Evidence Based
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This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts.
Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.
This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, 3) are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Written by Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC on March 18,
Key Takeaways:
Butyrate supplements have been shown to help improve symptoms of IBS and traveler&#;s diarrhea, and to help improve bacterial balance in the gut microbiome.
On the other hand, butyrate supplements have been shown not to help with ulcerative colitis and might trigger symptoms in people with certain gut problems.
Butyrate is produced by a healthy microbiota, providing energy for the gut lining and may help keep the colon healthy.
Butyrate supplements and butyrate production-promoting foods are becoming popular.
For people who have a sensitive gut, a lower fiber regimen is better than additional fiber and butyrate.
Research shows the low FODMAP diet can relieve gut symptoms and offer benefits despite a probable temporary decrease in butyrate levels.
Butyrate is a new buzzword in gut health. Butyrate supplements and prebiotics that stimulate your gut to produce butyrate are often promoted as a way to help gut health problems, as butyrate theoretically has a number of digestive system benefits.But does research back the benefits of butyrate supplements? In this article, we&#;ll look at butyrate, its functions, and whether upping your intake by taking butyrate supplements can help conditions such as IBS, dysbiosis, weight loss, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Butyrate (butyric acid) is a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA). That means it&#;s a type of &#;good fat,&#; though it&#;s not widely found in food. Butter is the best source, but most of the butyrate in our bodies is produced by bacteria in the bowels [1].
Good gut bacteria that live in the colon &#;eat&#;, or ferment, fiber and carbs (such as resistant starch) that our gastrointestinal tract can&#;t digest. This fermentation process produces SCFAs as a byproduct. Of these, butyrate is the most well-known. Other common SCFAs include propionate and acetate.
The most prolific butyrate-producing bacteria in the human gut include [2, 3, 4]
Other more minor butyrate-producing microbes include:
You&#;ll notice that the common names you&#;d expect to see on the label of a probiotic supplement, like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, aren&#;t listed above. This is because many of the beneficial effects of probiotics are likely unrelated to butyrate production. In other words, we don&#;t know for sure that supplementing from the list above will improve butyrate levels or digestive health. More research is needed&#;what we have gleaned so far is mixed.
Bacteria that are butyrate-producing in the lab may not significantly increase butyrate levels in people when you consume them. For example:
Butyrate is the primary energy source for colon cells, known as colonocytes, that line the inside of the bowel (colon or large intestine) [2, 7]. After it&#;s manufactured by microbes in the human colon, butyrate carries out various helpful roles in the gut. Butyrate can also be distributed beyond the large intestine, for example, in the brain, liver, and fat tissue [8].
In vitro (lab) and in vivo (animal and/or human) studies have shown that butyrate:
How butyrate affects gut health in people in daily life, as opposed to in lab tests on humans and animals, is not clear-cut. Human clinical trials involving a range of gut conditions have produced mixed results. Let&#;s take a look.
When it comes to butyrate supplementation, the assumption is essentially that more butyrate = better gut health. However, this is not necessarily true in all cases. For example, while patients with certain types of digestive conditions have been shown to have lower levels of butyrate in their guts, patients with other conditions have been shown to have higher levels. In other words, more butyrate doesn&#;t automatically equal better gut health.
A few clinical trials have shown that butyrate can help to improve symptoms of IBS, diverticulitis, and traveler&#;s diarrhea [11, 12, 13]. However, there is much more evidence to support interventions like the low FODMAP diet &#; which may actually decrease butyrate levels &#; for the treatment of IBS, SIBO, and other digestive conditions [14].
The bottom line is that while butyrate supplements may offer benefits in some cases, they&#;re not the first step if you&#;re experiencing digestive symptoms. If you do try a butyrate supplement, make sure to monitor your symptoms and check with your medical provider, especially if you have a pre-existing condition like diverticulitis or IBS. That way, you can see if they&#;re improving, staying the same, or worsening. If the latter occurs, of course, you&#;ll want to discontinue supplementation.
Bacterial imbalances and dysbiosis: Studies show that butyrate supplements can increase the levels of &#;good&#; microbes such as Akkermansia muciniphila, Butyricicoccus, and Lachnospiraceae [15, 16, 17].
IBS (irritable bowel syndrome): A RCT involving 60 patients with IBS found that 12 weeks of sodium butyrate supplementation (on top of standard medicinal therapy) was associated with significantly decreased abdominal pain, reduced pain during bowel movements, and less constipation compared to placebo supplementation [11].
