Butyrate is a type of short-chain fatty acid that is produced by bacteria in the gut as they ferment dietary fiber.
Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) produced by the microbiome within the colon.
It is made by the bacterial fermentation of resistant starch in the gut.
Healthy levels of butyrate in the gut promote a balanced microbiome, boost healthy gut function, encourage a healthy inflammation response, and support genetic expression by protecting DNA.
SCFAs are fatty acids with fewer than six carbon atoms, and butyrate has benefits on gastrointestinal, microbiome, digestive and cellular health.
The digestive tract the most susceptible part of the body to inflammation and disease: most of our immune cells and the microbes that regulate those immune responses live in our digestive tract.
The microbiome is responsible for creating the right immune cells and cell responses to different threats, maintaining the integrity of the intestinal wall, and producing the right nutrients to maintain homeostasis in the gut.
Butyrate is especially important because it helps to repair the damage that pesticides, toxins, processed foods, drugs, and more have done to the lining of the gut.
Butyrate supports a healthy gut lining, reinforces the mucosal barrier, and keeps the bowel regular, moving those toxins and metabolic waste out of the body.
Butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids are obtained from eating foods that are high in resistant starch (RS).
Once resistant starch arrives in the colon intact, the good bacteria feed on it, producing butyrate, which provides essential energy to the cells that line the colon walls, known as colonocytes.
There are four types of resistant starch:
RS Type 1: RS Type 1 is physically inaccessible, bound within the fibrous cell walls of plants.
Note that only plants have cell walls surrounding their membranes; animals have only cell membranes.
This type of resistant starch is embedded in the coating of seeds, nuts, grains, and legumes.
RS Type 2: RS Type 2 is a starch with a high amylose content, indigestible in its raw state.
Potatoes, unripe bananas and plantains reside in this group, until they’re cooked.
RS Type 3: RS Type 3 is retrograde, it transforms into resistant starch when cooked and then cooled.
This occurs with foods like white potatoes and white rice.
If reheated to a temperature lower than 130° F, it maintains its resistant nature and is able to feed colonocytes.
RS Type 4: An RS Type 4 does exist, but it’s synthetic and not recommended for human ingestion.
When the good bacteria, Faecalibacterium and Eubacterium strains devour resistant starches, they create the butyrate that feeds our gut lining.
Butyrate reduces inflammation in the gut and throughout the body, which is important for preventing chronic diseases like colitis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Butyrate and SCFAs as postbiotics, or a product created by bacteria in the microbiome nourish our cells.
A healthy gut lining meaning a healthy microbiome is free from chronic inflammation and able to manage nutrient absorption and electrolyte balance.
Butyrate is a key player in this delicate ecosystem of the healthy microbiome.
The main strains that account for our butyrate production are Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Eubacterium rectale/Roseburia spp.
The groups of bacteria that these strains belong to make up between 5 and 10 percent of the total healthy bacteria in the stool samples of healthy people.
Butyrate is the food for the gut lining.
Gut colonocytes are tiny cells that line the colon in the gut and are fueled by this important short-chain fatty acid, butyrate.
Proper levels of butyrate are vital to maintaining a healthy microbiome and supporting gut health.
Butyrate reinforces the mucosal barrier and modulates motility.
Butyrate functions as an HDAC (histone deacytlase) inhibitor, meaning that it supports a healthy inflammation response by suppressing the activity of specific cells.
It supports healthy insulin response and healthy blood sugar regulation
Butyrate serves to close tight junctions and prevent the dysbiosis commonly known as leaky gut.
Although supplemental butyrate has been used, its endogenous manufacture is available to those who eat the right foods.
In many cases, this means slowly but measurably increasing our dietary fiber intake, which is lacking for so many people.
We share our bodies with the billions of bacteria, fungi and even viruses that make up our microbiome, and their health is crucial to our wellbeing.
They are important messengers and endogenous creators of compounds like butyrate that support our bodily processes.
Detary fiber feeds the microbiome.
Prebiotic dietary fiber feeds our probiotics, which then create postbiotics, like butyrate.
Dairy contains butyric acid, and some foods contribute to its manufacture.
Butter offers about 2.7 grams in a stick and parmesan cheese about 730 mg in 3.5 ounces.
Rolled oats gives 8 grams of resistant starch
Butyrate is produced during the fermentation of undigested dietary fibre such as the resistant starch and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) found in legumes.
Beans, peas, and lentils, and their skins, are a good source of fiber and resistant starch, making them beneficial for digestion: foods in this category, have their butyrate levels increase when cooled after cooking.
Potatoes contain resistant starches when cooked, then cooled.
Rice, when cooled for at least 24 hours, also creates resistant starch.
Underripe bananas are higher in resistant starch.
Plantains are more resistant to digestion as well, plantain flour may help increase levels of butyrate.
Resistant starch is in whole grains, fibrous vegetables such as asparagus and broccoli stems, the peels of some fruits, like apples, and other cellulose sources.
One can amplify their endogenous butyrate production with supplemental butyrate.
Butyrate reduces bloating, speeding up transit time, and lowers inflammation.
Butyrate is the preferred energy source for cells lining the colon, which helps to maintain the integrity of the intestinal lining and protect against leaky gut.
It boosts immune function, helping to regulate the activity of immune cells in the gut, and has been shown to improve immune function overall.
It regulates metabolism, by improving insulin sensitivity, reduces blood glucose levels, and increase fatty acid oxidation, which may help to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes.
It have anticancer effects, particularly in colorectal cancer.
Increasing your intake of fiber-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can support the production of butyrate in the gut and promote better health.