The Most Under Used Supplement
Butyrate is the most underused supplement in functional medicine, but is for sure next big hit when it comes to healing brain issues.
It’s not at all expensive to consume either, or to get our body to make on its own.
Butyrate heals the Blood Brain Barrier & dampens brain inflammation since the same cellular message pathways are involved. Research in the GastroIntestinal and Neuro-Autoimmune fields have found that consuming Butyrate orally will heal the BBB, but our gut bacteria actually produce Butyrate when we consume fiber through healthy gut diversity. The Butyrate created through this diversity binds to G-coupled protein receptors on our Regulatory T-cells that then calm down intestinal & systemic inflammation, including brain inflammation, which western medicine does NOT have a protocol for.
Glial cells in the brain have pro & anti inflammatory responses called M1 & M2. Post mortum animal studies have shown that an induced M1 inflammatory pathway is calmed down by giving Butyrate, which switches it to an M2 state AND it increases the synthesis of tight junction proteins in the gut. (That’s pretty amazing.) We tend to turn towards Glutamine for leaky gut & improving tight junction integrity, but Butyrate actually increases the synthesis of tight junction proteins just as well PLUS dampens endotoxemia alongside positively impacting the brain, which nothing else has been shown to do.
A Butyrate supplement is a great addition to your daily routine & I have a great recommendation if you need one. (A SCFA combo of Butyrate, Acetate & Propinate is best)
Or..
You can make your own Butyrate by taking a couple tspn’s combo of:
Chia seeds
Flax seeds
Hemp seeds
Psyllium + a little water or add to a shake.
Fiber is everything when it comes to microbiome health which directly impacts your entire body including the brain.
The more you can get, the better your health and the more longevity you’ll experience.
Note* if this makes you bloated, start slow and work your way up. You want about a 1 tspn-ish of each.
Butyrate inspo via Dr. Datis 🙌🏼 @kharrazian.institute .