Butyrate, found in criticized food source, shows itself superior in building the microbiome

One commonly avoided food has been shown to have high levels of butyrate, a fatty acid which builds the microbiome naturally. Having a balanced biome in the digestive tract has been proven to be vital for a healthy body, yet people avoid this food incorrectly thinking it’s unhealthy. There is nothing better than food when it comes to building a healthy immune system. Knowing what to eat is important, as foods feed beneficial bacteria, our first line of defense.

“There are some species of bacteria that act as antigen receptor cells, which is really, in effect, a bonafied immune cell in your system. One of the other aspects is using probiotics and your gut bacteria to protect you from infection is our macrophages and dendritic cells. They are our immune soldiers that are circulating all throughout our body, looking for problematic things. They’re in our nose, our brain, everywhere. They are fed by butyrate, short chain fatty acids. If we don’t have adequate butyrate in our gut, we are hindering these very important immune circulators,” says microbiologist Kiran Krishnan.

Krishnan is one of the elite scientists who worked on the Human Microbiome Project, studying the microbiome for the NIH. The findings have been phenomenal.

Krishnan says the best objective is to build your resilience by creating different bacteria in the gut, in order to be one of the people who don’t show symptoms when they have a virus. Building our butyrate levels can be done in one easy step. Butyrate levels are high in grass fed butter.

Butter is so high in butyrate that it’s actually named after the high quantity of butyric acid contained in the butter.

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In The Bulletproof Diet, Dave Asprey says eating butyric acid, or butyrate (from butter) causes anti inflammatory actions in the brain and in the gut. Consuming butter, fiber from animals and vegetables, properly fermented dairy (such as GAPS fermented dairy), and grass fed animal fat is the perfect combination for feeding bacteria. Diversity of species also creates butyric acid.

Krishnan says, “The most common way we find butyric acid is from the fermentation that occurs in the large intestines. There’s all these transport mechanisms. The body knows it’s being produced way down in the colon.” It is distributed to the rest of the body from there, specifically to the liver, pancreas, brain and kidneys. “The butyrate hones into the fat that’s stored around the mid section from that large intestine. One of the really important things it does in the fat is it triggers fat cells to upregulate cyclic A and P which drives fat burning throughout the body. The cyclic A and P prime the cells to start burning fat for fuel instead of sugar. Caprylic acid tells your cells start absorbing more fat (fueling the process). The signal for burning the fat from the cells is there, the combination is really quite powerful.”

While certain foods build the microbiome, not eating is also something to consider.

Krishnan says, “Fasting increases the diversity of the microbiome. Specifically it increases the growth of bacteria that are primed to produce more butyric acid. Butyrate producing bacteria increase when you fast. The spores (from Just Thrive) increase the butyrate by 50% in three weeks.”

Butyric acid is highly anti fungal and increases the growth of other bacteria since they are their primary food source Krishnan says.

*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, CGP, D.PSc. who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. She is a Board Certified Naturopathic Doctor, through The American Naturopathic Medical Association and works as a Certified GAPS Practitioner who sees clients in her office, Skype and phone. She has been published in Wise Traditions, spoken at two Weston A. Price Conferences, Certified GAPS Practitioner Trainings, has been on many radio shows, television shows and writes for Nourishing Plot. She serves on the GAPS Board of Directors and has recently been named “The GAPS Expert” by Dr. Natasha and will serve teaching other Certified GAPS Practitioners proper use of the GAPS protocol. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia, through food, she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. She is a Chapter Leader for The Weston A. Price Foundation. becky.nourishingplot@hotmail.com

“GAPS™ and Gut and Psychology Syndrome™ are the trademark and copyright of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. The right of Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.