The Health Benefits of Butyrate - Experience Life

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• Fatty Acids 101
• Butyrate and the Gut
• Butyrate and the Brain
• Butyrate and the Immune System
• How to Boost Your Butyrate
• Butyrate and COVID-19

Here’s a fact that reads like a riddle: Half of you isn’t you.

Fifty percent of the cells in your body are microbial, and they include fungi, protozoans, viruses, and bacteria. These microbes — known collectively as the micro­biome — significantly affect your digestion, immunity, mental health, and more.

Given their supporting role in so many key functions, it’s no surprise that you’re healthier when your microbes are well fed and happy. One way to ensure this is by consuming enough fiber. (See “6 Ways to Eat More Fiber” for ideas to help you amp up your fiber intake.

Fiber is food for gut microbes — and it prompts some of those microbes to produce an impor­tant short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) called butyrate.

Also known as butyric acid or butanoic acid, this SCFA contributes to an astonishing number of health benefits, including improved digestion, better detoxification, stronger overall immunity, and reduced risk of cancer.

Lackluster butyrate levels, on the other hand, can contribute to problems in all these areas. “If we don’t have good butyrate levels, then these critical functions are impaired,” explains functional-medicine physician Gregory Plotnikoff, MD.

Butyrate plays a role in so many bodily systems that diagnosing low levels of this molecule can be daunting. A stool test read by a healthcare practitioner trained to recognize optimal and suboptimal levels is the best way to learn if your butyrate production is flagging.

Test or no test, it’s worth doing what you can to boost butyrate on your own. “Butyrate has been overlooked for far too long,” Plotnikoff says. “It is a powerfully protective molecule that is in our power to activate and promote.”

Learn more about how this potent molecule works — and how you can help your body produce more of it.

Fatty Acids 101

You need fatty acids in your diet to support optimal brain and gut health. These molecules are the building blocks of fat — both the fat you eat and your adipose tissue. They consist of chains of carbon atoms with some hydrogen atoms attached, and they come in three sizes: short-chain, medium-chain, and long-chain.

Long-chain fatty acids are most common in animal foods and provide the essential omega-3 fatty acids in coldwater fish, eggs, walnuts, and chia seeds. Medium-chain fatty acids are found in coconut oil and milk fat, and they’ve enjoyed recent acclaim for their role in MCT (medium-chain triglyceride) oil — a key ingredient in Bulletproof coffee.

Short-chain fatty acids are present in foods like butter and cheese, but our gut microbes typically produce most of the SCFAs the body needs. These endogenously produced SCFAs include butyrate, propionate, and acetate, which work ­together to keep the gut and immune system in working order.

The best way to boost the body’s butyrate production is by supplying the gut with plenty of dietary fiber. Gut microbes break down indigestible fiber and turn it into SCFAs, which are ultimately responsible for the many health benefits associated with fiber: regular bowel movements and overall colon health, right-sized LDL cholesterol levels, steady blood sugar, and stable body weight.

(Insoluble fiber, soluble fiber, and prebiotic fiber are all essential to our health and well-being. Here are “The 3 Types of Dietary Fiber You Need” and a list of what foods contain them).

Butyrate and the Gut

SCFAs also keep the cells that line the colon (called colonocytes) healthy, providing them with their main source of energy. Although butyrate is the least abundant SCFA the body produces, it has a big impact on gut health.

“Colonocytes seem to love chowing down on butyrate, so most of it is taken up by the gut lining, where it contributes to a healthy colon,” notes internal-medicine specialist and gastroenterologist Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI, author of Fiber Fueled.

In a healthy gut, the walls of the large intestine are intact but reasonably permeable. They allow nutrients to enter the system while preventing the escape of bacteria, toxins, and food particles.

When intestinal walls are damaged, they become permeable and “leaky.”

A range of factors can produce this condition, including stress, a low-fiber diet, and food intolerances. A leaky gut usually leads to widespread gut inflammation, which can trigger gastrointestinal (GI) disorders and more. (See “What Is a Leaky Gut?” to learn more about this condition and for a list of telltale symptoms.)

