Everything You Need to Know About Resistant Starch

http://authoritynutrition.
com/resistant-starch-101/
Resistant Starch 101 Everything You Need

to Know
By Kris Gunnars, BSc |
July, 2015
|
332,655
views
Most of the carbohydrates in the diet are starches.
Starches are long chains of glucose that are found in grains, potatoes and various foods.
But not all of the starch we eat gets digested.
Sometimes a small part of it passes through the digestive tract unchanged.
In other words, it is resistant to digestion.
This type of starch is called resistant starch, which functions kind of like soluble fiber.
Many studies in humans show that resistant starch can have powerful health benefits.
This includes improved insulin sensitivity, lower blood sugar levels, reduced appetite and various benefits for digestion (1).
Resistant starch is actually a very popular topic these days. In the past few months, hundreds of people have experimented with it
and seen major improvements by adding it to their diet.
There Are 4 Different Types of Resistant Starch
Not all resistant starches are the same. There are 4 different types (2).
Type 1 is found in grains, seeds and legumes and resists digestion because it is bound within the fibrous cell walls.
Type 2 is found in some starchy foods, including raw potatoes and green (unripe) bananas.
Type 3 is formed when certain starchy foods, including potatoes and rice, are cooked and then cooled. The cooling turns
some of the digestible starches into resistant starches via a process called retrogradation (3).
Type 4 is man-made and formed via a chemical process.
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The classification is not that simple, though, as several different types of resistant starch can co-exist in the
same food.
Depending on how foods are prepared, the amount of resistant starch changes. For example, allowing a banana to ripen (turn
yellow) will degrade the resistant starches and turn them into regular starches.
Bottom Line: There are 4 different types of resistant starch. The preparation method has a major effect on the ultimate amount of
resistant starch in food.
How Does it Work? What is The Mechanism?

The main reason why resistant starch works, is that it functions like soluble, fermentable fiber.
It goes through the stomach and small intestine undigested, eventually reaching the colon where it feeds the friendly bacteria in the
gut (4).
The bacteria in the intestine (the gut flora) outnumber the bodys cells 10 to 1. In that respect, we are only 10% human (5).
Whereas most foods we eat feed only 10% of our cells, fermentable fibers and resistant starches feed the other 90% (6, 7).
There are actually hundreds of different species of bacteria in the intestine. In the past few decades, scientists have discovered that
the number and type of bacteria can have a profound impact on health (8, 9).
Resistant starch feeds the friendly bacteria in the intestine, having a positive effect on the type of bacteria as well as the number of
them (10, 11).
When the bacteria digest resistant starches, they form several compounds, including gases and short-chain fatty acids, most notably
a fatty acid called butyrate (12, 13).
Bottom Line: One of the main reasons why resistant starch improves health, is that it feeds the friendly bacteria in the intestine and
increases production of short-chain fatty acids like butyrate.
Resistant Starch is a Superfood For The Digestive System

So when we eat resistant starch, it ends up in the large intestine, where the bacteria digest it and turn it into short-chain fatty acids
(14).
The most important of these short-chain fatty acids is butyrate (15).
Butyrate is actually the preferred fuel of the cells that line the colon (16).
Therefore, resistant starch both feeds the friendly bacteria and indirectly feeds the cells in the colon by increasing the amount of
butyrate.
Resistant starch has several beneficial effects on the colon.
It reduces the pH level, potently reduces inflammation and leads to several beneficial changes that should lower the risk of colorectal
cancer, which is the 4th most common cause of cancer death worldwide (17, 18).
The short-chain fatty acids that arent used by the cells in the colon travel to the bloodstream, liver and to the rest of the body, where
they may lead to various beneficial effects (19, 20).
If you would like to read up on the incredible health benefits of butyrate, then I highly recommend this article by Dr. Stephan
Guyenet.
Because of its therapeutic effects on the colon, resistant starch may be useful for various digestive disorders. This includes
inflammatory bowel diseases like Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns Disease, constipation, diverticulitis and diarrhea (21).
However, this needs to be studied properly in human controlled trials before any recommendations can be made.
In animal studies, resistant starch has also been shown to increase the absorption of minerals (22, 23).
Bottom Line: By increasing the production of butyrate, resistant starch feeds the cells of the colon and leads to various
improvements in the function of the digestive system.
Resistant Starch Enhances Insulin Sensitivity, Lowers Blood Sugar Levels and
Improves Metabolic Health
Resistant starch has various benefits for metabolic health.
Several studies show that it can improve insulin sensitivity, as in how well the bodys cells respond to insulin (24).
Resistant starch is also very effective at lowering blood sugar levels after meals (25, 26, 27)
It also has a second meal effect meaning that if you eat resistant starch with breakfast, it will also lower the blood sugar spike at
lunch (28).
The effect on glucose and insulin metabolism is very impressive. Some studies have found a 33-50% improvement in insulin
sensitivity after 4 weeks of consuming 15-30 grams per day (29, 30).
The importance of insulin sensitivity cannot be stressed enough.
Having low insulin sensitivity (insulin resistance) is believed to be a major causal factor in some of the worlds most serious
diseases, including metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimers Disease.
By improving insulin sensitivity and lowering blood sugar, resistant starch may help you avoid chronic disease and may make you
live both longer and better.
However, not all studies agree that resistant starch has these beneficial effects. It may depend on the individual, the dose and the
type of resistant starch used.
Bottom Line: Many studies show that resistant starch improves insulin sensitivity and lowers blood sugar levels, especially after
meals.
Resistant Starches May Help You Lose Weight by Improving Satiety

Resistant starch has fewer calories than regular starch (2 vs 4 calories per gram).
So the more resistant starches found in a food, the fewer calories it will contain.
Several studies show that soluble fiber supplements can contribute to weight loss, primarily by increasing feelings of fullness and
reducing appetite (31, 32).
It looks like resistant starch has the same effect. Adding resistant starch to meals increases feelings of fullness and makes
people eat fewer calories (33, 34, 35).
There are some studies in animals showing that resistant starch can cause weight loss, but this hasnt been studied properly in
humans yet.
I personally doubt that adding resistant starch to your diet would lead to any major effect on your weight, but it might make it easier
to lose weight with other methods.
Bottom Line: Resistant starch has fewer calories than regular starch and may increase feelings of fullness and help people eat less.
How to Add Resistant Starches to Your Diet
There are two ways to add resistant starches to your diet either get them from foods, or supplement with them.
Several commonly consumed foods are high in resistant starch.

This includes raw potatoes, cooked and then cooled potatoes, green bananas, various legumes, cashews and raw oats. Full listhere.
As you can see, these are all high-carb foods, so they are out of the question if you are currently on a very low-carb diet (although
you can fit some in if youre on a low-carb diet with carbs in the 50-150 gram range which is also low-carb).
That being said, you can add resistant starch to your diet without adding any digestible carbohydrates. For this purpose, many
people have recommended (and are getting good results with) Bobs Red Mill Raw Potato Starch.
Raw potato starch contains about 8 grams of resistant starch per tablespoon and almost no usable carbohydrate. Its very cheap too.
It tastes kind of bland and you can add it to your diet in various ways, by sprinkling it on your food, mixing it in water, putting it in
smoothies, etc.
4 tablespoons of raw potato starch should provide 32 grams of resistant starch. It is important to start slowly and work your way up,
because too much, too soon can cause flatulence and discomfort.
Theres no point in taking much more than that, because when you reach 50-60 grams per day, the excess seems to just pass
through.
It may take time (2-4 weeks) for the production of short-chain fatty acids to increase and to notice all the benefits, so be patient.
Should You Try it?

A lot of people are currently experimenting with resistant starches and have seen various benefits. You can check out a massive
forum thread here and many more articles on Richard Nikoleys blog.
If youre currently trying to break a weight loss plateau, have high blood sugars, digestive problems or if youre simply in the mood
for some self-experimentation, then trying out resistant starch seems like a good idea.
Butyric Acid: an Ancient Controller of Metabolism, Inflammation and Stress Resistance?

An Interesting Finding
Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye's group recently published a
paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-
chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate). Here's a graph of the percent body fat over time of the two groups:
The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided
metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also
massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell.
Butyrate lowered their blood cholesterol by approximately 25 percent, and their triglycerides by nearly 50 percent. It lowered their fasting insulin by
nearly 50 percent, and increased their insulin sensitivity by nearly 300 percent*. The investigators concluded:
Butyrate and its derivatives may have potential application in the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome in humans.
There's one caveat, however: the butyrate group at less food. Something about the butyrate treatment caused their food intake to decline after 3
weeks, dropping roughly 20% by 10 weeks. The investigators cleverly tried to hide this by normalizing food intake to body weight, making it look like the
food intake of the comparison group was dropping as well (when actually it was staying the same as this group was gaining weight). This does cast
some doubt on the health-promoting effects of high-dose butyrate.
I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.
Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues
In most animals, the highest concentration of butyrate is found in the gut. That's because it's produced by intestinal bacteria from carbohydrate that the
host cannot digest, such as cellulose and pectin. Indigestible carbohydrate is the main form of dietary fiber.
It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it as its primary source
of energy. It does more than just feed the bowel, however. It also has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. So much so, that investigators
are using oral butyrate supplements and butyrate enemas to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Some
investigators are also suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate in the first place.
Butyrate, and other short-chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria**, has a remarkable effect on intestinal permeability. In tissue culture and live rats,
short-chain fatty acids cause a large and rapiddecrease in intestinal permeability. Butyrate, or dietary fiber, prevents the loss of intestinal permeability in
rat models of ulcerative colitis. This shows that short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate, play an important role in the maintenance of gut barrier
integrity. Impaired gut barrier integrity is associated with many diseases, including fatty liver, heart failure and autoimmune diseases (thanks to Pedro
Bastos for this information-- I'll be covering the topic in more detail later).
Butyrate's role doesn't end in the gut. It's absorbed into the circulation, and may exert effects on the rest of the body as well. In human blood immune
cells, butyrate is potently anti-inflammatory***.
Butyrate Increases Resistance to Metabolic and Physical Stress
Certain types of fiber reduce atherosclerosis in animal models, and this effect may be due to butyrateproduction produced when the fiber is fermented.
Fiber intake was associated with lower blood markers of inflammation in the Women's Health Initiative study, and has been repeatedly associated
with lower heart attack risk and reduced progression of atherosclerosis in humans. Butyrate also sharply reducesthe harmful effects of type 1 diabetes
in rats, as does dietary fiber to a lesser extent.
Butyrate increases the function and survival of mice with certain neurodegenerative diseases. Polyglutamine diseases, which are the most common
class of genetic neurodegenerative diseases, are delayed in mice treated with butyrate (1, 2, 3). Many of you have probably heard of Huntington's
disease, which is the most common of the class. I did my thesis on a polyglutamine disease called SCA7, and this is the first suggestion I've seen that
diet may be able to modify its course.
Yet another interesting finding in the first paper I discussed: mice treated with butyrate were more cold-resistant than the comparison group. When they
were both placed in a cold room, body temperature dropped quite a bit in the comparison group, while it remained relatively stable in the butyrate
group, despite the fact that the butyrate group was leaner****. This was due to increased heat production in the butyrate group.
Due to the potent effect butyrate has on a number of bodily processes, it may be a fundamental controller of metabolism, stress resistance and the
immune system in mammals.
An Ancient Line of Communication Between Symbiotic Organisms

