hydrogen sulfide is produced when sulfate-reducing organisms consume hydrogen.
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Hydrogen sulfide levels are considered abnormal if they reach ≥3ppm (parts per million) at any point during the breath test.
SIBO, IMO, and Excess Hydrogen Sulfide
Elevated levels of hydrogen are indicative of SIBO.
SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, is defined as the presence of excessive numbers of bacteria in the small bowel, causing gastrointestinal symptoms. The normal small bowel has lower levels of microbial colonization than does the colon. This normal balance is significantly disrupted with SIBO.
SIBO can be a complex result of various medications and conditions, such as IBS, Celiac, Crohn’s disease, bowel surgeries, and several other gastrointestinal complications. The symptoms of SIBO can arise from the malabsorption of nutrients, alteration in intestinal permeability, inflammation, and/or immune activation that arises from the abnormal bacterial fermentation within the small bowel.
Elevated levels of methane are indicative of IMO.
IMO, or intestinal methanogenic overgrowth, is an overgrowth of methane-producing archaea in the small and large intestines. Methanogens are not bacteria (the “B” in SIBO) but are archaea and may also overgrow in the colon and not just the small intestine (the “SI'' in SIBO). In humans, excess methane production appears to be caused by Methanobrevibacter smithii, which is the predominant methanogen in the human gut.
Elevated methane levels are associated with constipation, and the level of methane is correlated with the degree of constipation.
Elevated levels of hydrogen sulfide are indicative of excess hydrogen sulfide.
Excess hydrogen sulfide is a condition in which sulfate-reducing organisms produce high amounts of hydrogen sulfide in the gut. Excess hydrogen sulfide was undetectable by traditional breath testing prior to Trio-Smart, and patients with excess hydrogen sulfide may have appeared "normal" on previous breath tests.
Excess hydrogen sulfide is associated with diarrhea, and the level of hydrogen sulfide is correlated with the degree of diarrhea.
The Complex Interplay of Gases
The three primary fermented gases in the microbiome - hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide - are not independent of each other.
In fact, these gases interact with each other in a complex way. Hydrogen is produced by fermenting bacteria but is also consumed by other organisms, resulting in the production of other gases, including methane and hydrogen sulfide.
There is a balance-counterbalance effect between methane and hydrogen sulfide, illustrating a biochemical interdependency between microbes in the microbiome. These findings are important, because they suggest limitations when measuring only one or two gases. Only by measuring all three primary fermented gases can you get a more complete picture of your gut health.
SIBO & IBS
SIBO and IBS are separate medical conditions, but they commonly coexist, can be connected, and share similar symptoms. In fact, approximately 80% of IBS patients also have SIBO. In some cases, SIBO is a result of IBS, but in other cases, it’s not. Clinicians often use a breath test to diagnose SIBO and an antibody blood test to diagnose IBS and it is common for a patient to take both clinical tests together when diagnosing their GI symptoms. IBS-Smart is the only blood test that can clinically rule in post-infectious IBS, or IBS caused by food poisoning. To learn more about IBS-Smart please visit ibssmart.com.
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Pimentel, M., Saad, R., Long, M., et al. ACG Clinical Guideline: Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2020.
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Rezaie, A., Buresi M., Lembo A., et al. Hydrogen and Methane-Based Breath Testing in Gastrointestinal Disorders: The North American Consensus. American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2017.
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Pimentel, M., Mathur, R. and Chang, C. Gas and the Microbiome. Current Gastroenterology, 2013.
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Singer-Englar, T., Rezaie, A., Gupta, K., et al. Competitive Hydrogen Gas Utilization by Methane- and Hydrogen Sulfide-Producing Microorganisms and Associated Symptoms: Results of a Novel 4-Gas Breath Test Machine, AGA Abstracts, 2021.
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Pimentel, M., Hosseini, A., Chang, C., et al. Exhaled Hydrogen Sulfide Is Increased in Patients With Diarrhea: Results of a Novel Collection and Breath Testing Device, AGA Abstracts, 2021.