Meanwhile, enhanced butyrate production can build a sturdier gut barrier. “Butyrate fixes up the lining of the gut, like taking a beautiful historic home that’s been run haggard and restoring it to its original glory,” Bulsiewicz explains.

Plotnikoff likens this relationship to the adage that good fences make good neighbors. “Our neighbors — our bacteria — are doing all the maintenance work on this fence that is the gut lining,” he notes. “If they’re not producing butyrate, then the fence is not being cared for, and it becomes rickety and wobbly. It’s not doing the job it needs to be doing.”

One way butyrate protects the gut lining is by keeping inflammation in check, a task that we sometimes outsource to steroids like prednisone, says Plotnikoff. But butyrate helps regulate inflammation without the side effects of these drugs. “It’s in our power to roll back inflammation or to prevent it from even starting when it’s not necessary,” he says.

Notably, research has found a link between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and a deficiency of butyrate-producing bacteria in the microbiome, as well as reduced microbial diversity. This may contribute to the overgrowth of an extra-nasty type of E. coli that often appears in the guts of people with IBD.

According to Bulsiewicz, this E. coli unleashes “pro-inflammatory proteins like a flamethrower as it proliferates, further enhancing dysbiosis and the rise of more E. coli.”

Butyrate helps arrest runaway inflammatory processes like these, and supplemental butyrate (in the form of capsules) is sometimes used to treat Crohn’s disease.

Butyrate and the Brain

We now know about the connection between the gut and the brain, so it’s not surprising that butyrate plays a role in cognitive health. Immune cells in the brain become prone to inflammation as we age, leading to impaired cognitive and motor function. The anti-inflammatory powers of butyrate help mitigate that damage.

Studies indicate that butyrate improves learning and memory in older mice. Animal studies also suggest that butyrate may aid in the fight against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Alzheimer’s is associated with an excess of a protein called beta-amyloid in the brain, where it forms masses called plaques. These may interfere with cell function and damage brain and motor function.

In a study, mice given sodium butyrate supplements experienced significant reduction in beta-amyloid as well as improved cognitive performance.

Other studies link high-fiber diets and better butyrate levels to improved outcomes among participants with a history of Huntington’s disease, autism, or stroke.

Butyrate has also been studied for its effects on depression and other mental-health conditions. A meta-analysis of 59 studies found that the gut microbiomes of patients with depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis and schizophrenia, and anxiety all showed reduced numbers of anti-inflammatory butyrate-producing bacteria and increased populations of pro-inflammatory bacteria.

Butyrate and the Immune System

Butyrate’s benefits extend beyond the gut and brain to influence your immunity. “Although it remains in the bowel, butyrate’s effects are systemic,” says functional-medicine practitioner Kara Parker, MD, ABIHM, IFMCP. “It’s what’s called an HDAC (histone deacetylase) inhibitor, which means that it goes systemically throughout the body and messages cancer cells to turn themselves off and die.”

The salutary role butyrate plays in the gut may even extend to the health of the lungs, via what’s now being called the “gut–lung axis.” One study found that children who lacked butyrate-producing flora were more likely to develop asthma and allergies, while children with robust butyrate production were substantially less likely to do so.

Researchers are still unclear about exactly how butyrate contributes to these effects, but it appears to be through regulating immune-cell behavior. In other words, there isn’t much butyrate won’t do to protect your health.

How to Boost Your Butyrate

If you’re eager to increase your own butyrate levels, here are several ways to start.

1. Eat more butyrate-containing foods. Some foods contain butyrate naturally. These include hard cheeses (think Parmesan and pecorino), butter, full-fat yogurt, and fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, pickles, and tempeh.

2. Eat more butyrogenic foods. Certain foods, especially those high in fiber, promote butyrate production in the gut: flax and chia seeds; beans and lentils; high-pectin fruits, such as apples and berries; and vegetables like garlic and onions.

Whole grains are also supportive, and resistant starch from green bananas and cold potatoes helps feed the microbes that make butyrate (for more on resistant starch, see “Resistant Starch for a Healthy Gut“). Parker recommends adding a table­spoon of potato starch to soups or smoothies.