Diverticulitis: A RCT found that 12 months of supplementation with sodium butyrate (300 mg per day) was associated with significantly decreased episodes of diverticulitis (acute inflammation of pouches that can form in the intestine) compared to a control group. Subjective quality of life was also higher in the sodium butyrate group compared to the control group [12].
Traveler&#;s diarrhea: Sodium butyrate (250 mg per day) taken for three days in combination with other SCFAs before and during traveling was associated with a reduced risk of abdominal symptoms like pain, bloating, nausea, and fevers [13].
Obesity and impaired glucose tolerance: Levels of butyrate seem higher in people with obesity [18, 19]. So, consuming extra butyrate in the form of supplements probably isn&#;t a good idea if you already have unintended weight gain, diabetes, or metabolic syndrome.
Autism in children: Increased levels of SCFAs in the bloodstream due to increased gut permeability or abnormal microbiota may be detrimental to children with autism. The study below was an animal study, so we can only glean so much from the results. More work needs to be done in this area, but this is still interesting information.
Colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 clinical trials concluded that in human health studies, resistant starch and inulin (butyrate-stimulating prebiotics) didn&#;t lower the risk of colorectal cancer or significantly increase butyrate levels [25].
It&#;s also not a simple case of higher butyrate levels equals better gut health. For example, in people with IBS-C (irritable bowel syndrome, where constipation is the main symptom), levels of butyrate in the stool tend to be lower than in controls. By contrast, in IBS-D (irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea), butyrate levels have been found to be higher than in controls [26].
People living with obesity also tend to have higher butyrate levels [18, 19], as do people with poor metabolic health, including insulin resistance and raised blood glucose [20].
One theory as to why butyrate levels can sometimes be higher in certain people is that acute inflammation could reduce the ability of intestinal cells to utilize butyrate correctly. Increased levels of SCFAs in the blood could also occur because of increased gut permeability in patients with poor gut health [27, 28].
Prebiotic-rich diets and supplements, or eating a diet rich in fibrous foods such as fruits, vegetables, and beans, is, in theory, a healthier way to enhance bacterial production of butyrate in the gut [29].
Studies confirm that prebiotic supplements are an effective way of increasing butyrate production and probably more effective than consuming butyrate-producing probiotics directly.
For example:
That said, not all studies show a significant increase in butyrate when prebiotics are consumed [25, 32].
More than this, while consuming prebiotics is a key way to feed the gut microbes and optimize butyrate production in healthy people, it can have the opposite effect in people who have compromised gut health.
If you experience bloating and gas when eating these foods, consider taking a digestive enzyme as a dietary supplement before you eat these foods to aid your stomach in breaking them down before they reach your small intestine. If they still cause problems, chances are it&#;s time for a low-FODMAP diet (which involves severely limiting these types of carbohydrates and dietary fibers for a period of time to give your gut some time to heal).
Strong research supports that the low FODMAP diet can:
A low FODMAP diet helps tackle gut sensitivities despite temporarily reducing butyrate levels. In one randomized controlled trial, butyrate was significantly lower after people began a low FODMAP diet, but signs of inflammation were also significantly lower&#;a sign that the gut is beginning to heal [14].
Later on, when your gut has begun healing and you&#;ve built up some tolerance, you can very likely reintroduce and consume enough healthy, high-fiber foods to optimize butyrate production.
The low FODMAP diet is an elimination diet that cuts out fermentable carbohydrates found in foods such as wheat, milk, onion, mangos, asparagus, and garlic. There are three main phases of the diet:
Personalizing and maintaining: In this phase, you use what you&#;ve learned during the elimination and reintroduction phases to broaden your diet (as long as symptoms stay reduced).
The low FODMAP diet has been shown to temporarily reduce butyrate production as well as gut microbiota diversity. Gut bacteria diversity is usually a sign of a robust and healthy gut flora [14, 36]. However, it&#;s still a much better option than increasing prebiotic fiber intake and/or taking butyrate supplements for people who have recent gut issues.
This helps us to see that higher butyrate levels are not necessary for better gut health or improved symptoms: On a low FODMAP diet, symptoms often significantly improve, even if butyrate levels are decreased.
In one randomized controlled trial, short-chain fatty acids and butyrate were significantly lower after people began a low FODMAP diet, but signs of inflammation were also significantly lower&#;a sign that the gut is beginning to heal [14].
