RQ resting metabolic rate test ยท St. Louis
The RQ breathing test shows whether your body is running on sugar or on fat.
RQ is a resting metabolic rate breathing test at painstl.com. You sit still and keep breathing as you normally would, through a mask or a mouthpiece. The result: calories burned at rest, plus whether sugar or fat is doing most of the burning.
This test happens only on a physician’s order. It runs only while a physician is on site and immediately available.
How does the test work?
You sit quietly and breathe through a mouthpiece or mask. The device measures the oxygen you use and the carbon dioxide you breathe out.
Why would your physician order it?
The ratio of those two gases, the respiratory quotient, shows which fuel your body is burning. A body stuck burning sugar is usually a body with high insulin, and high insulin keeps tissue inflamed. The result sets the starting point for your diet and metabolic health coaching.
What will you feel?
Just calm breathing. No needles.
Getting ready for test day
For roughly 4 hours before, skip eating, workouts, caffeine and nicotine.
Tell us before the test about
- Trouble breathing through a mouthpiece
How much time to plan for
Plan on about 15 to 20 minutes each time.
What to remember
- Four hours before: no eating, workouts, caffeine or nicotine.
- It reveals your main fuel, sugar or fat.
- The number steers your eating plan.
Last step. Show us you have it: Explain to your technician what you will skip beforehand, and for how long. Unsure about any step? We run through it with you again next time.
Related reading
- The painstl.com physiotherapy program, every station and test
- Diet and metabolic health coaching
- Low-carb diet for pain
- Nerve test of the arm (EMG/NCS), another test
- Nerve test of the leg (EMG/NCS), another test
- CMAT (CardioMetabolic Assessment Test), another test
- Cognivue, another test
- Kinetisense, another test
- VNG (balance and dizziness test), another test
Ask whether this belongs in your plan
A physician reviews your history and your procedures first, then writes the orders. Nothing is added without a reason in your chart.
4479 Woodson Rd, Suite 401
St. Louis, MO 63134
Next to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, off I-70 at Woodson Road.