Why Butter? It is bursting with nutrition. It is full of the fat soluble vitamins, A, which are more easily absorbed and utilized from butter than from any other sources, D, E, and K2 (a mineral activator), and another little known short chain fatty acid called Butyrate that is critical to the health of your colon. The richest source of butyrate is butter !! These fat soluble vitamins are relatively stable and survive pasteurization so even conventional butter is still full of these nutrients. If you are dairy intolerant --- eat ghee--- a source of all the nutrients in butter fat without the dairy component. Butter from grass-fed cows is the best or organic butter is another good source. Butyrate is an an essential energy source for cells in the intestinal tract. Without butyrate ---or only a short supply --- intestinal cells die. The highest concentration of butyrate is in the colon. Your intestinal cells fully rely on gut bacteria to produce butyrate. Butyrate is a by product of well fed bacteria.
Leaky gut is one of the well known signs that the intestinal wall is inflamed. Butyrate supresses the developement of leaky gut and improves the intestinal barrier. Butyrate actually encourages the immune system to make immune cells that reduce inflammation. Researchers have found that the gut is less likely to suffer from inflammatory disorders in the presence of butyrate. Some are suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate.
Eating butyrate or taking supplements is not the most effective way to increase levels of butyrate in the gut (but do have some benefits). This is because the fermentation of fiber takes place in the colon.
Butyrate is an energy source for cells in the colon --- and the best way for butyrate to reach the colon is through fermentation in the colon. Good gut bacteria eat both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Insoluble fiber encourages gut bacteria to produce more butyrate than soluable fiber. The most important role of dietary fiber in the diet is to feed intestinal bacteria. When gut bacteria consume fiber they produce butyrate.
Ways to increase butyrate levels and healthy gut bacteria: (1) Eat fiber rich foods that feed good gut bacteria --dark leafy greens, vegetables, fruit and grain like seeds (buckwheat, quinoa, millet, and amaranth) whole grains , nuts, and beans (2) Eat foods rich in beneficial bacteria and yeast, cultured vegetables, coconut water kefir and probiotic beverages. (3) Consume resistant starches --- potatoes (cooked then cooled --- increases starch content), bananas (green, not ripe), black beans (soaked and sprouted when possible), oats (gluton-free) and brown rice. (4) Probiotic supplementation and consumption of fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, pickled beets, kombucha, and pickles. (5) Prebiotic foods act as meals for the healthy bacteria in your gut, --- artichokes, peas, mushrooms, garlic, and onions.
Bacteria line your intestines and help you digest food. During digestion, they make vitamins that are vital for life, send signals to the immune system and make small molecules that can help your brain work. Researchers have uncovered connections between intestinal bacteria and anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADD, autism, and Alzheimer's disease among others. Even chronic heart failure.
Gut health is linked to a substance called butyrate. If the intestines aren't working at their optimal best, levels of butyrate can undergo a decline, putting individuals at risk for colon cancer.
Intestinal permeability allows for nutrients and bacteria to escape through a weakened intestinal wall, allowing food and bacteria absorption to be impaired. This can trigger immediate damage and immune system reactions since these large molecules are perceived as foreign. Progressive damage occurs to the intestinal lining, eventually allowing disease-causing bacteria, undigested food particles, and toxins to pass directly into the bloodstream. Intestinal permeability may be the main cause behind why the body becomes sensitive to a particular type of food.
Low butyrate levels occur in healthy humans prior to the onset of disease, often in response to a poor diet high in sugar and low in fiber. Combining fiber and a good probiotic with specific botanicals, amino acids and fatty acids known to reduce intestinal permeability (like butyrate) can provide additional support for the colon. Phosphatidylcholine(PS) can enhance butyrates ability to inhibit colon cancer cells and works with fiber to strengthen the intestinal environment. The amino acid glutamine is one of the most powerful tools for reducing intestinal permeability.
Update to LIsa's treatment --- since our last blog Lisa has been going down hill. She has been tired alot and has developed more muscle pain in her legs. However, she has been doing daily 10 minute walks. We added some d-ribose, but stopped it because her depression has increased, we thought it might be the problem. Stress is an on going thing with her job, but she manages to work 5 days a week. She is sleeping fairly good now. She had tapered off of the bio-active whey protein, but we started it again for awhile.
In light of the new research about butyrate, Lisa is taking organic greens with botanicals and probiotics, and also eating multi-grain bread with organic butter. In her words, " I'm so sick and tired of dealing with all of this!!
In struggling to get Lisa back to optimal health, my research lead me to butyrate. Most CFS patients at some point had a virus infection, but, what if that didn't cause the on going symptoms ?? When any pathogen attacks the body we are given antibiotics, they don't just kill the bad and leave the good. More women than men are affected by CFS, but women also take oral contraceptives that deplete vitamins. What if CFS is caused by a near or complete depletion of gut bacteria. Or even a butyrate deficiency ?