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Later on, when your gut has begun healing, and you have built up some tolerance, you can very likely reintroduce and consume enough healthy high-fiber foods to optimize butyrate production.
While the evidence for butyrate is inconsistent, the research on the benefits of probiotics for gut sensitivities is much more solid. How a probiotic might affect your butyrate levels isn&#;t a concern. In fact, most studies where probiotics have benefited gut health haven&#;t measured butyrate levels at all.
Before experimenting with butyrate supplements, it makes sense for people with inflammation, gut dysbiosis, and other gut issues to take a well-formulated broad-spectrum probiotic supplement. Extensive research shows that they can:
A recent literature review to determine the effect of probiotics on butyrate and other SCFA production in the microbiome found only one study involving humans where butyrate and other SCFAs increased [3].
The same review found cell and animal studies where butyrate production increased from taking probiotics. However, none of the other clinical trials, which involved both healthy and unwell patients, mentioned increases in butyrate from supplementing with Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium probiotics.
Though probiotics are really useful for gut health, it appears that increasing butyrate isn&#;t a primary route of action.
To choose a quality probiotic, look for one that is:
Butyrate undoubtedly has an important role to play in gut health. Ordinarily (in people with robust gut health), a varied diet including different plant fibers and prebiotics will help your gut bacteria create optimal levels of butyrate without the need for butyrate as a gut health supplement.
However, for a sensitive gut, research-based evidence supports cutting down on fermentable carbs and fibers through a low FODMAP diet.
Research suggests several health benefits of butyrate supplements, but may have negative effects in some situations, particularly in obesity, where levels are often already raised anyway.
My book, Healthy Gut, Healthy You, has a comprehensive step-by-step plan for gut healing. Or, for more individualized healthcare support, request a consultation.
The Ruscio Institute has developed a range of high quality probiotics to help our patients and audience. If you&#;re interested in learning more about these products, please click here. Note that there are many other options available, and we encourage you to research which products may be right for you.
Dr. Michael Ruscio is a DC, Naturopathic Practitioner, researcher, and clinician. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bridgeport and has published numerous papers in scientific journals as well as the book Healthy Gut, Healthy You. He also founded the Ruscio Institute of Functional Health, where he helps patients with a wide range of GI conditions and serves as the Head of Research.Getting Started
Book your first visit
Evidence Based
This article is based on scientific evidence, written by experts and fact checked by experts.
Our team of licensed nutritionists and dietitians strive to be objective, unbiased, honest and to present both sides of the argument.
This article contains scientific references. The numbers in the parentheses (1, 2, 3) are clickable links to peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Written by Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC on January 5,
Key Takeaways
If you&#;re interested in gut health, you&#;ve probably heard of butyrate, which is produced by our gut microbiota and helps maintain the intestinal barrier.
Butyrate is now such a byword for gut health that a high fiber diet (designed to stimulate butyrate production), is often recommended for good digestive health.
Unfortunately, this type of diet can have downsides for people dealing with gut symptoms.
In this article, we&#;ll take a balanced look at possible butyrate benefits, as well as potential downsides for people with gut sensitivities.
Butyrate (also known as butyric acid or sold in supplement form as sodium butyrate) is one of a family of short-chain fatty acids, or SCFAs. The two other common SCFAs are acetate and propionate.
Though you can get small amounts of butyrate from some food sources (butter being the richest source), most of the butyrate in our body is made by the bacteria in our gut [1].
Good gut bacteria produce butyrate when they &#;eat&#; (ferment) prebiotic fibers and other indigestible carbohydrates (such as resistant starch) in the colon (large intestine). The fermentation process creates SCFAs as a metabolite (a byproduct).
After being made by microbes in the bowel, butyrate can get distributed to other tissues beyond the intestines, including the brain, liver, and fat tissue [2].
There&#;s a lot of buzz around butyrate&#;s health benefits because it has some interesting roles that could protect gut health and wider health.
For example, we know that butyrate [1, 3]:
With so many potential butyrate benefits, it would be easy to think that higher butyrate levels are always better. However, more butyrate doesn&#;t always equal better gut health or wellness.
Patients with some gut health issues have been shown to have lower levels of butyrate in their guts. But patients with other conditions have been shown to have higher levels. For example:
Similarly, the few clinical trials that have looked at the effect of boosting butyrate levels on gut conditions have shown limited butyrate benefits.