3. Get enough sleep. Rest is a critical factor in butyrate production. “In deep sleep, you repair the gut,” explains Parker.

In turn, optimal butyrate levels also help support sleep. One animal study found that SCFAs send sleep signals to the brain, and that higher butyrate levels increase duration of deep, non-REM sleep.

4. Fast. According to Parker, a fast-mimicking diet (which involves fasting for 12 or more hours) may help raise butyrate levels. “When you stop putting the food in, you stop making the gut do the functions of digestion, and you allow it to switch to absorption and repairing the holes,” she explains. “This helps heal a leaky gut and helps grow more anti-inflammatory bacteria.” (For more on intermittent fasting, see “Everything You Need to Know About Intermittent Fasting“.)

5. Exercise. Studies show that exer­cise increases butyrate levels in the gut, perhaps because it encourages blood flow to the bowels, says Parker. She cautions against overdoing it, though, because stress can exacerbate gut permeability. “Marathon runners classically have breaches in their intestinal barrier,” she says.

Researchers are still seeking to define the line between exercise levels that improve gut health and stressful extremes that exacerbate permeability.

6. Mind your stress. When the body gets overly stressed for too long, cortisol levels rise, and the hormone is “an inflamer of dysbiosis and a suppressor of a healthy microbiome” that contributes to gut permeability, says Parker.  (Learn more about the importance of cortisol and how to manage your cortisol levels at “How to Balance Your Cortisol Levels Naturally.”)

7. Supplement. If you experience gut pain, constipation, or poor sleep, and you already eat a varied, fiber-rich diet, you may wish to work with a healthcare provider to try butyrate supplements.

This can be especially useful if you’ve just finished a course of antibiotics and are having a hard time getting your gut back on track. “For a week of normal antibiotics, it can take up to a year to rebalance the microbiome, so, you’re going to lose some of the players that make butyrate,” Parker explains.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of butyric acid benefits. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

She says most of us will regain those bacteria over time through diet, but sometimes the process is too slow. “If you have severe bowel symptoms — an inflammatory bowel, or acute GI distress — you might want to take some butyrate for a period of time to help reduce that.”

In these situations, Parker may prescribe sodium-butyrate or calcium-butyrate capsules. It is possible to get too much, so she recommends working with a functional-medicine provider to get the right dose.

Butyrate and COVID-19

Butyrate has been found to help reduce inflammation in the lungs as well as the gut, and researchers hope it may help manage complications from COVID. A study found that symptomatic COVID patients had lower levels of butyrate-producing gut bacteria, which may play a role in the presentation of gastrointestinal symptoms with COVID infection.

Functional-medicine physician Kara Parker, MD, ABIHM, IFMCP, points to a study of healthcare workers in six countries published in . Of the 568 who got COVID, she says, “those who self-reported that they had a plant-based diet [reduced their odds of severe symptoms] by 73 percent. All those plant-based foods are contributing to increased butyrate. And you just have less gut inflammation when you’re eating fewer inflammatory foods.”

More research is needed, yet there’s no downside to upping your intake of vegetables, fruits, and other fiber-rich plant foods. (Learn more about what foods are high in fiber at “The 3 Types of Dietary Fiber You Need“.)

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This article originally appeared as “The Little Molecule That Could” in the May issue of Experience Life.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Key Takeaways:

• Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that is a necessary component to a balanced microbiome and works as an inflammation guard.*
• Our body can’t make enough butyrate because we eat too few resistant starches.
• One of several, short-chain fatty acids created from fermented resistant starches, low butyrate levels have been associated with serious health concerns.
• Butyrate not only nourishes the gut but also promotes cell differentiation, helps to regulate blood sugar, and promotes healthy DNA.*
• You can increase butyrate levels by eating foods with butyrate or taking supplements that can come in various forms.

Our gut is where the immune system gets its oomph, where the final products of digestion sit, and where water is absorbed into the body. About 400 different kinds of bacteria live there, most of them good, some not so much. Maintaining the balance of these bacteria is critical to staving off one or another pathology, including IBS/IBD, diverticular issues, and even polyposis. The bottom line is that no one should suffer colon disease, and fewer have to if healthy and appropriate bacteria levels are maintained.