Why does butyrate have so much control over inflammation? Let's think about where it comes from. Bacteria in the gut produce it. It's a source of
energy, so our bodies take it up readily. It's one of the main molecules that passes from the symbiotic (helpful) bacteria in the gut to the rest of the body.
Could it be that the body receives butyrate as a signal that there's a thriving colony of symbiotic bacteria in the gut, inducing immune tolerance to
them? The body may alter its immune response (inflammation) in order to permit a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and its symbionts.
Sources of Butyrate
There are two main ways to get butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids. The first is to eat fiber and let your intestinal bacteria do the rest. Whole
plant foods such as sweet potatoes, properly preparedwhole grains, beans, vegetables, fruit and nuts are good sources of fiber. Refined foods such as
white flour, white rice and sugar are very low in fiber. Clinical trials have shown that increasing dietary fiber increases butyrate production, and
decreasing fiber decreases it (free full text).
Butyrate also occurs in significant amounts in food. What foods contain butyrate? Hmm, I wonder where the name BUTYR-ate came from? Butter
perhaps? Butter is 3-4 percent butyrate, the richest known source. But everyone knows butter is bad for you, right?
After thinking about it, I've decided that butyrate may have been a principal component of Dr. Weston Price's legendary butter oil. Price used this oil in
conjunction with high-vitamin cod liver oil to heal tooth decay and a number of other ailments in his patients. The method he used to produce it would
have concentrated fats with a low melting temperature, including butyrate, in addition to vitamin K2*****. Thus, the combination of high-vitamin cod liver
oil and butter oil would have provided a potent cocktail of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D3, K2), omega-3 fatty acids and butyrate. It's no wonder it was so
effective in his patients.
* According to insulin tolerance test.
** Acetate (acetic acid, the main acid in vinegar), propionate and butyrate are the primary three fatty acids produced by intestinal fermentation.
*** The lowest concentration used in this study, 30 micromolar, is probably higher than the concentration in peripheral serum under normal
circumstances. Human serum butyrate is in the range of 4 micromolar in British adults, and 29 micromolar in the hepatic portal vein which brings fats
from the digestive tract to the liver (ref). This would likely be at least two-fold higher in populations eating high-fiber diets.
**** Due to higher mitochondrial density in brown fat and more mitochondrial uncoupling.
***** Slow crystallization, which selectively concentrates triglycerides with a low melting point.
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.ca/2009/12/butyric-acid-ancient-controller-of.html
and Stress Resistance?

An Interesting Finding
Susceptible strains of rodents fed high-fat diets overeat, gain fat and become profoundly insulin resistant. Dr. Jianping Ye's group recently published a
paper showing that the harmful metabolic effects of a high-fat diet (lard and soybean oil) on mice can be prevented, and even reversed, using a short-
chain saturated fatty acid called butyric acid (hereafter, butyrate). Here's a graph of the percent body fat over time of the two groups:
The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided

metabolic problems. Butyrate increased their energy expenditure by increasing body heat production and modestly increasing physical activity. It also
massively increased the function of their mitochondria, the tiny power plants of the cell.
Butyrate lowered their blood cholesterol by approximately 25 percent, and their triglycerides by nearly 50 percent. It lowered their fasting insulin by
nearly 50 percent, and increased their insulin sensitivity by nearly 300 percent*. The investigators concluded:
Butyrate and its derivatives may have potential application in the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome in humans.
There's one caveat, however: the butyrate group at less food. Something about the butyrate treatment caused their food intake to decline after 3
weeks, dropping roughly 20% by 10 weeks. The investigators cleverly tried to hide this by normalizing food intake to body weight, making it look like the
food intake of the comparison group was dropping as well (when actually it was staying the same as this group was gaining weight). This does cast
some doubt on the health-promoting effects of high-dose butyrate.
I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.
Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues
In most animals, the highest concentration of butyrate is found in the gut. That's because it's produced by intestinal bacteria from carbohydrate that the
host cannot digest, such as cellulose and pectin. Indigestible carbohydrate is the main form of dietary fiber.
It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it as its primary source
of energy. It does more than just feed the bowel, however. It also has potent anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects. So much so, that investigators
are using oral butyrate supplements and butyrate enemas to treat inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Some
investigators are also suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate in the first place.
Butyrate, and other short-chain fatty acids produced by gut bacteria**, has a remarkable effect on intestinal permeability. In tissue culture and live rats,
short-chain fatty acids cause a large and rapiddecrease in intestinal permeability. Butyrate, or dietary fiber, prevents the loss of intestinal permeability in
rat models of ulcerative colitis. This shows that short-chain fatty acids, including butyrate, play an important role in the maintenance of gut barrier
integrity. Impaired gut barrier integrity is associated with many diseases, including fatty liver, heart failure and autoimmune diseases (thanks to Pedro
Bastos for this information-- I'll be covering the topic in more detail later).
Butyrate's role doesn't end in the gut. It's absorbed into the circulation, and may exert effects on the rest of the body as well. In human blood immune
cells, butyrate is potently anti-inflammatory***.
Butyrate Increases Resistance to Metabolic and Physical Stress
Certain types of fiber reduce atherosclerosis in animal models, and this effect may be due to butyrateproduction produced when the fiber is fermented.
Fiber intake was associated with lower blood markers of inflammation in the Women's Health Initiative study, and has been repeatedly associated
with lower heart attack risk and reduced progression of atherosclerosis in humans. Butyrate also sharply reducesthe harmful effects of type 1 diabetes
in rats, as does dietary fiber to a lesser extent.
Butyrate increases the function and survival of mice with certain neurodegenerative diseases. Polyglutamine diseases, which are the most common
class of genetic neurodegenerative diseases, are delayed in mice treated with butyrate (1, 2, 3). Many of you have probably heard of Huntington's
disease, which is the most common of the class. I did my thesis on a polyglutamine disease called SCA7, and this is the first suggestion I've seen that
diet may be able to modify its course.
Yet another interesting finding in the first paper I discussed: mice treated with butyrate were more cold-resistant than the comparison group. When they
were both placed in a cold room, body temperature dropped quite a bit in the comparison group, while it remained relatively stable in the butyrate
group, despite the fact that the butyrate group was leaner****. This was due to increased heat production in the butyrate group.
Due to the potent effect butyrate has on a number of bodily processes, it may be a fundamental controller of metabolism, stress resistance and the
immune system in mammals.
An Ancient Line of Communication Between Symbiotic Organisms
Why does butyrate have so much control over inflammation? Let's think about where it comes from. Bacteria in the gut produce it. It's a source of
energy, so our bodies take it up readily. It's one of the main molecules that passes from the symbiotic (helpful) bacteria in the gut to the rest of the body.
Could it be that the body receives butyrate as a signal that there's a thriving colony of symbiotic bacteria in the gut, inducing immune tolerance to
them? The body may alter its immune response (inflammation) in order to permit a mutually beneficial relationship between itself and its symbionts.
Sources of Butyrate
There are two main ways to get butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids. The first is to eat fiber and let your intestinal bacteria do the rest. Whole
plant foods such as sweet potatoes, properly preparedwhole grains, beans, vegetables, fruit and nuts are good sources of fiber. Refined foods such as
white flour, white rice and sugar are very low in fiber. Clinical trials have shown that increasing dietary fiber increases butyrate production, and
decreasing fiber decreases it (free full text).
Butyrate also occurs in significant amounts in food. What foods contain butyrate? Hmm, I wonder where the name BUTYR-ate came from? Butter
perhaps? Butter is 3-4 percent butyrate, the richest known source. But everyone knows butter is bad for you, right?
After thinking about it, I've decided that butyrate may have been a principal component of Dr. Weston Price's legendary butter oil. Price used this oil in
conjunction with high-vitamin cod liver oil to heal tooth decay and a number of other ailments in his patients. The method he used to produce it would
have concentrated fats with a low melting temperature, including butyrate, in addition to vitamin K2*****. Thus, the combination of high-vitamin cod liver
oil and butter oil would have provided a potent cocktail of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D3, K2), omega-3 fatty acids and butyrate. It's no wonder it was so
effective in his patients.
* According to insulin tolerance test.
** Acetate (acetic acid, the main acid in vinegar), propionate and butyrate are the primary three fatty acids produced by intestinal fermentation.
*** The lowest concentration used in this study, 30 micromolar, is probably higher than the concentration in peripheral serum under normal
circumstances. Human serum butyrate is in the range of 4 micromolar in British adults, and 29 micromolar in the hepatic portal vein which brings fats
from the digestive tract to the liver (ref). This would likely be at least two-fold higher in populations eating high-fiber diets.
**** Due to higher mitochondrial density in brown fat and more mitochondrial uncoupling.
***** Slow crystallization, which selectively concentrates triglycerides with a low melting point.
Posted by Stephan Guyenet at 8:00 PM

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Labels: diet, disease, fats, metabolic syndrome
136 comments:
Todd Hargrove said...

Awesome post. Reminds me of some interesting info Barry Groves posted recently about gorillas actually eating a high fat diet,
when you consider that most of their energy comes from the short chain fatty acids that their gut bacteria produce. I find it
fascinating that many species eat not to feed themselves but to feed the little critters in their guts, who will in turn feed them with
what they secrete. Frank Forencich at the Exubert Animal blog wrote an interesting piece today on similar themes called No Body
is an Island.
December 7, 2009 at 11:28 PM

Maybe this helps explain the Sikhs. Butter would be the perfect antidote to a gut busting gluten diet ...
David said...
Somewhat related - about a month ago you posted a study that showed that fatty acid levels in erythrocytes predicted heart
attack risk. In particular, omega 3's were inversely associated with risk and arachidonic acid was positively associated with risk,
leading you to conclude that we should consume omega 3's and avoid omega 6 vegetable oils.
Well, below are two other studies, showing significantly reduced heart attack risk and carotid imt and gensini scores with higher
linolenic acid (i.e., the primary omega 6 fatty acid in vegetable oils) in erythrocytes. In fact, in the former study, linolenic acid had
a greater inverse association with heart attack risk than any of the omega 3's.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2673680/
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0271531709000888
Thoughts?
David said...
and by "former study," I meant the first (i.e., the one looking at fatty acid in erythrocytes and heart attack risk)
Jim Purdy said...

I guess it's the picky proofreader in me, but one of your links doesn't work.
There are some extra characters in the URL for "decreasing fiber decreases it (free full text)" so it leads to an error message.
December 8, 2009 at 1:24 AM
LeenaS said...
Stephan, take a second look on the pig study mentioned in the reference, where they claimed the 5-10 E% intakes of fibres.
It sounds convincing, but I happened to calculate the numbers out some time ago, and according to this the amount of butyrate
formend in humans would be negligible. Especially if compared with butyrate available from dairy. Sorry.
Gorillas can still do it. We are no longer very good at this, thanks to the big brains and expensive tissue hypothesis...
Regards,
LeenaS
Ed said...
I thought humans lacked the gut ecosystem to ferment the fiber into nutrients we could use? We know gorillas do it, but I thought
the gorilla example was raised as a contrasting point to humans, since our digestive system has diverged from theirs.
I wonder how fermented foods play here? Sauerkraut, idlis, etc.
Mark said...
Thank you for this post. I think this is very important. It gives the use of green veggies a real backing outside of polyphenols and
just adds to the reasons why fruit should only be eaten sparingly.
While the model is not something that is usually done for a long time, I like looking at the diet a bodybuilder uses to get a good
frame of reference. To get down to 5% and under, the typical bodybuilder diet is lean meats, oats, sweet potatoes, and veggies.
Along with some extra cardio, it seems to work for them in shedding fat.
Thanks again.
caphuff said...
so ... do we now start eating wheat again, or should we just stick to butter?
Also, if butyrate is so beneficial, is it worth supplementing?
zach said...
I wonder if this is why kefir (real kefir) is so beneficial to the gut and in helping inflammation? Nothing in the world, to my
knowledge colonizes the gut with good bacteria like real kefir. Very interesting post, Stephan.
Richard A. said...
Consuming medium chain triglycerides apparently generates beta-hydroxy butyrate.
Coconut and palm kernel oil cotains some MCTs. You can buy pure MCT oil for about $15 a quart.

Do you have any idea how much butyrate a high fiber vegan gets relative to someone who eats a lot of butter and very little fiber?
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Aaron Blaisdell said...

