Article Summary:
- Prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics provide a wide range of gut health benefits, including maintaining a healthy gut microbiome, promoting digestion, and supporting immune function.*
- Butyrate (or butyric acid) is a postbiotic known for immunomodulation, metabolic regulation, and maintaining the natural inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal tract.*
- Tesseract’s innovative butyrate supplement utilizes the proprietary nutrient delivery technology for unprecedented absorption of this beneficial short-chain fatty acid.
An unhealthy gut is characterized by less microbial diversity than a healthy gut. If you have an unhealthy gut, then it can lead to an imbalance between beneficial and harmful bacteria, promoting a series of biological events that can put your health at risk. Recent studies establish the gut-brain connection and how the health of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract also impacts our emotional health, and vice-versa.
Maintaining a healthy gut is imperative to supporting your overall health. Including gut health supplements, such as probiotics and prebiotics, in a regular diet is often a popular approach to enhance microbial diversity and promote healthy gut function.
In this article, we highlight the benefits of gut health supplements, particularly butyrate nutritional supplements, and why you should include an advanced butyrate supplement formulation in your diet.
The Benefits of Gut Health Supplements: Prebiotics, Probiotics, and Postbiotics
What we eat is critical in balancing the good and bad bacteria in our gut. A high-sugar or high-fat diet can negatively influence gut bacteria and often result in insulin resistance and higher body mass index. In addition, prolonged antibiotic use is known to cause lasting changes to the gut flora by killing off beneficial bacteria along with harmful ones.
Good bacteria in the gut are a natural part of the body and help in digestion, supporting immune function, and maintaining the natural inflammatory response in the GI tract. Several foods, drinks, and nutritional supplements can enhance the population of the beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome. The following table highlights the role of probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics as critical dietary components for supporting good gut health.
| Probiotics | Prebiotics | Postbiotics |
| Live microorganisms or beneficial bacteria that support the microbial community in the GI tract. | Substances that feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut and stimulate their growth. | The bacterial products or metabolic byproducts produced by microorganisms during the anaerobic fermentation of organic nutrients. |
| Food sources, including high-quality plain yogurt and fermented foods such as kimchi, contain healthy bacterial strains. | Food sources include breastmilk, soybeans, raw oats, legumes, and high-fiber fruits and vegetables. | Examples of postbiotics include short-chain fatty acids, certain vitamins, and several amino acids and enzymes. |
Butyric acid (or butyrate), a short-chain fatty acid produced by the gut microbiome, beneficially influences intestinal cells, adipose (fatty) tissues, hepatocytes, pancreatic cells, and blood vessels through several signaling pathways. Some of the critical gut health benefits of butyrate include:
- Metabolic regulation: Butyrate protects against dehydration1 by stimulating the colon to absorb sodium chloride.*
- Stimulating intestinal barrier function: Butyrate stimulates mucin production by colonocytes that acts as a protective internal coating in the GI tract.*
- Immunomodulation: Butyrate modulates the migration of immune cells2 and their cellular functions to influence immune responses in the intestinal mucosa.*
- Enhancing intestinal motility: Butyrate enhances colonic motility — the peristaltic motion of the intestine.*
- Addressing oxidative stress: Studies show that butyrate helps manage oxidative stress in the colonic mucosa.*
It is worth noting that including a postbiotic supplement, such as butyrate, in the diet can be helpful for individuals who are otherwise intolerant to a high-fiber-rich diet. However, it is critical to select an advanced butyrate supplement formulation to ensure optimal bioavailability and absorption of this beneficial short-chain fatty acid.
Including An Advanced Butyrate Supplement in Your Diet
ProButyrate® — a hypoallergenic butyrate formulation developed by Tesseract Medical Research, uses the proprietary CyLoc® – DexKey® nutrient delivery system that enables unprecedented bioavailability and palatability. This innovative delivery breakthrough makes obsolete conventional butyrate supplementation through butyrate mineral salts or a sodium butyrate enema.
AuRx® is another innovative butyric acid formula, especially designed to meet the nutritional requirements of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is a medical food that counteracts the gut-brain nutrient imbalance often observed in children with ASD and alleviates the behavioral changes common to an ASD child. The nanodelivery technology reimagines the butyric acid supplement to make it a highly absorbable therapeutic reality.
The power of Tesseract supplements lies in enhancing palatability, maximizing bioavailability and absorption, and micro-dosing of multiple nutrients in a single, highly effective capsule. Visit our website for more information about how Tesseract’s supplements can support your gastrointestinal health.*
Citations:
1Canani RB, et al. Gastroenterology vol. 127,2 (2004):63063-4. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2004.03.071
2Siddiqui MT, Gail AMC. Journal of Inflammation Research vol. 14 6025-6041. 18 Nov. 2021, doi:10.2147/JIR.S300989