Related New Research: Same Exposure but Two Radically Different Responses to Antibiotics: Resilience of the Salivary Microbiome versus Long -Term Microbial Shifts in Feces. http://mbio.asm.org/content/6/6/e01693-15-full
Over the long term, salivary microbiome was largely undisturbed by antibiotic administration. Meanwhile, microbiome diversity in fecal samples was reduced for up to 4 months in patients receiving clindamycin and up to 12 months in those receiving ciprofloxacin. Specifically, bacteria that produce the short-chain fatty acid butyrate--- which is linked to lower inflammation, carcinogenesis, and oxidative stress in the gut --- were significantly reduced.
Leaky gut is one of the well known signs that the intestinal wall is inflamed. Butyrate supresses the developement of leaky gut and improves the intestinal barrier. Butyrate actually encourages the immune system to make immune cells that reduce inflammation. Researchers have found that the gut is less likely to suffer from inflammatory disorders in the presence of butyrate. Some are suggesting that inflammatory bowel disorders may be caused or exacerbated by a deficiency of butyrate.
Eating butyrate or taking supplements is not the most effective way to increase levels of butyrate in the gut (but do have some benefits). This is because the fermentation of fiber takes place in the colon.
Butyrate is an energy source for cells in the colon --- and the best way for butyrate to reach the colon is through fermentation in the colon. Good gut bacteria eat both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. Insoluble fiber encourages gut bacteria to produce more butyrate than soluable fiber. The most important role of dietary fiber in the diet is to feed intestinal bacteria. When gut bacteria consume fiber they produce butyrate.
Ways to increase butyrate levels and healthy gut bacteria: (1) Eat fiber rich foods that feed good gut bacteria --dark leafy greens, vegetables, fruit and grain like seeds (buckwheat, quinoa, millet, and amaranth) whole grains , nuts, and beans (2) Eat foods rich in beneficial bacteria and yeast, cultured vegetables, coconut water kefir and probiotic beverages. (3) Consume resistant starches --- potatoes (cooked then cooled --- increases starch content), bananas (green, not ripe), black beans (soaked and sprouted when possible), oats (gluton-free) and brown rice. (4) Probiotic supplementation and consumption of fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, pickled beets, kombucha, and pickles. (5) Prebiotic foods act as meals for the healthy bacteria in your gut, --- artichokes, peas, mushrooms, garlic, and onions.
Bacteria line your intestines and help you digest food. During digestion, they make vitamins that are vital for life, send signals to the immune system and make small molecules that can help your brain work. Researchers have uncovered connections between intestinal bacteria and anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADD, autism, and Alzheimer's disease among others. Even chronic heart failure.
Gut health is linked to a substance called butyrate. If the intestines aren't working at their optimal best, levels of butyrate can undergo a decline, putting individuals at risk for colon cancer.
Intestinal permeability allows for nutrients and bacteria to escape through a weakened intestinal wall, allowing food and bacteria absorption to be impaired. This can trigger immediate damage and immune system reactions since these large molecules are perceived as foreign. Progressive damage occurs to the intestinal lining, eventually allowing disease-causing bacteria, undigested food particles, and toxins to pass directly into the bloodstream. Intestinal permeability may be the main cause behind why the body becomes sensitive to a particular type of food.
Low butyrate levels occur in healthy humans prior to the onset of disease, often in response to a poor diet high in sugar and low in fiber. Combining fiber and a good probiotic with specific botanicals, amino acids and fatty acids known to reduce intestinal permeability (like butyrate) can provide additional support for the colon. Phosphatidylcholine(PS) can enhance butyrates ability to inhibit colon cancer cells and works with fiber to strengthen the intestinal environment. The amino acid glutamine is one of the most powerful tools for reducing intestinal permeability.
Update to LIsa's treatment --- since our last blog Lisa has been going down hill. She has been tired alot and has developed more muscle pain in her legs. However, she has been doing daily 10 minute walks. We added some d-ribose, but stopped it because her depression has increased, we thought it might be the problem. Stress is an on going thing with her job, but she manages to work 5 days a week. She is sleeping fairly good now. She had tapered off of the bio-active whey protein, but we started it again for awhile.
In light of the new research about butyrate, Lisa is taking organic greens with botanicals and probiotics, and also eating multi-grain bread with organic butter. In her words, " I'm so sick and tired of dealing with all of this!!
In struggling to get Lisa back to optimal health, my research lead me to butyrate. Most CFS patients at some point had a virus infection, but, what if that didn't cause the on going symptoms ?? When any pathogen attacks the body we are given antibiotics, they don't just kill the bad and leave the good. More women than men are affected by CFS, but women also take oral contraceptives that deplete vitamins. What if CFS is caused by a near or complete depletion of gut bacteria. Or even a butyrate deficiency ?
Related New Research: Same Exposure but Two Radically Different Responses to Antibiotics: Resilience of the Salivary Microbiome versus Long -Term Microbial Shifts in Feces. http://mbio.asm.org/content/6/6/e01693-15-full
Over the long term, salivary microbiome was largely undisturbed by antibiotic administration. Meanwhile, microbiome diversity in fecal samples was reduced for up to 4 months in patients receiving clindamycin and up to 12 months in those receiving ciprofloxacin. Specifically, bacteria that produce the short-chain fatty acid butyrate--- which is linked to lower inflammation, carcinogenesis, and oxidative stress in the gut --- were significantly reduced.
