Butyrate-Rich Foods to Incorporate Into Your Diet for Gut Integrity and Repair

Article Summary

• The best way to enhance the butyrate level in the gut is by introducing fiber-rich food in your diet.
• Not everyone can tolerate the amount of fiber required to produce the necessary quantity of butyrate for optimal gut function.  
• A butyric acid supplement offers an easy and effective way to support gut health.*

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)—including  butyrate, propionate, and acetate—are important metabolites produced in the lower intestinal tract through bacterial fermentation of undigested dietary fibers and resistant starch. Smaller amounts may also be derived from dietary proteins and the body’s own endogenous proteins. 

Among the SCFAs, butyrate has gained significant scientific interest because of its essential role in supporting gastrointestinal health.* Several studies highlight the role of butyrate in upregulating immune function, as well as supporting a healthy inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal tract.* Furthermore, there is growing evidence of butyrate’s beneficial effect on brain function via the gut-brain axis.* 

However, low dietary fiber intake can limit the gut’s production of SCFAs like butyrate, which can adversely affect both local and systemic GI inflammatory responses. For this reason, consuming a fiber-rich diet that promotes butyrate production–along with targeted butyrate supplementation–can be a valuable strategy for supporting a healthy gut microbiome and overall digestive health.* 

How to Incorporate a Diet of Butyrate-Rich Foods

The USDA recommends a daily dietary fiber intake of 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. This recommended intake includes non-starch polysaccharides, non-digestible oligosaccharides, and resistant starch.

Fiber is a complex mixture of dietary residues, primarily carbohydrates, that are not digested or absorbed by the small intestine but are used instead as a food source by the colon microbiota. 

The colonic microbiota is one of the body’s most metabolically active areas. SCFAs contribute up to 60-70 percent of the energy required by colonic epithelial cells and 5-15 percent of the human body’s total caloric requirements. 

Although butyrate is the least abundant SCFA produced in the body, it is a major energy source for the colonocytes – the cells that line the colon.* Because the presence of undigested dietary fiber in the intestine and the production of butyrate are closely associated, it’s important to include high-fiber foods and butyrate-rich foods in your diet.  

Butyrate-Rich Foods To Add to Your Diet
1	Legumes	Cooked legumes are a great source of resistant starch. Letting legumes cool after cooking them can increase their resistant starch content due to retrogradation of starch molecules. Beans, peas, and lentils are also good sources of galactooligosaccharides.
2	Whole Grains	Oats, cooked and cooled rice, quinoa, wheat, rye, and other whole grains are good sources of resistant starch.
3	Fruits & Vegetables	Fruits like watermelon, pear, blueberries, mulberries, red currants, raspberries, and figs are rich in oligosaccharides. Plantains, green bananas, and cooked, cooled potatoes are good sources of resistant starch. White onions, green cabbage, red cabbage, scallions, leeks, garlic, broccoli, and kale are also high in oligosaccharides.
4	Nuts & Seeds	Chia seeds, almonds, pistachios, and sunflower kernels are rich in dietary fiber.
5	Dairy Products	Moderate dairy intake: The lactic acid bacteria in dairy foods like butter and parmesan cheese help break down milk fats and produce SCFAs, including butyrate.

A well-balanced diet comprising the fiber-rich components above promotes a healthy gastrointestinal environment. However, not everyone can obtain or tolerate the amount of fiber needed to produce the required quantity of butyrate for optimal gut function. 

Therefore, a butyrate supplement can easily and effectively fill any nutritional gaps and increase the level of butyric acid.*    

Butyrate Supplementation Promotes Gut Health*

When considering butyrate supplementation, it should be noted that not all nutritional supplements are alike. The efficacy of a butyrate supplement depends on whether it is formulated to optimize butyrate’s bioavailability, thus leading to enhanced absorption and augmenting the gut’s butyric acid level.*     

ProButyrate^®, a Tesseract supplement, is specifically designed to restore balance and stabilize the gut microbiome.* Tesseract’s revolutionary CyLoc^® – DexKey^® nutrient delivery technology envelops individual butyric acid molecules to ensure both their palatability and their optimal absorption throughout the GI tract, one molecule at a time. ProButyrate’s hypoallergenic formula yields overall positive health benefits and helps you take control of your gut health every day.*    

Reference
¹ ​​Tan J, McKenzie C, Potamitis M, et al. Adv Immunol 2014;121:91-119. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-800100-4.00003-9. PMID: 24388214.