The cells that line the colon walls are called colonocytes. These endothelial beauties are flat and constitute a layer that is only a single cell thick. They live shorter than a week and then are replaced by new ones. Because of this high turnover rate, there’s no need to do harsh cleanses, our bodies do the work for us!

All cells need a source of energy to do their work. Evidence is strong that the epithelial lining of the gut relies more on luminal energy supply than on vascular, meaning that energy comes from outside, not from the bloodstream, as most cells require. So, then, what is this energy supply? Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA’s) derived from the bacterial fermentation of resistant starch are the luminal substrates for colonocytes.

What are short-chain fatty acids?

Short-chain fatty acids, or SCFAs, are metabolites created by the microorganisms in our gut. There are several kinds of these SCFAs, including acetate, butyrate, and propionate. They all serve an important purpose in the gut, but we’ll be focusing on butyrate today.

Quickly find what you’re looking for:

• What is butyrate?
• What causes low butyrate?
• What are the benefits of butyrate?
• How to increase your butyrate
• Types of butyrate supplements

What is Butyrate?

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid produced by bacteria in the colon that’s essential for a healthy microbiome. In fact, appropriate levels of butyrate are key, not only to digestion, but to cellular and DNA health as well.*

How does butyrate support the immune system & digestive system?

Butyrate is a key SCFA that supports the colon and the gut lining. Butyrate in particular has been found to be a key factor in supporting a healthy inflammation response in the colon.[4]* On its own, it provides up to 90% of the energy required by the colonocytes, the cells of the colon!* It’s no wonder a deficiency can lead to degradation of the gut lining and subsequent illness. When we have enough butyrate, we have a stronger gut, stronger gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), and a stronger immune response.* Butyrate also supports the mucosa that hydrates the gut lining, promotes cell differentiation, and inhibits enzymes that can interfere with DNA replication.*[5]

Butyrate vs. butyric acid

Butyric acid and butyrate can often be confused but are simply different forms of the same molecule. Butyric acid is the form that you’ll find in food and many supplements and is also called butanoic acid. It’s an SCFA with four carbon atoms at its heart and is found in butter (hence its name) and other dairy products. When butter goes rancid, (i.e. when your Romano cheese sits on the kitchen table for a few hours at ninety degrees), you can experience the unfortunate aroma of butyric acid — a sharp, fermented, rather unpleasant smell. 

Butyric acid has a pH low enough to cause an upset stomach, but when compounded with an alkali, it becomes more than just an agreeable friend. When an acid is mixed with a base, the combination forms a salt plus water. At this stage, we no longer have butyric acid, but butyrate, a buffered form of butyric acid. The terms might be used interchangeably because they have some commonality, but they are not the same.

What Causes Low Butyrate?

At this point, you may be wondering if you have low levels of butyrate, or how you would know if you did. We took this question to our resident expert, Dr. Tom, who let us know that the only way to truly know is by taking a stool test. But, he also mentioned that if you’re not getting adequate fiber from starchy foods in your diet, chances are good you could use some extra butyrate. As we know, the SAD (Standard American Diet) is full of processed foods that are devoid of fiber, and the 25-28 grams we need per day are generally lacking in many diets. In fact, 97% of Americans do not eat enough fiber!

Butyrate levels in the gut can be negatively affected by high-protein, high-fat, low-carb diets. Keto and Paleo diets that restrict carbohydrates and fiber lack the starch needed to make your own butyrate. Carnivore diets can skew SCFA production away from producing butyrate and see higher levels of propionate and acetate.

Butyrate deficiency symptoms

Another way to determine if you might be deficient in butyrate is to consider common symptoms of those who are. These symptoms take time to develop and can include:

• Leaky gut
• Gas and bloating
• Chronic diarrhea
• Eventual IBS/IBD
• Crohn's disease 
• Behavioral irregularities
• Obesity
• Aberrant fatty acid metabolism
• Frequent illness from impaired immune function
• Foggy thinking from faulty protein metabolism and consequent ammonia accumulation
• Upset microbiome balance (may look like candida overgrowth or other bacterial imbalance)
• Increases in inflammation markers
• Reduced insulin sensitivity
• Missteps in DNA replication

Who would benefit from having more butyrate in their gut?