For example, taking butyrate supplements or eating a prebiotic-rich diet to stimulate natural butyrate production helped to improve symptoms of IBS and traveler&#;s diarrhea. However, it had no or mixed effect in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD):
Effects of Increasing Butyrate Levels on Different Gut Conditions
Health ConditionButyrate Levels Increased ByOf Benefit?DetailsIBSSodium butyrate supplementation (alongside standard therapy) YesDecreased abdominal pain, and less constipation compared to placebo [11]IBD (ulcerative colitis and Crohn&#;s disease)Sodium butyrate supplementationNoNo improvement in disease activity, despite a small increase in butyrate-producing bacteria and quality of life scores [12]Mild or moderate ulcerative colitisLower and higher prebiotic dosesMixed effectHigher dose prebiotics caused more patients to go into remission, but also caused more flatulence and bloating [13]DiverticulosisSodium butyrate supplementationYesReduction in acute inflammation of intestinal pouches after 12 months [14]Traveler&#;s diarrheaSodium butyrate, and other SCFAs taken three days before travelYesReduced risk of symptoms including pain, bloating, nausea, and fever [15]Ulcerative colitisButyrate enemasNoA systematic review found that, on balance, butyrate enemas did not help the condition [16]Overall, while butyrate benefits gut health in some ways, it&#;s not the best idea when you have health issues. If your gut is sensitive and symptomatic, extra fiber and prebiotics may not help [17, 18]. In fact, they can cause irritation, inflammation, and ultimately slow down the healing process.
Instead, there is much more evidence to support interventions such as the low FODMAP diet &#; which may actually decrease butyrate levels &#; for IBS, SIBO, and other gut conditions. For example:
The low FODMAP diet is designed to specifically target and eliminate the fermentable fibers that cause your gut to be irritable and reactive. The diet can reduce butyrate levels but allows your symptoms to improve and your gut to begin its healing process.
After 2-3 weeks of eliminating FODMAPs, when your symptoms are under much better control, you can start to reintroduce some higher FODMAP foods.
Everybody is different in their ability to tolerate different foods, and no two people will have the same list of food sensitivities. But the elimination process followed by reintroducing foods one by one allows you to find your individual tolerance level. Bear in mind your ability to tolerate specific foods will likely change over time too.
In time it&#;s likely that you&#;ll be able to tolerate higher levels of the prebiotic fibers and carbs that once were a problem for you. This means your butyrate levels are also likely to naturally optimize themselves over time anyway.
Research also supports the beneficial effects of probiotics for gut problems like SIBO, IBS, and IBD. There is a much larger wealth of research in this area than there is for butyrate supplements.
For example, probiotics have been shown to:
The quality of probiotic supplements is important, so doing your product research matters. One study of 26 probiotics on sale to the public found they all differed in some way from what was claimed on the label. Some even contained unacceptable microbes [35].
It&#;s a good idea to choose a product with high potency and which is third-party tested to fulfill probiotic quality and Current Good Manufacturing Practice requirements. A product that has a mixture of different probiotic species for broader benefit is a good idea.
In summary, butyrate benefits gut health in some important ways, but trying to bump up your butyrate levels by eating lots of fiber and prebiotics could be counterproductive for people with gut sensitivities.
Instead, an elimination diet, more specifically the low FODMAP diet, is better for tackling symptoms such as pain and bloating, especially when combined with probiotics.
The low FODMAP diet has much more research backing for gut problems, despite the fact that it will likely temporarily reduce your butyrate production.
My book, Healthy Gut, Healthy You, has a comprehensive step-by-step plan of how to turn poor gut health around. Or for more individual gut health and support, request a consultation.
The Ruscio Institute has developed a range of high quality formulations, including soil-based probiotics, to help our patients and audience. If you&#;re interested in learning more about our soil-based probiotics, please click here: https://store.drruscio.com/products/soil-based-probiotic. Note that there are many other options available, and we encourage you to research which products may be right for you.
Dr. Michael Ruscio is a DC, Naturopathic Practitioner, researcher, and clinician. He serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bridgeport and has published numerous papers in scientific journals as well as the book Healthy Gut, Healthy You. He also founded the Ruscio Institute of Functional Health, where he helps patients with a wide range of GI conditions and serves as the Head of Research.Getting Started
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