Butyrate and other SCFAs (sometimes called postbiotics) serve as the energy source for your colon cells, which play a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the tight junctions between your intestinal cells.
Think of it like this:
Imagine your intestine is a castle wall; the gut lining is the wall and the gut microbes are the security team, lining up in front of the wall. The tight junctions are like the mortar between the bricks, holding the wall tight.
When the security team (the microbes) are compromised, holes can appear in the mortar and the wall. Then, undigested food (including faecal matter) and toxins can leak through the holes (the leaky junctions).
Your body may view these undigested food particles and other compounds as a threat, triggering an inflammatory response.
If your gut wall repairs are successful, the inflammatory process is short-lived; however, if leaky junctions remain, the body continually mounts an inflammatory response against the leaked food particles and bacteria.
A leaky gut can lead to autoimmune and autoinflammatory conditions, as well as other diseases associated with chronic inflammation.
The Butyrate Makers
The stars of butyrate production include Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia, Eubacterium rectale, and Coprococcus. These species thrive on resistant starches and plant fibres, the kind found in lentils, chickpeas, oats, cooled potatoes and rice, as well as onions, garlic, apples and citrus.
Other bacteria, such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli, produce short-chain fatty acids (mainly acetate and lactate) that feed the microbes, which in turn produce butyrate.
When these microbes ferment fibre, they release butyrate that:
1️⃣ Nourishes your gut lining to maintain its integrity.
2️⃣ Lowers inflammation in the gut and throughout the body.
3️⃣ Improves insulin sensitivity and metabolic health.
How to Boost Your Butyrate Levels
To feed these beneficial microbes, build your meals around:
✅ Resistant starches: lentils, beans, green bananas, oats and cooled grains
✅ Inulin-rich foods: onion, garlic, leeks, asparagus and chicory root
✅ Pectin foods: apples, pears, beets and citrus
✅ Fermented foods, such as yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and miso, provide lactate that fuels butyrate producers.
Supporting your gut’s natural butyrate producers starts with feeding them the right fibres to deliver prebiotics and probiotics to help your microbes make more of this gut-protective fuel - and our Zestt Gut Lozenges are formulated to do exactly that!
For more information on butyrate-producing foods to eat over the weekend and how they can support lower insulin levels, refer to the two below.