Anyone who is experiencing digestive symptoms such as gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain and discomfort may benefit from having more butyrate in their gut. However, every microbiome and body is unique, so you should consult with a trusted practitioner to determine what is right for you.

Butyrate Benefits

So now that we know the symptoms of low butyrate levels, what benefits does this nutrient actually provide? While there are many (including simply reducing the symptoms we mentioned above), there are three primary advantages that butyrate gives us.

Colon Support*

Of the short-chain fatty acids and those having fewer than six carbon atoms, butyrate is the one that nourishes the gut and promotes cell differentiation, a process that helps to prevent serious colonic diseases.* Because of its protective nature, butyrate is a highly-desirable molecule and should be cultivated as a friend, or at least introduced as a partner.

Healthy Inflammation Response*

The fiery process of inflammation is linked to most chronic disorders, from heart attack to stroke to type 2 diabetes. Inflammation fuels a cytokine known as interleukin-6 (IL-6), which remains elevated in chronic sickness. Butyrate is a rescue molecule in inflammatory diseases, wherein it impairs the oxidative processes that initiate their genesis.* By supporting a healthy inflammation response, butyrate may be helpful for many other autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.*

Multi-purpose Repair from Gut to Brain*

Butyrate inhibits enzymes that harm and unwind DNA, just like the kinked-up Slinky we ruined as kids. Butyrate sequesters harmful ammonia that forms from faulty protein metabolism and/or from inborn metabolic errors. In clearing mental fog, it increases brain-derived neurotrophic factors.* Depending on its concentration, butyrate decreases intestinal permeability, closing tight junctions and preventing leaky gut.* SCFAs in general, including butyrate, have also been shown to affect cholesterol metabolism and increase mineral absorption, which is highly beneficial for heart health and circulation health.*

Learn more about the benefits of butyrate here. 

Butyrate Side Effects

The good news is there appear to be very few side effects associated with supplementing butyrate. Our on-staff expert RD, Dr. Tom, says “All reports in the medical papers admit there are no known ill effects from butyrate taken at "normal" doses, which I have extrapolated to be less than 8.0 grams a day for several months. One study does state that more than 20.0 grams a day will waken latent herpes simplex (fever blisters). But that high a dose is not recommended.”

Dr. Tom also notes that, “colonocytes absorb butyrate supplements immediately and rapidly, with more than 95% precision and completeness. The remaining 5% goes to the toilet.” The FDA cites butyrate as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS).

How to Increase Butyrate in the Colon

Knowing that there are serious benefits to increasing your butyrate levels and not many negative side effects, how can you incorporate it into your everyday life? The two main ways to achieve this are by eating food with butyrate, or taking specialized butyrate supplements.

Eat foods containing butyrate

As we mentioned earlier, butyrate and SCFA production only come from the food we ingest and the microbial balance in the gut available to break down that food into SCFAs. Most of the foods that allow our microbiome to produce SCFAs are resistant starches, and some of them aren’t the most appetizing. But, when you’re dealing with severe digestive issues or autoimmune diseases, you may find them worth adding to your diet.

It is possible to get butyrate from the foods you consume, but in looking at the average diet, there are generally not enough slowly-digesting fibers to produce the necessary levels with food alone. That’s because a lot of the foods highest in resistant starch are not particularly appetizing, think cold mashed potatoes and white rice.

Foods that do help boost butyrate include:

• High-quality dairy (but the high serving sizes needed may not be recommended for all)
• Cold rolled oats (try soaking oats in non-dairy milk overnight)
• Legumes (when cooled after cooking)
• Cooled potatoes
• Cooled white rice
• Unripe bananas and plantain flour
• Whole grains
• Fibrous vegetables like asparagus and broccoli stems
• Some fruit peels like apples

For more information, check out our blog: What Foods Can Help Increase Your Butyrate Levels?