It seems like a number of commenters are picking up on the issue of how appropriate other species are as models for human
nutrition. Although rats are omnivores, their diet is much more heavily plant and seed based than is that of humans who are
adapted to much more animal sources. Likewise, although gorillas and chimps are our closest living relatives, they are also
adapted to a much higher plant-based diet (especially the gorillas) than are humans who have specialized into the dietary niche
of the carnivore (not completely, but to a greater extend than chimps). Thus, I'd call rats a vegetation-based omnivore and
humans a carnivorous-based omnivore (including seafood and land invertebrates under the umbrella of carnivory).
Your post is fascinating and really causes me to wonder to what degree fiber is an important contributor to health in humans, but
I'm also keeping my skeptic's hat on given the caveats about the appropriateness of non-human animal models for human-animal
diet, nutrition, and health. The clinical study you site is perhaps the strongest evidence.
But the evidence does confirm Weston Price's methods, and I'll continue to take my high-vitamin fermented cod liver oil and high-
vitamin butter oil every day!
Thanks for the terrific leg work that went into your post.
TedHutchinson said...
It looks like buytrate is closely linked to carnitine.
Neuroprotective effects of L-carnitine in a transgenic animal model of Huntington's disease
The connection with Vitamin D3 is also interesting

Control of the innate epithelial antimicrobial response is cell-type specific and dependent on relevant microenvironmental stimuli
Ed said...
The intarwebs are interesting.
First up, Wikipedia on Butyric Acid. Things I note:
[begin quote]
Butanoate is produced as end-product of a fermentation process solely performed by obligate anaerobic bacteria. Fermented
Kombucha "tea" includes butyric acid as a result of the fermentation. This fermentation pathway was discovered by Louis Pasteur
in 1861. Examples of butanoate-producing species of bacteria:
Clostridium acetobutylicum
Clostridium butyricum
Clostridium kluyveri
Clostridium pasteurianum
Fusobacterium nucleatum
Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens
Eubacterium limosum
[end quote]
[begin quote]
Highly-fermentable fibers like resistant starch, oat bran, and pectin are transformed by colonic bacteria into short chain fatty acids
including butyrate. One study found that resistant starch consistently produces more butyrate than other types of dietary fiber.
[ref: Cummings JH, Macfarlane GT, Englyst HN. Prebiotic digestion and fermentation. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
2001;73(suppl):415S-20S.]
[end quote]
Next up, Nutrition Data (I believe butyric acid is noted as 4:00) Foods highest in 4:00 per 100-gram serving. Here is a selection
out of the top 15:
Rank Food Name

1 Roast beef spread 4:00: 6399mg
2 Butter oil, anhydrous 4:00: 3226mg
3 Butter, salted 4:00: 3226mg
8 Cheese, goat, hard type 4:00: 1784mg
9 Cheese, parmesan, grated 4:00: 1510mg
11 Cheese, goat, semisoft type 4:00: 1496mg
13 Cheese, romano 4:00: 1355mg
15 Cream, fluid, heavy whipping 4:00: 1200mg
Now, Kefir isn't listed in the database at all. What the heck is Roast Beef Spread? I've never heard of that.
Searching for butyrate on Amazon produces a handful of supplements, typically with calcium and magnesium.
randy said...
Hi Stephan,
Couple of comments. My understanding is that only soluble fiber can be fermented in SCFAs. So the type of fiber is important.
Institute of Medicine estimates soluble fiber has a calorie content of about 1.5 - 2.5 Kcal/gram. So 50 grams of soluble fiber (a
pretty high amount) would result in about 16 to 8 grams fat production.
Buytrate producing gut metabolism has been study in low carb diet and found to be serverely lacking.
See:
Reduced dietary intake of carbohydrates by obese subjects results in

decreased concentrations of butyrate and butyrate-producing bacteria
in feces.Duncan SH, Belenguer A, Holtrop G, Johnstone AM, Flint HJ,
Lobley GE.
Microbial Ecology Group, Rowett Research Institute, Greenburn Road,
Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9SB, UK.
Weight loss diets for humans that are based on a high intake of
protein but low intake of fermentable carbohydrate may alter microbial
activity and bacterial populations in the large intestine and thus
impact on gut health. In this study, 19 healthy, obese (body mass
index range, 30 to 42) volunteers were given in succession three
different diets: maintenance (M) for 3 days (399 g carbohydrate/day)
and then high protein/medium (164 g/day) carbohydrate (HPMC) and high
protein/low (24 g/day) carbohydrate (HPLC) each for 4 weeks. Stool
samples were collected at the end of each dietary regimen. Total fecal
short-chain fatty acids were 114 mM, 74 mM, and 56 mM (P < 0.001) for
M, HPMC, and HPLC diets, respectively, and there was a
disproportionate reduction in fecal butyrate (18 mM, 9 mM, and 4 mM,
respectively; P < 0.001) with decreasing carbohydrate. Major groups of
fecal bacteria were monitored using nine 16S rRNA-targeted
fluorescence in situ hybridization probes, relative to counts obtained
with the broad probe Eub338. No significant change was seen in the
relative counts of the bacteroides (Bac303) (mean, 29.6%) or the
clostridial cluster XIVa (Erec482, 23.3%), cluster IX (Prop853, 9.3%),
or cluster IV (Fprau645, 11.6%; Rbro730 plus Rfla729, 9.3%) groups. In
contrast, the Roseburia spp. and Eubacterium rectale subgroup of
cluster XIVa (11%, 8%, and 3% for M, HPMC, and HPLC, respectively; P <
0.001) and bifidobacteria (4%, 2.1%, and 1.9%, respectively; P =
0.026) decreased as carbohydrate intake decreased. The abundance of
butyrate-producing bacteria related to Roseburia spp. and E. rectale
correlated well with the decline in fecal butyrate.
Daniel said...
Ed,
That list of bacteria is interesting because I don't remember ever seeing any of those strains listed in the probiotic supplements I
have purchased. Does anybody know why these strains are not included?
DancinPete said...
Does anyone know if there is a difference between butter oil, and ghee?
If so, is ghee a close enough approximation, as it's readily available where I live.
zach said...
Pete,
There is a difference. Can't recall all the details right now.

Stephan said...
Hi David,
I know that several observational studies have found results like that. The reason I'm skeptical is that the results from controlled
trials overall haven't supported the observational studies. Whereas for omega-3, both are relatively consistent when taken as a
whole.
If we assume for the sake of argument that the association between LA and lower heart attack risk in some of these observational
studies is real, there is actually a somewhat perverse mechanism that could account for it. Excess PUFA impairs the metabolic
pathways that elongate fatty acids, so if you load up on LA to an extreme degree, you end up reducing AA synthesis along with
EPA and DHA. That was one of the original reasons scientist were investigating the high-LA approach to preventing heart
disease. In my opinion, impairing those metabolic pathways with unnatural doses of LA is not a path to health.
Hi Leena,
Thanks, I'll have to take a closer look.
Hi Ed,
We do some hindgut fermentation, just not a lot compared to herbivorous species. The fermented food question has been on my
mind too, but I haven't looked into it yet.
Hi caphuff,
I can't recommend butyrate supplements. Better to get it the old fashioned way. My position hasn't changed on wheat.
Hi Richard,
I don't think beta-hydroxybutyrate acts in the same way as butyrate. The former is a ketone, while the latter is a fatty acid.
Hi Todd,
It depends on fiber intake. A vegan eating nothing but processed foods might have low levels of butyrate, while someone on a
low-carb diet might have high levels if they eat a lot of vegetables.
Stephan said...
Hi Aaron,
I agree with your point about animal studies. I'm not taking the first study to mean that butyrate will have the same metabolic
effects in humans. But there is evidence it has effects on inflammation in human cells and in inflammatory bowel conditions in
humans, so I think it's likely to play a role with us as well. It may be largely responsible for the different effects of refined vs
unrefined carbs. on metabolism.
Hi Ed,
Mmm, roast beef spread... where can I get some of that?? Just kidding.
Hi Randy,
Insoluble fiber is fermented into butyrate as well. When you feed people cellulose, it increases their butyrate levels.
I agree with your concern about butyrate production in LC diets, but this all depends on fiber intake. Someone on a LC diet could
have more butyrate than someone on a HC diet if their fiber intake were higher.
Hi Pete,
Weston Price-style butter oil is a concentrated version of butter that is not the same as ghee. You can get it from Green Pastures.
Aaron said...
I've never really bought into the argument that fiber is a net-negative. Almost all hunter gatherer groups had large fiber intake.
Just have to look at their fossilized coprolite.
I think HG groups knew there was some kind of "goodness" in eating plant material. If not, why would they bother eating plant
material if the majority of their calories were coming from easy to digest animal foods. Superior gut health and the resultant
effects would explain this.
I had a major problem with the Grove's article (in response to Todd Hargrove) in that it argued that the best diet for most
mammals was a high fat diet -- he would have been right if he had specified SCFAs and not long chain fatty acids or MCTs.
I suspect way more studies to be coming out on prebiotics -- and expect them to off superior beneficial effects over that of
probiotics.
Anna said...
So, an ample serving of broccoli with grass-fed butter or homemade hollandaise sauce, right?
notrace said...
Should I be concerned about growth hormone in butter? or ghee? I assume all milk contains hormones whether the cow received
additional injections or not.
Brian
randy said...
Hello Stephan,
From what I've read insolubles(including celluose) fibers are much less efficient in producing buytrate than solubles. See
references below.
Equivalent fiber intakes in very low carb and high carb diets might produce the same buytrate but I've never seen this
demonstarted. Only study that came close compared low carb to high carb and there were significant differences.
The reason I mention this is becasue resistant starches (and non resistant starches) full alot of fermentation that might be lacking
in a low carb diet supplemented with fiber.
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/123/5/860.pdf
http://www.dietaryfiberfood.com/dietary-fiber.php
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19335713
http://www.feinberg.northwestern.edu/nutrition/factsheets/fiber.html
Hans said...
Thanks for this post. On occasion I will break some of my 24hr fasts with a bunch of green veggies with some olive oil and
vinegar. What I find is that my body temperature on those days shoot through the roof. I always attributed it to the SCFA but
never did any research. Now your article makes everything make sense.
Matt Stone said...

Thanks Stephan. I feel a big sigh of relief reading this post. I was just reading about butyrate produced from fiber last night.
It's fun and exciting to think that all the promotion of fiber out there is a bunch of nonsense, but the more I look into the matter,
and the more well-balanced my own perspectives become on health and nutrition, the more I realize that the anti-fiber brigade is
way off the mark.
I'm not ready to agree wholeheartedly with Burkitt and Trowell yet - who concluded that fiber was a necessary part of a healthy
human diet. Once again, that wasn't the theme in Price's studies. But a diet with a lot of plant matter and a lot of non-lactose
source carbohydrates simply must be high in fiber and the nutrients that accompany high-fiber foods to deliver health long-term.
Greta from www.bigbottomblogger.blogspot.com said...

Here is what has happened to me by following a diet with 35% of the calories coming from fat, about 40% from protein, and the
rest from high fiber carbs (mainly vegetables and fruit....limited whole grains):
Weight went from 253 to 188 (so far). Body fat went from 49% to 31% (so far). And...even more interesting:
October 2008
Total cholesterol: 155 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 90 mg/dL
HDL 55 mg/dL
LDL 82 mg/dL
October 2009
Totalcholesterol: 130 mg/dL
HDL 60 mg/dL
LDL 63 mg/dL
Fiber, esp in the form of veggies, really is essential I think...and your post really is fascinating. Thanks! It really is all about finding
the right balance.
JLL said...
Very interesting. I've been in the fiber-hating camp for quite a while now, but recently I, too, have been reconsidering my position.
At least inulin and oligofructose seem to be quite beneficial for gut bacteria, and your post suggests that there may be more to
fiber than we thought.
Still, I feel that the old idea of "you have to eat fiber or you'll get constipation" is wrong, as made evident by the Inuit and others.
Lacey said...
Wow. Great post. This is a good reminder to me not to take things to extremes, like eating absolutely no veggies to avoid lectins,
fructose, etc. You just never know what you don't know.
Stephan said...
Hi Aaron,
I agree with you about Groves' article. It's an interesting observation, but it doesn't necessarily follow that eating bacon will have
the same effects.
Hi Randy,
The study you cited was done in vitro. The study below showed that feeding humans cellulose increased fecal butyrate. It did so
more than feeding pectin, a soluble fiber.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/33/4/754.pdf
You can eat fiber until it's coming out of your ears on a low-carb diet if you want. Low-carb does not necessarily imply low-fiber or
low-butyrate. I can't say I'm sold on resistant starch at this point. I don't like the idea of having large amounts of starch passing
into the colon.
Hi Matt,
I agree with you that there are observations that the fiber theory can't explain. On the other hand, I'm coming to realize that the
Inuit may not have been as healthy as certain other non-industrial groups.
I'm closer to Burkitt and Cleave than I was, but I still think it's a bad idea to supplement bran, and I still think fiber can be
overdone.
Kiwi Geoff said...

