Wait at least FOUR WEEKS after oral or IV antibiotics.
Wait at least TWO WEEKS after a colonoscopy, or colonoscopy prep, barium study, colonic therapy, an enema or unusual diarrhoea,
ONE WEEK before the test, STOP any herbal antimicrobials, probiotics, and osmotic laxatives (ending in “-ol” or “-ose”, such as movicol, lactulose etc.)
ON THE DAY OF THE TEST, withhold any non-essential medication until the test is finished.
If you are uncertain if something will affect the test, AVOID it or consult your practitioner BEFORE starting the test
If doing the test at home, we recommend preparing your test drink the night before testing and refrigerate overnight – glucose and fructose dissolve more easily in hot water.

DIETARY PREPARATION

The preparatory diet for breath testing requires a period of food restriction for a minimum of 24 hours, followed by an overnight (water-only) fast. The diet preparation is the same for each breath test, regardless of the sugar being tested (e.g., glucose, lactulose, lactose or fructose).
If you have special dietary restrictions that prevent you from consuming foods from this list, please contact us.
You must follow the diet below for the whole day before the test, and eat nothing for at least 12 hours before your testing starts. You can drink water as normal during the diet period and sips of water during the fasting period.

ONE-DAY RESTRICTED DIET

During the breath test diet preparation period you may consume ONLY the food and drinks below.
❖ Plain water, coffee, and tea (weak with no sugar/sweetener or cream/milk added)
❖ Chicken, turkey, fish, lean beef, or lamb. Avoid fatty cuts and avoid pork (including ham & bacon). Meat can be baked or broiled, or gently fried in a small amount of oil.
❖ Eggs – cooked any way, without milk of any kind.
❖ Salt and pepper – no other seasonings are permitted
❖ Plain steamed short or long-grain white rice or jasmine rice. Cook rice fresh for each meal – reheated rice becomes a resistant starch and can interfere with your test results.
❖ White rice noodles
❖ Plain rice crackers, such as Orgran Free Rice Crispbread
❖ Clear chicken, beef, or vegetable broth (not the vegetables)
❖ White spelt or wheat bread only – must be dairy-free.
➢ Do not consume if you are gluten-intolerant.
➢ Note: most white bread has milk or milk powder. Please avoid these. Check labels. Choose dairy-free sourdough, French sticks or crusty loaves.
❖ Small amounts of hard cheese such as parmesan or pecorino for flavouring only.
❖ Small amounts of butter, ghee or oil.
❖ Nothing else is allowed.

MEAL IDEAS

Breakfast

Eggs
- Boiled, scrambled (no milk – water is OK) or fried in butter or oil (salt and pepper okay)
- Poached with Hollandaise sauce (homemade with egg yolk and butter only), served with salmon or other fish
- Omelet made with water and with a little fresh or canned salmon (spring water – drained)
French toast – white bread or white rice bread oaked in beaten eggs (NO MILK) and fried in butter or oil.
Plain waffles or pancakes made with white flour, egg, water, baking powder & butter. (NO MILK or SUGAR)
Homemade all-meat patty made with mincemeat, egg and white-breadcrumbs, salt & pepper. Fried in butter or oil.

Coffee, weak, black. OR blended with 1 tblsp butter, ghee or coconut oil in a high-speed blender.

Lunch

Piece of chicken (breast, thigh, etc). Roasted, broiled or sautéed in oil with salt and pepper with steamed white rice.
Piece of white fish, dipped in white flour, a beaten egg and white breadcrumbs. Gently fried in a little butter or oil, served with plain white rice (if you are already eating grains) with butter, coconut oil or ghee.
Cup of meat broth (made with just meat and water – no bones or cartilage) eg: clear chicken or beef broth (made with meat and marrow bones– not cartilage).

French toast: white (sourdough) bread, beaten eggs and fried in a little butter are a breakfast option.

Dinner

Lunch options, as above, plus:
Steak: grilled or fried in a little oil with salt and pepper
Sautéed shrimp, calamari- or baked salmon with butter or oil
Homemade all-meat patty made with mincemeat, egg and white-breadcrumbs, salt & pepper. Fried in a small amount of butter or oil.
White rice (if you are already eating grains) with butter, coconut oil or ghee.
Meat broth (as above)
Hard-boiled egg topped with good quality olive oil and salt and pepper
Canned sardines or salmon or tuna (canned in spring water or olive oil, drained)
Plain white crackers – made without lactose or milk products, such as Arnotts or Graham’s water crackers.

Omelet with grilled chicken on white rice for lunch or dinner

You can also have white bread or white rice bread with butter. NOTE – soft-crusted breads contain milk or milk powder. Please avoid these. French sticks or crusty loaves are more likely to be without milk. Do not use gluten-free breads that contain any starches.

Snack

Meat broth (as above)
1. Hard-boiled egg topped with olive oil and salt and pepper.
2. Canned sardines or salmon or tuna (canned in spring water or olive oil, drained)
3. Plain white crackers – made without lactose or milk products.
4. Slice of white bread or white rice bread with butter
FRUITS, VEGETABLES, NUTS, SEEDS, or FOODS NOT ON THE LIST ABOVE ARE NOT ALLOWED

GLUTEN-FREE BREAD RECIPE

450 ml water
3 tbsp oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vinegar
3 ½ cups white rice flour
1 ½ tbsp guar or xanthan gum
3 tbsp raw sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp active dried yeast

Mix liquid ingredients together in a bowl. (Do not use electric mixer, as this will aerate the mixture.)
Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Combine liquid and dry ingredients.
Mix to a soft dough ensuring all ingredients are well combined.
Spoon dough into bread-maker pan, pressing down with a spatula after each spoonful, to eliminate air bubbles.
Lock bread pan into baking chamber.
Use the setting: Basic bread + medium crust then press “start”.

ON THE MORNING OF YOUR BREATH TEST (applies to everyone)

After successfully following the breath test prep diet, on the day of your test, please follow these instructions:

➢ Unless essential, withhold medication / supplements until after testing is completed.
➢ If you are on insulin, check with your prescriber for instructions on any dose adjustment since you cannot eat or drink anything past midnight prior to the test. Please check your blood sugar on the morning of the test.
➢ You must be up for at least one hour prior to commencing breath testing.
➢ Please brush your teeth when you wake up. Spit out the toothpaste. You may have a glass of water then, but after this, please avoid large quantities of water until after the test.
➢ No smoking or vaping the morning of the test, and until the test is completed.
➢ No vigorous exercise the morning of the test, and until the test is completed.
➢ Please go for a gentle walk for 20-30 minutes before starting the test – this helps disperse residual gas in your bowel.
➢ Strictly no food the day of the test until the test is completed.
IMPORTANT: Do not pre-label your test tubes. You can prepare your labels in advance; only put the label on the tube after you have collected a sample in that tube.