Butyrate: The Surprising Ingredient For Gut and Brain Communication

By Mansal Denton, guest author

Summary

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid [1], which is helpful for maintaining cellular health. Butyrate can be made by bacteria in the gut [2] and is also common in dairy products (like butter) [3]. The benefits of butyrate, whether from natural and dietary sources or supplements, are not specific to the brain. The entire human system benefits from adequate levels of butyrate.

Because butyrate aids in cellular health and improves mitochondrial functioning (the powerhouse of each cell), there may be universal benefits.

What is Butyrate?

The term butyrate comes from a molecule called “tributyrin”, which is a form of butyrate in butter. Even though butter gets a bad reputation as an unhealthy food, there are plenty of benefits. About 3 – 4% of butter is made up of butyrate [10]. Even people who do not eat butter usually find butyrate in their diet in other sources.

As a short-chain fatty acid, butyrate helps form the building blocks for cells in our body. It plays a vital function in the health of our digestive system, our brain, and every other part of our body. This may be one of the side benefits of consuming Bulletproof coffee, which has grown in popularity over the past few years.

For the purposes of improving our mental performance, butyrate can act as an HDAC inhibitor, which is a useful function. We will not go into detail about what this means for this article, but keep in mind the HDAC inhibition is one of the reasons butyrate can stimulate benefits for the brain.

Butyrate and the Brain

One of the many potential benefits of butyrate is neurogenesis, which is literally the growing of new neurons. In a study from the Journal of Neurochemistry, scientists discovered that sodium butyrate could upregulate levels of BDNF in certain cases [11]. Whether this applies directly to healthy adults is unclear, but other studies confirm similar findings.

Another 2017 study in Nutritional Neuroscience found that another form of butyrate may improve working memory and cognitive flexibility especially in animals that were aging [12].

For millions of people (especially in the western world), mood imbalances rates are alarmingly high and rising. Butyrate may aid in combating mood imbalances. One study showed sodium butyrate could alleviate a poor mood (and may increase cognitive ability) [15]. Others have provided a host of mood benefits and there is some evidence to suggest this is related to the gut benefits of butyrate.

Gut-Brain Connection and Butyrate

The gut (digestive system) and the brain are closely connected. When our gut is not healthy and we don’t have a microbiome that supports high performance, it will affect our brain. We need specific bacteria in our digestive system to create butyrate from our food [16]. Within our colon and digestive tract, butyrate is a preferred source of energy [17] and it is directly correlated with mental activity.

There is plenty of research to suggest that maintaining a healthy gut will affect our mental performance and butyrate is clear evidence of that. When we have a thriving microbiome in our stomach and digestive tract, we can far easier produce the brain chemicals necessary for optimal performance.

Butyrate Mitochondrial Benefits

The mitochondria are small “power factories” in each of our cells, which produce energy. This energy is what our cells use in order to do “work”, which refers to things like storing memories, concentrating on a task, or producing something creative when we discuss the brain.

The greater the mitochondrial health, the greater performance you will have even if it is subtle. Most people who consume nootropics like CoQ10, PQQ, or nicotinamide riboside, don’t feel immediate differences, but they do have long-term effects.

By improving our mitochondrial function, we can improve the root of our entire system. Adding more butyrate to your diet or taking a sodium butyrate supplement will not necessarily provide immediate results (though it can for some people). Instead, it may aid in the function of your entire system and provide long-term benefits through mitochondrial function.

More Beauty with More Butyrate

The greatest way to add butyrate into your system is to focus on two main things:

• Healthy and thriving microbiome
• Providing the raw materials for butyrate

The first requires a deeper dive into gut health, but the second is a bit easier to do. Not only that, but by providing the raw materials for butyrate, there is a good chance you are also helping to improve your gut health.

Eating more fiber can play a big role in producing butyrate in your digestive tract. One study of inulin supplementation (a form of fiber not to be confused with insulin), found that participants raised butyrate levels and may improve long-term memory formation because of the HDAC benefits [18].

Another natural source of butyrate is butter and dairy products. For people who want to avoid dairy, butter may be the best option and it does have the highest butyrate content.

Finally, for those who want to supplement, one option is sodium butyrate or calcium-magnesium butyrate.

References

1. //pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/butyric_acid%23section=Top
2. //femsle.oxfordjournals.org/content/217/2/133.long
3. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23146568
4. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3678322
5. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24833634
6. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26896292
7. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22517765
8. //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006899316301317
9. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21593570
10. //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/030438359490023X
11. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19549282
12. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26896292
13. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21593570
14. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14561870
15. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26957230
16. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1419533
17. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4644874/#B8
18. //clinicalepigeneticsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1868-7083-4-4