Greta wrote:
------------------------
October 2008
HDL 55 mg/dL
LDL 82 mg/dL
October 2009
HDL 60 mg/dL
LDL 63 mg/dL
------------------------
An impressive change Greta, it is even more impressive when you put the above values in my
Free Cholesterol Calculator
and see how the "calculated" LDL changes.
October 2008
LDL = 82 mg/dL Friedewald
LDL = 90 mg/dL Iranian
October 2009
LDL = 63 mg/dL Friedewald
LDL = 36 mg/dL Iranian
I haven't seen such a dramatic change between the two different methods of calculating LDL before!
Perhaps us low carbers might earn some extra cash as "hush money" paid out by the statin manufacturers ;-)
Regards, Kiwi Geoff.
Nigel Kinbrum BSc(Hons)Eng said...

I thought that cellulose was soluble fibre/fiber.
Isn't cellulose what wallpaper paste is made from?
randy said...
Hi Stephan,
It's well established that soluable fibers are much more potent for generating SFA during ferentaion than insoluble fibers.
Insoluble fibers don't ferment much at all
See:
http://md-phc.com/fiber/dietary.html
I'm surprised your not aware of this.
I disagree with your interpetaton of this study.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/33/4/754.pdf
The results showed that more SFAs were absorbed(not excreted) by the pectin than the cellouse group.
//****************
From the paper:
"Volatile fatty acid changes with placebo and cellulose paralleled changes in fecal
weight, thus fecal volatile fatty acid concentration did not change.
Conversely, volatile fatty acid

increase of the pectin group was not paralleled by fecal weight increase, signifying an increase in
volatile fatty acid concentration (P < 0.05) of possible physiological significance. Some volatile
fatty acids are probably absorbed, a fact worthy of further investigation investigation."
Although this paper is rather dated even they were aware at the more efficeint fermination of soluble fiber.
The authors state:
"These two polymers were chosen

because cellulose is known to be only partially
digested by colonic bacteria while pectin
is practically totally digested (6-8)."
I only bring this up because I agree with your points about the benefits of generating SFAs. I just want to point out soluble fibers
are much much more efficeint at doing this that insoluble fibers.
Regards
Randy
Aaron said...
I worry that there can be other undesirable traits coming from the ingestion of resistant starch -- I'm not so sure our bowels are
adequately equipped to handle lots of starch fibers. Plus, I don't have to go into the argument against most grains here.
I do believe we are equipped to handle a decent amounts of fibers in the class called inulins (polysaccharides). In fact, we
probably ate plenty of them in our past. They are a soluble fiber, and probably increase probiotic numbers to a much larger
degree than cellulose.
I'm also suspect of consuming inulin in a refined state outside of its usual vegetable matrix. That state seems much more likely to
possibly cause undesirable characteristics or allergies.
I've seem many low carb groups around the web eschewing vegetables. As humans, we've practically bred out most of the toxins
that make them taste bad or cause imbalances in our body. Without plant material, you aren't going to get all of these interesting
polysaccharide compounds. Who knows what that means for the long term.
Stephan said...
Hi Randy,
I don't agree with your interpretation of that study. Total butyrate production clearly increased in the cellulose group, more than
the pectin group. The only thing that didn't change was the concentration of butyrate in feces, and that was only because fecal
volume increased. Total butyrate production, which is what we're concerned with here, increased with cellulose feeding.
It's possible that it would have increased even more with some other type of soluble fiber, but cellulose is clearly turned into
butyrate by human intestinal bacteria.
Hi Aaron,
I'm somewhat suspicious of inulin, because it gives you gas. Why do you say we're accustomed to having inulin in our diets?
Russ said...
Stephan,
"Forty-two healthy male and female adults were fed low-residue diets for 2 weeks, followed by 3 weeks on the same diet plus
either 14 g/day cellulose or 6 g/day pectin or a sucrose placebo."
For an apples-to-apples comparison, you'd need to adjust for the quantity of fiber.
"volatile fatty acids decreased with placebo (-1.2 g/7 days), but increased with cellulose (+ 1.3 g/7 days) and pectin (+0.6 g/7
days)"
Note that the ratio between stool VFA content - 1.3:0.6 - is nearly the same as ingested fiber - 14:6. The obvious caveat here is
that this is *stool* VFA, not the total amount produced. I would speculate that the 2.5 day decrease in transit time from cellulose
would result in:
1) more undigested cellulose and
2) more unabsorbed VFA,
but that's just my speculation.
As far as butyrate levels go, the values in Table 2 are listed as being "total amount of individual VFAs in feces", which should be
unaffected the total quantity of feces.
Cellulose: 0.5, 0.8, 0.7

Pectin: 0.5, 0.7, 0.6
Given that they were fed two and a third times as much cellulose as pectin, this seems like a clear win for pectin to me.
I was actually surprised to hear of any cellulose decomposition in the human gut - my previous understanding was that it passed
through untouched. "Cellulose and the human gut" ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1432575/ ) seems to imply that
the breakdown of cellulose in the gut is affected by factors such as the particle size and lignin content. Do you know of more
recent research that explains this in more detail?
Regards,
Russ
Russ said...
Actually, I forgot to consider the increase over placebo, so now I'm really not sure what to think. It seems difficult to reach any
conclusions when dealing with differences of 0.1-0.3g on figures with precisions of 0.1g and stated of up to 1.0g.
Regards,
Russ
Stephan said...
Hi Russ,
Fair enough. I hadn't noticed that they fed the two groups different amounts. It would be nice to know how much butyrate was
actually absorbed in each group, rather than excreted.
Aaron said...
inulin:
http://www.paleobioticslab.com/high_dietary_intake.htm
I wouldn't be surprised if other HG groups ate inulin- or other prebiotic carbohydrates all over the world. Of course, recent farming
practices has narrowed the the variety of veggies we consume.
Also, I don't always think having gas is a bad thing!
westie said...
Damn, I almost missed this post and discussion. I see you've finally come closer to intestine and its role in metabolic function. :)
I think at the moment that butyrate fermented by gut microflora is irrelevant for metabolic disorders and that increasing butyrate
by supplementing bran is stupid (loss of fat soluble vitamins).
You should get your butyrate and other short and medium chain fatty acids through diet and that's where coconut (no butyrate
though) and especially dairy fat comes to the picture.
Butyrate activates vitamin D receptor and increases the function of innate immunity system against pathogens. 1,25-OH-D3 and
butyrate are like Batman and Robin.
MCFA's are also important and they have quite interesting effect in the adipose tissue. Since (omental)adipose tissue may be the
main place where metabolic syndrome begins I find this adipocyte effect extremely interesting.
Butyrate hasn't been, as far as I know, connected to the positive effects of probiotics which main end product in the gut is lactate.
Certain kind of probiotics seems to be benificial for gut health.
Increasing gut fermentation and hope that something good will come from it is a kind of risky business. Interesting examples can
be found from pubmed; increased gut fermentation related to poor digestive tract function may be one reason behind autism
epidemic in the US.
westie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
westie said...
It has been quite difficult to find answers to the questions related to gut fermentation and SCFA absorption. If butyrate is
absorbed it sure has effects on liver metabolism like in Dr. Jianping Ye's research.
Acetic acid is also formed in the gut and here's one on acetic acid:
Whole grain seems to be part of healthy diet according to Harvard but I don't think that bran is. Positive health effects of whole
grain has to be related to other parts of grain but bran.
randy said...
Hi Stephan,
You may disagree with my interpetation of the study, but you also disagree with the authors of the study as they clearly reach the
same conclusion as was illustrated in my last post.
What your missing is the relavence of the concentration of the SCFAs vs the total amount in a larger sample size.
As an analogy lets say I get my blood glucose tested at Lab A and they report a result of 100 but they use twice the volume of
blood than is standard. Even though they report 100, my real value is 200.
It's well established that soluble fiber is much more fully digested by gut bacteria than insoluble fiber, as this dated study shows
and 30 years of additional research.
In fact the FDA allows food manufacuters to report 0 calories in for insoluble fiber in recognition of this fact.
Regards
Randy
JBG said...
I know very little about this whole area, but I recall reading about a recommended treatment for inflammatory bowel conditions--
Locate a person (a) who eats much the same diet as the patient (say, a family member), and (b) who is known to have very
healthy gut function.
Obtain a fresh stool from the healthy person, liquefy it, and squirt a good dose of it up the backside of the patient.
People I mention this to tend to react with nervous laughter or unqualified revulsion, but the idea makes perfect sense to me.
caphuff said...
JBG:
YIKES! That certainly puts the BUT in Butyrate!

Justin said...
That's funny. I vaguely remember a teacher I had in high school saying that doctors used to take a stool sample of a patient when
they had a bad case of diarrhea and put it in some chocolate pudding to reintroduce flora into their digestive system.
JC
Jonathan said...
This is a very interesting conversation, but there hasn't been much discussion of actual foods. What foods should one eat to get
soluble fiber without getting the bad stuff (gluten, wheat germ agglutinin, phytic acid, excessive carb, etc.)? What foods should
one eat to get cellulose without getting the bad stuff?
Stephan said...
Hi Aaron,
OK. There was also a lot of inulin eating in Pacific NW native Americans. They ate camas bulb, which is mostly inulin like
jerusalem artichokes. Some groups ate a lot of it. Except they would bake it for a really long time, which breaks down part of the
inulin into fructose. Still, I'm sure there was inulin left over.
I wonder how widespread that sort of thing was though. Cultures have gravitated toward starch-containing tubers more than
inulin-containing ones. Jerusalem artichoke is a notable exception, but no one eats it as a staple that I know of.
Hi Westie,
Yes, I'm becoming extremely interested in gut function, microbiota and gut barrier integrity. I agree with you about supplementing
bran, it's probably a bad idea for a number of reasons.
Anna said...
Don't remind me of Jerusalem artichokes! I hope this isn't TMI. My dad has been growing them for years in his garden and raves
about how great they are, urging them on me "for my blood sugar". He eats them raw out in the garden, too.
I finally succumbed to his JA promotions during one of his visits. They were tasty enough, but OMG, talk about hot, noxious gas.
Gas hardly ever bothers me since eating low carb and especially since giving up wheat/guten, so when it does rarely happen it's
usually worse than in my high carb days.
And I don't know why there are so many recommendations that diabetics eat Jerusalem artichokes. My post prandial BG didn't go
sky-high, but it was higher than than I like. Never again.
bob said...
another great post stephen. loved the series on malocclusion and as a celiac i would love to see you tackle the whole area of gut
health in a similar fashion.
slightly on a tangent here, can anyone recommend a good diet/nutrition book for my mum? shes early 50s, overweight (probably
'obese' by BMI definition, i dunno), and has high cholesterol. obviously she's trying to do something about it, she goes out for
walks, goes to the gym occasionally, and has started taking pills that inhibit fat absorbtion (a blunder i suspect).
she likes reading diet books (and the health sections of magazines etc) but unfortunately its all the usual rubbish about avoiding
sat fats and eating more whole grains etc.
i try sending her links to sites like this but she's too busy to read them (and probably thinks if its on the internet its wacko jacko
nonsense) so i thought if i get her a good book for chrimbo she will read it and make some changes that will actually work
i was gonna get cordain's "the paleo diet" but some of the reviews on amazon were not too favourable, eg:
"However, by page 25 it was clear that it was going to be downhill all the way. I was extremely disappointed to find it was a
poorly-argued and badly researched work which, whilst supporting the overall concept of the paleo diet was wrapped intimately
around at least 3 common myths. "The heart-diet myth" (fat myth), "The salt myth" and "The dietary fibre myth". This would be
more forgivable if Laruen had actually bothered presented some semblance of a case instead of simply presenting her
assumptions as a-priori fact which should not be examined."
has anyone read this book? is it any good? if not, what books do you recommend?
thanks
bob
PaleoRD said...
Bob,
I would recommend:
The Schwarbein Principle I & II by Diana Schwarzbein. She gives great, easy to read explanations about metabolism and how all
hormones affect it, not just insulin which is what most low carb and paleo books focus on.
However, she does make a few suspect recommendations about what to eat, mainly Canola oil. Other than that, I would say her
book is pretty solid.
The other great book is Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price. It does not read like a diet book, but if reading
that book doesn't change your eating habits, I don't know what would!
Scott
Dr. T, Dr. B.G., and Billy E said...

