The recommended instructions for the Gut Health Test are to take the sample after an overnight fast.
This helps reduce normal biological variation caused by recent food intake and provides the most standardized conditions for interpreting your results.

If you forgot to fast before taking your sample, there is no need to automatically discard the test.
The results may still provide useful information, but recent food intake can influence some of the metabolites measured in the test.
The extent of this influence may vary depending on factors such as:

• How long before sampling you ate
• The size of the meal
• The composition of the meal (for example, protein, carbohydrate, and fat content)
• Individual differences in metabolism

Because of this, results from a non-fasted sample should generally be interpreted with slightly more caution than results obtained under the recommended fasting conditions.

For individuals who are monitoring changes over time, consistency is especially important.
The most accurate comparison between two tests is obtained when both samples are collected under similar conditions, ideally after an overnight fast and following the same sampling instructions each time.

When reviewing your results, it may be helpful to focus more on the overall pattern of markers.
If you have concerns about whether your sample was taken under appropriate conditions, please contact customer support for guidance.

A non-fasted result may still provide directional information regarding the individual's metabolic profile, but direct comparison with previous or future results should ideally be performed using samples collected under comparable fasting conditions.