While many foods contain small amounts of butyrate-producing resistant starch, it’s still quite hard to reach the adequate amount. For this reason, ample supplementation with a butyrate supplement is vital to overall well-being.

Butyrate supplements

In addition to adding butyrate-producing foods, you may also consider butyrate supplementation. Supplementing butyrate is a great way to keep your gut happy and healthy, but as always, quality matters! BodyBio Butyrate is formulated without extra additives or fillers to deliver the beneficial butyrate your gut craves without any junk. Because it’s fermented, butyrate is well known for its smell, but this is a natural byproduct of the fermentation process — don’t worry! This is exactly how it’s supposed to be.

Butyric acid on its own is quite acidic, so we pair it with different minerals to raise the pH and stabilize it for delivery to the gut. We have created Calcium Magnesium, Sodium, and Sodium Potassium Butyrate varieties depending on your needs. Due to widespread calcium and magnesium deficiency, we recommend most people start with our Calcium Magnesium Butyrate. Dozens of folks have reviewed our butyrate saying that it helped ease their digestive problems and get back to a healthy, balanced gut.

Interested in trying butyrate? Learn more here.

Types of Butyrate Supplements

Sticking to a diet with high levels of butyrate can be difficult, so if you’re thinking that supplements are the better option for you, there are three general categories that products fall under. Below we discuss each in more depth, and help you make an informed decision on which is right for you.

Butyrate salts

BodyBio’s butyrates (we have three kinds!) are simply butyrate, a thirteen-atom complex joined to an alkali. Butyric acid, butyrate, and tributyrin are ingredients you may see in this category of supplements. While their names vary slightly, they all have the same purpose with different characteristics.

At BodyBio, the butyrate powder we use is covered with MCT from palm kernel oil. This is how it gets to the colon somewhat intact. If at least a little butyrate didn't get partially digested and enter the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine, it wouldn't be able to act as an ammonia sequestrant, an HDAC inhibitor, a glucose modulator/appetite suppressant and support normal inflammation levels.*

Glycerol-bound butyrate (tributyrin)

Glycerol-bound butyrate is called tributyrin — 3 butyrates attached to a glycerol. Now, before we explain tributyrin any further, it helps to understand the concept of a prodrug. In this case, “pro” has nothing to do with for or against, but with precursor. 

The term describes compounds that must undergo chemical changes within the body prior to exerting their pharmacological or therapeutic actions. One example is aspirin, which is the prodrug for salicylic acid. Aspirin, you see, is less corrosive to the pathways of the GI system. We may want the benefits of salicylic acid, but in order to get them internally, we take aspirin so that the body can convert it to salicylic acid without having to actually ingest such an acidic substance.

There are times, too, when prodrugs can sneak past pharmaceutical barriers by adjusting the delivery form. This is how tributyrin works as a stable and rapidly-absorbed prodrug of butyric acid, just like sodium butyrate, calcium-magnesium butyrate, or another form of the salt. The active portion of butyrate and tributyrin is butyric acid, which we can get by ingesting either form. 

And yet — If tributyrin is butyric acid joined to a glycerol to make a compound of more than forty atoms, why not use the alkalized butyrate with a compound of fewer than twenty? This compound is much easier for the body to process and extract the benefit we want — the butyric acid.

Liquid butyrate

A final option, liquid butyrate, is typically butyric acid bound to a fat like MCT oil. There are often many additives, flavorings, and sweeteners to hide the notably pungent smell of effective butyrate supplements. If you are going to go with a liquid butyrate supplement, we recommend checking your labels first.

Choosing the Right Butyrate Supplement

We created BodyBio Butyrate supplements in three different types: Calcium Magnesium, Sodium, and Sodium Potassium. For most people, the Calcium Magnesium form will do just fine, but athletes or those who have low sodium levels may benefit more from the Sodium or Sodium Potassium forms. Whichever one you decide to try, you’ll get at least a 1,000 mg dose of butyric acid per two capsules.

For more isobutyric acid manufacturerinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.