Dinosaur doo-doo (coprolite), gut microbiota and replenishing with poop enemias. *haaaaa* Oh my.
u guys r a RIOT.
Monica said...
Hi Bob,
I would recommend Nina Planck's Real Food: What to Eat and Why.
Unfortunately, there is a bit of grain promotion in there, but it is very limited, and the vast majority of the book is devoted to
defending the healthiness of naturally and humanely raised meats, eggs, and milk. It is written in a way that the layperson should
be able to understand. I can't recommend it highly enough. It is not really a diet book, though. However, Planck is a serious
defender of real food, and she is down to earth and has gotten over her botanically-induced biases that so many of us
farmers/plant scientists have struggled with... I hate to pick on Michael Pollan (author of Omnivore's Dilemma) but I find his
writing style preachy and arrogant and while he may be coming around to the idea of the healthiness of animal products, he has
a strong influence from the botanical side of things and the healthiness of animal foods hasn't yet come through strongly in any of
his writing, I think.
Another simple and easy to read book would be Protein Power or Protein Power LifePlan by the Eades'. Unfortunately, the titles
aren't catchy and I am not crazy about their promotion of protein powders and other fake stuff like Splenda. Still, they offer some
solid, simple explanations of how hyperinsulinemia makes us gain weight.
jean said...
JBG: This 'fecal implantation' comes from Dr Art Ayers at Cooling
inflammation.http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2008/11/fecal-transplants.html
And: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18322715?
itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=9
And:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy
I also remember reading somewhere about fecal transplants between obese and lean individuals, with the obese individuals then
losing weight. However scatological this may seem, it is gaining ground as a legitimate medical treatment.

bob said...
how about this for a 'healthy' high-fibre meal to feed those butyrate-producing gut bacteria (fastforward to 10 mins 35 secs into
the video):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRQxIcbIT3A
i didnt even think it was possible to eat dry soybeans. the guy must have jaws like a hyaena (and rock hard teeth)
Anna said...
Bob,
I second Monica's book recommendations and agree with her caveats.
randy said...
Hello,
Although many here will probably disagree, this researcher feels that endogenous butyrate production is increased by higher carb
and decreased by higher meat protein diets.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330200714.htm
donny said...
http://ajpendo.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/234/1/E54
Effect of luminal constituents on vitamin K1 absorption into thoracic duct lymph

D Hollander and E Rim
Lymphatic appearance rate of [3H] phylloquinone was studied in unanesthetized rats with cannulated bile and lymph ducts. A
linear relationship (y= -44.9 + 10.2x, r=0.99) was found between the rate of the compound's infusion into the duodenum and its
appearance rate in the lymph. Increasing the taurocholate infusate concentrations from 5 to 15 mM increased phylloquinone
appearance rate in the lymph from 6.47 +/- 1.82 to 24.14 +/- 1.20 pmol/min (P less than .01). Varying the infusate pH from 4.35 to
8.0 did not change lymphatic appearance rate of vitamin K1 or lymphatic flow rate. Addition of short-chain fatty acid (butyrate) to
the infusate enhanced the total absorption of vitamin K1 into the bile and lymph, whereas the addition of polyunsaturated fatty
acids inhibited the total absorption of the vitamin. These experiments delineate some factors that modify the extrusion rate of
vitamin K1 out of the enterocyte into the lymphatic circulation and add information regarding this phase of the absorptive pathway
of lipids.
---------------------------------
I usually consider the above as it relates to human health. But since bacteria produce some K2 from K1, and also produce butyric
acid, well, if the health of our gut bacteria is important to our health, then maybe we have to consider the whole nutritional needs
of those bacteria? In a similar vein, vitamin b12 production by gut bacteria might be important to our health, even if we don't
absorb any of it.
I'm not sure what the source of polyunsaturate was in the above study, I've only read the abstract, but I've seen another study
that used corn oil. That stuff really does suck.
Re randy's link
Other may want to read more of Stephen J.D. OKeefe work in this free full text article from Current Opinion in Gastroenterology
2008,
24:5158
Nutrition and colonic health: the critical role of the microbiota

android said...
well its really a nice post.. food can make us healthy but over eating is harmful..excess mil and butter hurt our body..Which will
increase the rate of hear attack..
Thanks
http://laserthermometerhq.com
JBG said...
Jean, thanks for the links, especially the link to Cooling Inflammation.
I notice Cooling Inflammation is on Stephan's list of blogs. The writer there, Art Ayers, seems to share many characteristics with
Stephan.
Senta said...
Dr. Eades has an article on resistant starch here: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/metabolism/resistant-starch/
"If the benefits of the resistant starch come from its conversion to butyrate as our RD avers, and if it requires the amount per day
found in only one half cup of potato (or of the other foods she lists) as she also avers, then why not provide ourselves with one
and a half times as much by eating a couple of pats of butter per day, which come without the extra three teaspoons of sugar?
We get the butyrate without having to convert and we dont get the extra carbs. Makes perfect sense to me."
I'm not sure he is right about the amount of butyrate in butter though, I suspect it is much lower but haven't been able to find
figures.
Ed said...
Senta,
Nutrition Data has the butyrate content at 452 mg per tablespoon of butter.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/133/2
So it would take 5 tablespoons of butter to get 2.3 grams of butyrate.
I wonder if it varies if it's CAFO butter, or pastured, or whatever.
Senta said...
Thanks Ed! So I guess you just look at the 4 carbon saturated fat, makes sense.
So according to nutritiondata, a pat contains 161 mg, not the 1.45 grams that Eades said, so he is way off. Still, it may be easier
to get it premade thanks to the cow doing all the work!
I too wonder if the quality of butter changes the butyrate content.
Stephan said...
Hi Senta and Ed,
Pastured butter seems to contain about the same amount of butyrate as grain-fed, surprisingly.
I'm not convinced that butter is an adequate substitute for SCFA production by intestinal bacteria. Butyrate in butter is absorbed
in the small intestine, so it won't be concentrated in the bowel like it is when it's produced from fiber. The blood concentration will
also be cyclical rather than stable as it is when it's produced in the gut. I don't know if that has implications for its effects. I see
butter as a supplement to dietary fiber rather than a replacement.
Nigel Kinbrum BSc(Hons)Eng said...

"Butyrate in butter is absorbed in the small intestine, so it won't be concentrated in the bowel like it is when it's produced from
fiber."
Is that a case for eating butter and soluble fibre/fiber?
trix said...
Like eating homemade sourdough rye bread...maybe with a little ground flax thrown in and spread with raw butter?
Sweet potatoes with butter and a few chopped pecans on top.
Some other examples would be helpful.

kilton9 said...
Hey Stephan,
How do you reconcile this data with the Diet and Reinfarction Trial showing a higher rate of death with doubled fiber intake, and
the data showing that fiber inhibits mineral absorption?
Senta said...
Stephan, you said:
"I'm not convinced that butter is an adequate substitute for SCFA production by intestinal bacteria. Butyrate in butter is absorbed
in the small intestine, so it won't be concentrated in the bowel like it is when it's produced from fiber... I see butter as a
supplement to dietary fiber rather than a replacement."
I'm getting confused about the conclusions now - the first part of your article is about mice being fed butyrate, which means it was
absorbed in the small intestine. Isn't that the butyrate that would suppress inflammation in "other tissues" since it goes out to the
rest of the body and never makes it past the small intestine? Then it would only be the butyrate that gets produced by
fermentation in the bowel that protects the bowel, right? That butyrate in the bowel isn't absorbed and available to the rest of the
body, is it?
Is it possible that the protective effect of butyrate as far as intestinal permeability is concerned would not even be necessary if the
gut wall was not being assaulted by fiber in the first place?
Helen said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Helen said...
This is really interesting and seems like a great justification for my cream-top-yogurt-and-wholegrain-sourdough diet.
It also suggests one of several possible reasons why fruit is/could be healthful even though refined fructose is a disaster. I believe
whole fruit isn't dangerous - we evolved to find it delicious and appealing for good reason - but there is a mounting fruit phobia on
some blogs due to the mounting evidence against fructose.
Besides the micronutrients that fruit contains that could mitigate or alter the effects of fructose, I have had a hypothesis
fermenting in my brain (which I haven't had time to research) that the fiber allows some of the fructose to be fermented in our gut
- which would result in acetic acid (vinegar), which promotes greater insulin sensitivity and more favorable fat deposition. It also
blocks absorption of some carbohydrates (perhaps this is one reason too much fruit results in the runs).
Now it looks like the fiber in fruit could help butyric acid production, too - something I'd never heard of.
People also aren't aware that not all fruits have a lot of fructose.
Stephan said...
Hi kilton9,
I don't want to say I have a definitive answer, but here's my opinion. I'll start by pointing out that the difference wasn't statistically
significant, although looking at the curves it's hard to believe it's not a real effect.
They increased their fiber intake through whole grain bread and fiber supplements. Those are both potentially sources of
improperly prepared grain fiber, which I believe is detrimental due to its content of anti-nutrients among other things. My guess is
that if they had been using traditional sourdough from freshly ground flour, or even better, properly treated non-gluten grains and
non-grain fiber sources, the effect would have been reversed.
Hi Senta,
They fed those mice a huge amount of butyrate. I wouldn't recommend anyone eat that amount directly. It's impossible in any
case, even if you ate nothing but butter.
Butyrate from the large intestine does get absorbed into the bloodstream in both mice and humans.
Hi Helen,
I agree the fiber content of fruits could be a factor. The micronutrients though... fruit really isn't that nutritious.
Helen said...
Re: fruits. Really? Depending on the fruit, they can have substantial vitamin C, carotene, anthocyanins, lycopene, quercetin,
citrus bioflavoniods, and potassium. No, I don't work for the Fruit Board, and I'm not on the phytochemical bandwagon (anymore),
but I do think they have some roles to play in health. And often, it seems, one thing in whatever you eat helps with another thing
in the same thing, so perhaps these chemicals in fruit especially help us healthfully metabolize fruit. Just a thought.
Stephan said...
Hi Helen,
Fruit are a good source of vitamin C, I'll give you that. But in terms of other essential micronutrients, there isn't much there on a
per calorie basis.
Helen said...
Hi Stephan,
Well, vitamin C has its virtues, I reckon. It was kind of the 1970s' vitamin D, some may recall.
Since I have your attention, there's something else I've been wanting to run by you. Maybe you've covered it already and I've
missed it: the question of peanuts being artherogenic, creating (ick!) fibrous lesions on the arterial wall, probably due to their
particular lectin's affinity for our endothelium.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9727614?
itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=12
Of course, the studies on this featured the infamous cholesterol-fed rabbit, but still, lectin-caused fibrous lesions give me the
willies.
I stopped eating peanuts a while back for other reasons, but I have, in my life, eaten enough peanut butter to sink an ocean liner.
Is this worth freaking out about? And could the same thing be happening with wheat lectins and/or soy lectins? I eagerly await
your opinion.
navegante said...
Great info, thanks!
Interesting that butyric acid is also a fatty acid in GABA, gamma aminobutyric acid.
jon bean said...

Stephen
One of the most informative blogs Ive read on the net...thankyou !
Ive a question or 2
I have a heap of Autoimmune Diseases. Including Hasimotos (Thyroiditis) and Isaacs Syndrome (Nerve Hyperexcitability
Disease)
There is more ...however..the reason I write today is because I have just also been diagnosed with "Fatty Liver Disease" even
though I am thin and eat healthy.
This Blog..could have almost been written for me I feel..as no one has more to gain if butyrate could be increased in my body.
My Doctors cannot explain why my liver is clogging up with fat..and thus cannot help me in any way.
Ive reduced fruit intake (cut down on fructose) and honey..which I loved.
However as a diet..what could I take to maximise butyrate and at the same time perhaps help metabolize the fat in the liver.
Some people have suggested I go ona high fat diet.
Any suggestions most welcome.
And why not just supplement with Sodium Butyrate..would it work ?and if so how much to take to get an effect. !?
Thanks in advance
Jon

New evidence that cereal grains were used 100k years ago?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091217141312.htm
Stephan said...
Very interesting Todd, thanks for sharing.
Beth@IDblog said...
Re the story about stone age grains, Keith Norris had an interesting comment about this on Twitter recently: he suggested the
grains were more likely used for pigments/paint.

sammmi said...
Hey Jon,
I'm pretty sure the studies in humans showing the benefits of butyrate supplementation uniformly used coated tablets/capsules to
ensure delivery in the colon rather than earlier in the digestive tract. I checked around for such a supplement and only found
Chinese suppliers selling crates of coated sodium butyrate for animal feed! Since when do livestock have better access to
nutritional supplements than us?
Stephan notes that oral butyrate would be absorbed from the small intestine, and would then theoretically exert global anti-
inflammatory effects, but I can't comment either way.
Here's a very interesting post on butyrate and autoimmunity:
http://www.mombu.com/medicine/cancer/t-butyrate-for-autoimmunity-hdac-inhibitors-activate-regulatory-t-cells-celiac-asthma-
epidermal-calcium-allergy-3795593.html
Goes into good depth. Another thing you might try is probiotic supplementation. Align makes a probiotic which induces the
production of T-regs (which may help curb autoimmunity) in vivo:
http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000112
It wouldn't surprise me if this effect was common to beneficial strains of lactic acid and/or bifidobacteria.
Also, since increased intestinal permeability is commonly associated with autoimmune diseases, you might look into glutamine
supplementation, 10-20 grams twice a day on an empty stomach. It, along with butyrate, is the primary fuel for intestinal epithelial
cells, and helps maintain the mucosal barrier which keeps pathogens and other antigens out of general circulation. See for
example,
http://www.springerlink.com/content/15223063676u3161/
Multiple autoimmune conditions sounds to me (not a doctor, just a student really interested in autoimmune disease) like the result
of an allergen to which you're systemically exposed, e.g. celiac is comorbid with hashimoto's
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17461476) probably because gliadin increases intestinal permeability and allows gluten to
enter the bloodstream, causing autoantibody production against other tissues. Have you done food allergy testing and/or been
tested for celiac? I'd stay away from grains if I were you.
Infections can also cause autoimmune diseases, e.g. lyme ( see http://autoimmunityresearch.org/lyme-disease/ and
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/lymeDisease/research/autoimmune.htm ). IIRC, some significant percentage of rheumatoid
arthritis patients respond to antibiotics. You might look into lyme testing (the igenex western blot is the only good test, be sure to
get all the bands) or an experimental trial of antibiotics, e.g. doxycycline, to which lyme usually responds with a herxheimer
reaction.
Green tea, fish oil, and vitamin D have shown promise in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, there's a lot of research if you
go digging, especially on the latter two. Caloric restriction, if you can tolerate it, appears to be the most effective intervention for
autoimmune disease in general:
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/coc/2000/00000004/00000011/art00002
http://www.jleukbio.org/cgi/content/abstract/jlb.0208133v1
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T75-3YXBJJ8-
6&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_versio
n=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=a1b9934611ef050d16ed068d21ea8314
and the list goes on and on. Since you're already lean and healthy, I'd track your calories every day for a week using free
software like the cron-o-meter ( http://spaz.ca/cronometer/ ), then eat 25% fewer calories per day indefinitely, making sure to get
at least 100% of your DRI for every essential nutrient.
Best of luck to you!

-Connor
El said...
Thanks for the thought provoking post. I'm gonna dive in and learn all I can about butyric acid. You hint at lots of practical aps for
dieters. I want to know more. What about lentils and beans? Do they produce butyric acid? They certainly produce intestinal gas,
which I have never considered a bad thing.
so, as the boots on the ground practical half of the Silver Cloud Diet, writing team, I'd like to know if adding fermented foods daily
(i.e. kim chee, sauer kraut, cold smoked salmon, would increase butyrate in the gut of a low carb dieter? Just asking.
Linda West Eckhardt
James Beard award winning cookbook author
co-author The Silver Cloud Diet e-book
available at www.thesilverclouddiet.com
see our blog at Huffington Post.
sally said...
Ok so I read the whole thing,,,lots to read and now I am totally confused.
I am a diabetic and I am told to eat only sour dough bread because it helps set up the sugars, Looks like it is mentioned here,
and what about sour crout and pickles the sour ones?
I wish someone would write a simple, easy to read piece on diabetics. I am trying to find what is most important to eat without
having to read a whole book only to be confused or find others think the book is full of garbage.
I get little bits here and there but I forget later what I read because it is such little bits and seems to come so far between times.
I have been reading these posts for a while and seem to get some info from them, Thanks.
Stephan said...
Hi El,
I don't know how much butyrate comes from beans specifically. I also don't know if fermented foods increase intestinal butyrate
production. However, fermented vegetables do contain fiber, which should be partially fermented into butyrate. That will be the
case with unfermented vegetables as well.
Anna said...
Sally,
If you haven't already found it, I highly recommend you read Jenny's Diabetes Update blog as well as her Blood Sugar 101
website (formerly known as What They Don't Tell You About Diabetes). Jenny isn't a scientist or doctor, but she has a sharp mind
and deep understanding of diabetes and treatments. Additionally Jenny does an excellent job of translating the research and
recommendations into language that most people can understand and use. It was finding Jenny's site that clued me in that my
own doctors were completely missing my high post meal BG by relying on simply monitoring my fasting BG and my weight.
http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/
You don't say what type of diabetes you have, but I think you'll find Jenny's sites informative for any type.
http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/18608108.php
I also highly recommend Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution book, the most recent updated and revised edition. While Dr.
Bernstein focusses on Type I diabetes, what he has to say about managing BG is applicable to with or all at risk of BG
disregulation. We can thank Dr. Bernstein for pushing the medical authorities to allow patients to self-test their BG.
Not much about diabetes is simple, but no chronic disease is simple, despite what you might hear in the media, from your doctor,
or from the drug companies.
Heather Twist said...

I linked to this post in my Blog too (not as great as yours though!). I've been experimenting with butyrate too, though mainly by
eating konjac (glucomannan) which is a fiber said to increase butyrate production. I don't know if it does or not, in me, but it has
resulted in a very happy gut and joints and other good effects.
January 1, 2010 at 12:25 AM

jon bean said...
Just wanted to thank Sammmi for her kind and very thoughtful post.
Sammmi
Im looking at all of points you have mentioned.
I suffered for years with IBS like symptoms before diagnosis of these Autoimmune Conditions.
The body is complicated, however genetic susceptibility and certain pathogens have unlocked the Autoimmunity Genie out of its
bottle for me...Its not one factor I believe its an array of many interactions...gut permiability..is a real possible issue with my
history..despite neg for celiac.
I will be seraching for Sodium Butyrate coated capsules.
In the meantime upping my veg, reducing my fruit intake and starting to use Anchor butter!
Gradual slow CR is also a possible.
Thanks again Sammmi

Your reply post is most appreciated.
sally said...
Anna: thanks for the links, I will definately look at them. I have type 2 and neuropathy as a result. I have been trying to find the
RIGHT diet mixture for these problems and there is so much saying "yes" and "no" to the same ideas that the more I read the
more I get confused.
It sure would be nice to have one very smart person come along and tell me they read it all "and here's what to do"
So many people who know but no one seems to get on the side of an unexperienced diabetic and tell us what really works in
simple terms we can live with. It's all nice if we "get it" after a few years of reading and trying but by then damage is done. I hope
the links will help me figure this out before too much more damage is done, right now I am at the point of "good day, bad day"
depending on how the feet are feeling, day and night, which is not going the way I hoped it would.
Problem is I found out my pain was due to this diabetic thing once I realized the pain was just getting worse and I am not so
tough anymore, by then there was some deformities in the way my feet looked and worked while walking, I guess I took too ling
to see that but mostly because there was not any mention of this complication in the brochures and public warning at that time,
now I see it is getting out finally and people are getting more education on it. Mind you, I dont hesitate to bring this up in people's
blogs and medical write ups either cos it is so important for thosewho don't know to see.
Sorry if this is getting way off topic. just looking for help where I see it possible. Thanks again for the links and for reading.
January 3, 2010 at 12:38 PM
water said...
Sally,
I'd like to second the Bernstein and Blood Sugar 101 recommendations and mention another site - PaNu. Dr. Kurt Harris says
he's spent nearly 2500 hours doing the reading. He's got 12 steps. Between Bernstein, Jenny and PaNu, you should be in pretty
good shape.
I would urge you to consider the possibility of food intolerances (which can hamper blood sugar control, contribute to
malabsorption, and aggravate neuorological issues) as well.
girrlockholmes said...
I have a small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, meaning that colonic bacteria has a tendency to overgrow into the small intestine.
This makes it difficult to eat most carbohydrates, and the common advice to people with my condition is to avoid fiber, fructose,
FOS, sucralose, and sorbitol, as these things really do exacerbate symptoms and encourage bacterial growth. I do best on a high
fat diet although I do still have symptoms.
I moderate a group for others with this condition and we've been discussing microbial fermentation and acid production because
we recently ran across this letter: http://www.springerlink.com/content/nm230774614mr210/
Gastrointerologists were able to treat a man with unresponsive SIBO (hasn't responded to broad spectrum antibiotics - like a lot
of us) with administration of lactulose solution. We did some research and found this:
http://mic.sgmjournals.org/cgi/reprint/128/2/319.pdf
This document explained the mechanism by which a person might be "cured" of SIBO with lactulose, as it explained that 2
coloinc microbial strains in particular produced acetic, lactic and butyric acids when metabolizing lactulose, and by doing so, put a
large dent in the bacteroid population. This led us here to you, because of your discussion of butyric acid. And we're interested in
the idea of consuming butter oil and in supplementing.
I really like your post and how open minded you are about fiber; we are for the most part anti-fiber, but more due to the way it
makes us feel (horrible!) than because of any academic research or dietary dogma. Considering our aversion, however, we were
wondering, short of drinking lactulose, if supplementation of butyric acid might prove helpful to those of us with colonic bacteria in
our small intestines. Any thoughts?
Stephan said...
Hi Girrlockholmes,
I'm not an expert on SIBO. My guess is that oral butyrate alone will probably not help a SIBO. However, raw fermented foods with
a spectrum of short-chain fatty acids, probiotic bacteria and other gentle antimicrobials may help if tolerated. I'll give you some
thoughts purely for informational purposes (discuss with your doc). Some of these will probably be obvious to you.
-Avoid fructose and all refined carbs. Fructose is your enemy.
-Be aware of food sensitivities, especially gluten and dairy. You may be sensitive to foods without realizing you're symptomatic,
and without coming up positive on food sensitivity tests.
-Try out raw fermented food like sauerkraut (if tolerated), unfiltered raw vinegar, and kombucha that's been fermented enough
that it's no longer sweet. I have a sauerkraut recipe on the blog. This may take a while to be effective.
-Balance n-6:3 by avoiding industrial seed oils and ensuring a modest but regular intake of omega-3. This has to do with gut wall
permeability and resistance to the inflammatory effects of infection. This is also a long-term strategy.
-Stomach acid is critical in avoiding SIBO. Proton pump blocking drugs used for indigestion and ulcers cause SIBO in rodents
and humans alike. Antacids like Tums will do the same. You may think about experimenting with betaine HCl pills (HCl is stomach
acid) to restore stomach acidity if that's a problem (it's fairly common).
Just some ideas. Please keep us updated and let us know if you have success with any of these approaches or others.
January 12, 2010 at 10:38 AM
Andy said...
Just a quick question. Would you now rather go for white rice or brown rice? Isn't white rice not much different from a potato?
I know brown rice has more antinutrients like phytic acid, but also more nutrients. I vaguely remember you discussing that overall,
the minerals you get from both types of rice is roughly the same. So, should I go for the extra fiber for some extra butyric acid?
Also, is it correct that phytic acid from a food wont interfere with the minerals from the rest of my diet? Phytic acid in brown rice
wont make the minerals in my meat unabsorbable if I eat em together?
Andy said...
Oh, and how does all of this tie with Peter's posts about fiaf at Hyperlipid?
http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/search/label/Fiaf%20%281%29%20Who%27s%20fat%20is%20it%20anyway%3F
It seems to me that the point he is making is that fiber feeds gut bacteria, who suppress the production of fiaf when well-fed.
When they are hungry which means they dont get fiber, they let fiaf levels rise, which mobilizes fat of the host, the human. He
seems to suggest no fiber might help in weight loss.
What do you think of it? Too speculative?
January 13, 2010 at 11:58 AM
peterpeasant said...
It seems a little odd
that any nutrient uptake happens in
humans after ingested material has passed the small intestine.
What are the metabolic pathways for absorption of nutrients from the lower bowel?
There is an extraordinary statement

"It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it
as its primary source of energy."
No evidence is provided for this statement.

Since when has the lining of lower guts not used the energy supplies of the rest of our bodies?
By the way these surmises were based on mouse trials.
I respectfully suggest that mouse metabolism is rather different from that of homo sapiens, especially when the mice are fed a
diet radically different from that they are developed to eat.
Stephan said...
Hi Andy,
I don't have the answers. It's possible that starving the bacteria is one way to lose weight. However, feeding them in certain ways
also causes weight loss. There's been a trial of oligofructose supplementation where overweight people lost fat mass but no lean
mass taking 20g/day for 12 weeks. No other changes in diet. It's supposed to be one of the best fibers for producing butyrate.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/89/6/1751
Hi Peterpeasant,
Absorption of short-chain fatty acids from the colon occurs by a passive diffusion process. You can measure SCFAs in human
blood so it's definitely absorbed.
Here is a reference for my "extraordinary statement" that the human large intestinal lining uses butyrate as its preferred fuel
source:
It also uses glutamine for energy, it's an unusual tissue.
January 15, 2010 at 10:11 PM
girrlockholmes said...
Stephan, thanks so much for the reply. I wanted to get back to you sooner but I was out of town for a family emergency. You may
not be an expert on SIBO but then no one really is, especially our doctors. Those of us with this condition have been doing our
own research and experimenting on ourselves for a while now and no doubt will continue to do so until we can feel better. A few
of the group members are actually patients at Cedars Siani, so they are able to take guidance from Dr. Pimentel or his colleages,
but most of us do not have that kind of assistance.
Your recommendations are great ones. I cant speak for everyone with SIBO, but as for myself and the more vocal group
members, I would say we already are practicing most of these, especially fructose avoidance. Most of us avoid gluten as well,
and supplement with Betaine HCl. These things help somewhat but very few of us have a quality of life that we feel is acceptable.
As far as the fermented foods/probiotics issue, weve had really mixed results; usually probiotics in pill or yogurt form makes us
feel better in the short term, but one group member was able to prove through breath testing that bacterial levels rose after long-
term consumption of SCD-style homemade yogurt. Sadly, most of us cannot tolerate Apple cider vinegar or kombucha and some
of us have problems with saurkraut. I personally made and drank kefir for one month and the only changes in my health were a
massive fatigue and 20 lb weight gain. I get what you and others are saying about it being a long-term process but most of us
have been discouraged and confused by the more immediate symptoms and we find it hard to know how long is long enough to
deal with bloating, bowel irregularities, body aches and other symptoms before we know something is or isnt working for us. If
you had any insight on this process I would be interested in what you have to say.
It is too bad that what were dealing with is so experiential it makes for bad science or at least difficult science. Some of my
group members visited your blog and read your comment and really appreciated it; usually our condition is totally ignored by
anyone with an interest in diet and health as if we are an anomoly, when in reality, SIBO is incredibly underdiagnosed. Thanks for
taking an interest. As far as the butyric acid, Im trying a supplement along with the other recommendations you listed that have
been helping and will update if there are any interesting developments.
blogblog said...
Most people are amazed to learn that there are are no vegetarian mammals. This is because all mammals evolved from
insectivore acestors.
Even grass-fed cattle have an ultra-low carbohydrate "diet" composed almost entirely of volatile fatty acids and amino acids (fat
and protein) via gut fermentation.
January 28, 2010 at 10:07 PM

Stephan said...
Hi Girrlockholmes,
Hmm. A couple more thoughts. Lactose is fermented in the small intestine in some people, so that could be worth avoiding as
well (basically, all dairy except cheese and butter).
Dr. Art Ayers has made some observations on gut biofilms that may interest you:
http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/2009/09/cure-for-inflammatory-diseases.html
Biofilms are persistent bacterial colonies in the intestine. I think they're normal, but when they become colonized by unwanted
bacteria, they're very hard to get rid of. I don't know if that's a factor in SIBO, but it would make sense.
Philip Rudnick said...

An anti-cancer nutrient in food fiber - but not in pure, refined fiber - is phytic acid/inositol hexaphosphate/IP6.
A Medline search of: fiber phytic acid
--------->210 hits
Philip Rudnick
February 11, 2010 at 8:20 PM
Stephan said...
Hi Philip,
As far as I know, the anti-cancer effect of phytic acid has not been demonstrated in humans, in fact, available evidence isn't
consistent with the theory. The positive data all come from rats, which have the ability to degrade phytic acid in the intestine
(which humans essentially don't). In humans, a diet high in phytic acid is more likely to lead to mineral deficiencies than a
decreased cancer risk.
http://gut.bmj.com/content/38/4/591.abstract
http://gut.bmj.com/content/35/9/1233.abstract
Reduced plasma half-life of radio-labelled 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in subjects receiving a high-fibre diet.
The effects of prolonged consumption of wholemeal bread upon metabolism of calcium, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus of two
young American adults
The slides in this Power Point presentation may explain what is happening.
Disease Informatics: Phytates driving from the back-end to Influenza, Encephalitis, Hepatitis, Anemia at the front-end
February 13, 2010 at 2:49 AM
Daniel said...
Role of Colonic Short-Chain Fatty Acid Transport in Diarrhea
Annual Review of Physiology

Vol. 72: 297-313 (Volume publication date March 2010)
(doi:10.1146/annurev-physiol-021909-135817)
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-physiol-021909-135817
April 17, 2010 at 1:53 AM

MISHE said...
Hi Stephan and others reading.
I've read that kombucha tea contains butyric acid. Does anyone know what the quantity is?
August 16, 2010 at 1:06 AM
Shakhnoza said...
I read cautions to avoid distilled vinegar. What are the dangers of it?
how to make raw vinegar at home at cheaper cost?
Rodney said...
What do you have to say about "resistant starch" which I've read the body converts into butyrate?
And there are a couple of books out now claiming that if you eat a lot of resistant starch you can lose weight and attain other
health benefits. One of them is called "The Carb-Lover's Diet" the other is titled "The Skinny Carbs Diet."
April 14, 2011 at 7:39 PM
saquiwej said...
I am eating canned cod liver instead of cod liver oil. I am wondering, if it is an equally god source of vitamins D and A. I suppose,
the liver is cooked. Does it not destroy the vitamins?
June 3, 2011 at 7:02 AM

Great post! One comment on eating butyrate ... it get absorbed before it reaches the lower intestine. And many fibers either are
totally digested too early, or not digested at all. But some foods are really good butyrate producers. One of the best is konjac root,
which has glucomannan fiber (also in aloe vera, I think?). Anyway, konjac does really NICE things for a person's gut.
August 11, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Stone Glasgow said...

The Inuit eat a lot of fermented fish. They throw it in a pile and let it rot, basically, which would create butyric acid via fermentation
outside the gut.
Alessandra said...
Actually acidic diets are extremely common, especially in America, because of the temptations that are presented every day. Fast
food restaurants, Bars serving alcohol, and stores serving numerous amounts of junk food are all responsible. And not just the
acidic diets is important but a food combining as well.
May 3, 2012 at 5:59 PM
lumin smith said...

Without inflammation we would not heal or be able to ward off a bacterial attack. But the inflammatory process is a balanced
process and the body relies on the balance of this process to ensure we remain health while at the same time ensuring it can
protect itself.
Inflammation symptoms
July 4, 2012 at 5:45 AM

mary bjoraker said...
High Butyrate levels help prevent cancer metastisis. See article in Science daily - really amazing!
Lidir said...
Looks like saturated fats (lard) are again being lumped in with oils like soy and getting a bad rap. Ironically butyrate is very high in
buttermilk.
Too many people out there making money on highly priced supplements when it's more of a no brainer and eating "natural" fats
and a good wholefood diet would be far better for them and actually help to heal the gut.
Extra fiber or fermentation when you have something like disbiosis can cause a lot of discomfort. Fat better to eat the end product
(from something like butter milk or other saturated animal fat) and cut out the inflammatory causing fats until gut motility problems
are resolved!
Ironic that we are nagged about eating saturated fats, or animal fats and yet they contain the very qualities you need as they
contain microbial properties as well as being needed by the body for repair.
Now we're being told to take it in a pill form (SCFA's) instead of just eating the darned stuff from the obvious source.
May 5, 2013 at 6:38 PM
Joan Tendler said...

Thanks so much for this very clear and informative article! I was wondering if the butyric acid in butter is connected to the butyric
acid in GABA (gamma-butyric acid), that is, if eating butter helps us to make more GABA, which would be very helpful.
May 10, 2013 at 10:38 AM
George Henderson said...

Very interesting.
FYI, I googled Roast Beef Spread and got
http://www.amazon.com/Underwood-Roast-Beef-Spread-4-25/dp/B000AP6SFG
August 2, 2013 at 3:37 AM
George Henderson said...

P.S., you might like this.
Butyrate from probiotic protects fatty liver (methionine/choline deficient rats) against progression to NASH and hepatocellular
cancer.
The probiotic MIYAIRI 588 is clostridium butyricum which is marketed in Japan as a treatment for c. difficile.
A thorough paper with top-quality graphic presentation of results.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0063388
August 2, 2013 at 3:45 AM
Bruce Campbell said...

More research on butyrate and its positive effect on regulation of inflamation:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131113132202.htm.
November 15, 2013 at 9:49 AM
Calvin Wilkinson said...

Didn't see if anyone already said this, but one of the most concentrated sources I know of is ginkgo fruit. it contains so much that
it smells quite a bit. almost like someone soaked sweaty gym socks in waterlogged parmesan cheese. Too bad the fruit and raw
seed are mildly poisonous. The nut is actually fairly tasty when properly cooked and retains some of the cheesy smell from
butyric acid, thankfully not as much as the fruit on its own!
Hilaire said...
"Butyrate" is the chemical name. In chemistry, it goes 1-carbon =methane, 2-carbons, ethane.... 4 carbons = butane. It contains
four carbons and the (-ate) means it is the ionized form of the carboxylic acid. There is NO relationship to butter in the name, but
butter is a good source.
Stephan Guyenet said...

Hi Hilaire,
I can assure you that butyrate gets its name from butter, because it was first isolated from butter. Butane is a different molecule
but the root word is the same-- the word also comes from butter originally since it has the same number of carbons as butyric
acid.
P1 said...
Isn't the metabolism you describe much the same with MCT Oil (which is manufactured from the medium chain fatty acid Lauric
acid in coconut oil and palm kernel oil)? I've noticed how taking MCT Oil definitely raises my body temperature and increases my
pulse. It seems to push metabolism to a higher level, and it sounds similar to what might happen if we ingested butyrate? It's
about a fat that goes straight to the liver and produces ketones.
One question here: would this increased thermogenic activity shorten lifespan? After all increased body temperature and
metabolic rates suggests that all processes in the body are happening more quickly.

MCT raises metabolism, which is why body builders like it. Me too.
As for butyrate ... it STINKS. It is in some foods, like rancid butter or Durian fruit, which most people refuse to eat. The other
issue is that the butyrate is used up before it reaches the colon.
There are butyrate enemas, which are said to work well (they stink too, but no one expect an enema to smell well)
I prefer konjac, which feeds the butyrate bacteria (but doesn't stink itself).
January 27, 2014 at 10:12 PM
Patelurology2 said...
On Dec 7, 2009 David said in a post and referred to Linolenic acid as an Omega 6 in error; Omega 3, it is and the rest is correct.
http://www.westonaprice.org/know-your-fats/tripping-lightly-down-the-prostaglandin-pathways
P1 said...
Heather Twist: the latest rage in producing butyrate is to ingest raw potato starch (NOT potato flour!). There are a lot of reports of
pretty profound affects from that, and my current best theory is that the starch is metabolizing in the colon to butyrate, and some
of the excess from that is becoming ketones.
Regarding konjac: my research suggests that even for a pure starch product, cooking to around 130 F bursts the starch modules
and they become something that metabolizes to glucose.
If you want pointers to anything regarding above, you can contact direct to persistentone AT spamarrest DOT com
P1 said...
I had a chance to read this article and comments more thoroughly, and a few observations:
1) If we ingest butyrate via food like butter or goat cheese, I have a hard time believing that any of this survives a long trip
through the small intestine. Either the butyrate feeds the small intestinal cells, or alternately passes through to the liver to become
ketones.
Does anyone have data suggesting that any significant amount of dietary butyrate would pass to the colon?
2) If we want to target the colon, then we should focus on resistant starch. Some of these like raw potato starch appear to be
near rocket fuel for the colon, based on the many reports of people who are taking it. Immediate visual confirmation that colonic
bacteria are feasting on this stuff is that potato starch is reported by many to significantly enlarge stool volume.
The questions become:
1) How much resistant starch is enough to produce butyrate at a level that creates a benefit?
2) How much resistant starch is enough to produce butyrate at a level that creates a toxicity or other side-effects that are
adverse?
3) How does one MEASURE anything to know that these levels are being achieved?
If we know that resistant starch will metabolize to butyrate, and that some of this will escape to metabolism and go to the liver to
create ketones, then we can use a ketone meter and should be able to see some effect at night if a raw potato starch meal is the
last one of the day.
At this point it seems to me we are all flying blind. Even if I test at night for ketones and see them rise above 0.2 mmol/L, I have
no criteria for how much is too much.
Lack of any precision or criteria for measuring makes this all highly speculative. We are engaging in a self-experiment and don't
have good criteria for success or failure.
March 2, 2014 at 7:49 PM

Speaking of appetite, I've also noticed that tyramine has a big effect on my appetite, making me full even though I've not eaten
much at all. There is a fair bit of tyramine in fish sauce and soy sauce, which are used a lot in the typical Asian cuisine. And it is
also produced in the human gut.
It doesn't seem clear if tyramine is considered a good thing or not, but it's been a standard in food for centuries and I haven't
seen any bad effects in me.
March 7, 2014 at 5:28 PM
Kim said...
awesome post! I googled "butyrate" after I read a study from medscape about gut flora and MS--hidden in the study was
references to IBS and butyrate.
Thank you!!
May 5, 2014 at 11:27 AM
Brenda Levin said...

Thank you so much for this - I am in Chinese medical school and feeling really depleted from all the studying and non-stop go go
going...I have been eating this amazing butter I found at Wholefoods called German Butter and I daydream about it during the
day. I knew there was a connection with Butyric Acid and I just couldn't remember what it was. This was a very helpful and
fantastic read. I also enjoy reading other peoples comments - what an informed and interesting bunch of readers! Thank you
again :)
May 6, 2014 at 3:34 PM

Floating Cloud said...
Great post. My concern is the sources of butyrate producing fiber in grains, nuts, seeds, beans, yams and sweet potatoes due to
essential mineral robbing phytate content and amount; http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/living-with-phytic-acid/ The
lowest amount of phytate I found is in raw potatoes (minus the sweet potatoes and yams) in amounts small enough to be
neutralized by phytase produced in human body. The bottom line is my highest source of butyrate producing food is Raw Organic
Potatoes (peeled to avoid bacteria and sprout associated elements), which are soft and have taste, and contain Resistant Starch
Category 2. RS2 is processed by the good bacteria in the large intestine into Butyrate. Im 58 years old and a 41-year Type 1
Diabetic and the results for my overall health besides decreased insulin-resistance have been spectacular. My diet is raw
vegetarian, but with boiled egg, raw goat milk, no oils, and no high-phytate source foods such as grains, nuts, seed, beans, ect.
June 12, 2014 at 2:55 PM
lisao said...
How is it concentrated? Ghee is simmered for a long time to remove all the water and milk solids. How would you concentrate
butter more than this process does short of putting it through some extreme procedure that would make it highly processed? Just
curious. I've read other people knowledgable in nutrition that say it is largely the same thing. It is the quality of the butter in terms
of pasture feeding and quality of pasture that make it high vitamin not some special processing done to it is my understanding.
The main difference is that those who invoke prices name and call it high vitamin butter oil charge several times the price than
those who call it ghee made from grass fed cows
September 24, 2014 at 10:08 AM
Unknown said...
Hi Stephan
thanks for a great post on Butyric acid (BA)! Just an hour ago, I came upon text script of Ron Rosedale-Shelly's interview "Fiber
Need It or Not?" and am concerned to read that research has shown that BA fuels colon cancer and that resistant starch (in
addition to high carb diets)which generates considerable BA should be eschewed. Rosedale maintains that BA from butter which
he generously eats is practically harmless as most of it get digested and assimilated before reaching the colon, hence does not
fuel the cancerous cells there. These research findings seem to oppose of what you posted here on BA, so what are your
thoughts on this? The link to the interview is as follows:
Ron Rosedale Fiber Need It or Not? - by Shelley

http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2014/11/10/ron-rosedale-fiber-good-or-bad/
Cjuan
July 8, 2015 at 2:18 AM
Stephan Guyenet said...

Hi Cjuan,
I strongly disagree with that perspective. First of all, I haven't seen any research suggesting that butyic acid promotes cancer. To
the contrary, multiple groups are investigating its anti-cancer potential.
Second, the idea that we should avoid fermentable fiber because it generates butyric acid is contrary to a large body of evidence
suggesting that both are beneficial. Our ancestors have nearly always eaten high-fiber diets (with the exception of people in arctic
environments) and to suggest that we do better on diets that contain little or no fiber is just bizarre. I could imagine that specific
cases of dysbiosis could benefit by restricting fuel to the microbial community, but I seriously doubt that works as a general
principle.
July 8, 2015 at 8:39 AM
Kitty Davidhizar said...

Hi, you don't mention resistant starch as a producer of butyrate. Just yesterday I started eating cooked and cooled parboiled rice
with some potato starch. Today after I ate another bowl I felt a feeling of warmth and well being that I've never felt after eating
anything. I'm normally a cold person, cold hands, cold feet. The feeling of warmth was unmistakeable and I also felt energized. I
got up and did some things that I had been putting off for days. I'm 66 and overweight hoping this will help my weight loss
program along with a generally low carb diet.
Kitty
July 29, 2015 at 3:01 PM
sally said...
I want to know more too. Seems eating cold pasta or rice made for a salad might be good for us rather then eating it hot. I heard
it can help diabetics as well
July 31, 2015 at 1:47 PM
Steve Barwick said...

PeterPeasant, you asked for evidence for the statement "It turns out, butyrate has been around in the mammalian gut for so long
that the lining of our large intestine has evolved to use it as its primary source of energy."
That got my curiosity up, as well. I haven't found much, but an article on ScienceDaily.com says, in relation to previous research
on butyrate, "...butyrate's anti-inflammatory properties were attributed to its role as main energy source for the cells lining the
colon." (See http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131113132202.htm).
So, somewhere out there, there are apparently some studies that have drawn this conclusion. (See
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131113132202.htm)
October 8, 2015 at 8:07 PM
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About Me
Stephan Guyenet
I'm an obesity researcher, neurobiologist, and author. In addition to my research, I enjoy synthesizing and communicating science for a
general audience. I have a BS in biochemistry (University of Virginia) and a PhD in neurobiology (University of Washington). Whole Health
Source is a free resource for anyone who loves the science of health.

Everything You Need to Know About Resistant Starch

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Resistant Starch 101 Everything You Need

Most of the carbohydrates in the diet are starches.

But not all of the starch we eat gets digested.

Sometimes a small part of it passes through the digestive tract unchanged.

In other words, it is resistant to digestion.

Type 4 is man-made and formed via a chemical process.

How Does it Work? What is The Mechanism?

Resistant Starch is a Superfood For The Digestive System

The most important of these short-chain fatty acids is butyrate (15).

Resistant starch has several beneficial effects on the colon.

The importance of insulin sensitivity cannot be stressed enough.

Resistant Starches May Help You Lose Weight by Improving Satiety

How to Add Resistant Starches to Your Diet

Several commonly consumed foods are high in resistant starch.

Should You Try it?

Butyric Acid: an Ancient Controller of Metabolism, Inflammation and Stress Resistance?

I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.

Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues

Butyrate Increases Resistance to Metabolic and Physical Stress

An Ancient Line of Communication Between Symbiotic Organisms

* According to insulin tolerance test.

and Stress Resistance?

The butyrate-fed mice remained lean and avoided

I found this study thought-provoking, so I looked into butyrate further.

Butyrate Suppresses Inflammation in the Gut and Other Tissues

Butyrate Increases Resistance to Metabolic and Physical Stress

An Ancient Line of Communication Between Symbiotic Organisms

* According to insulin tolerance test.

Posted by Stephan Guyenet at 8:00 PM

Todd Hargrove said...

December 7, 2009 at 11:28 PM

Todd Hargrove said...

December 7, 2009 at 11:41 PM

December 7, 2009 at 11:48 PM

December 7, 2009 at 11:49 PM

Jim Purdy said...

December 8, 2009 at 1:24 AM

December 8, 2009 at 3:10 AM

I wonder how fermented foods play here? Sauerkraut, idlis, etc.

December 8, 2009 at 5:21 AM

December 8, 2009 at 7:09 AM

Also, if butyrate is so beneficial, is it worth supplementing?

December 8, 2009 at 7:12 AM

December 8, 2009 at 8:08 AM

December 8, 2009 at 10:12 AM

Todd Hargrove said...

December 8, 2009 at 10:17 AM

Aaron Blaisdell said...

December 8, 2009 at 10:46 AM

The connection with Vitamin D3 is also interesting

December 8, 2009 at 11:12 AM

First up, Wikipedia on Butyric Acid. Things I note:

Rank Food Name

December 8, 2009 at 11:15 AM

Reduced dietary intake of carbohydrates by obese subjects results in

December 8, 2009 at 12:20 PM

December 8, 2009 at 12:22 PM

December 8, 2009 at 12:35 PM

There is a difference. Can't recall all the details right now.

Thanks, I'll have to take a closer look.

December 8, 2009 at 2:34 PM