Feeding mice butyric acid¹ improved their ability to burn fat on a high fat diet. The butyric acid improved their muscle function, health of brown adipose tissue, and various gene signals involved with fatty acid metabolism. Butyric acid also prevented insulin resistance from happening in these over-fed mice.

This study was published in Diabetes, the journal of the American Diabetes Association. It is both humorous and informative. Humorous because there is no mention of the primary food in the American diet that contains butyric acid, i.e., butter. Informative because it lends more information to an ever-growing body of information that is telling us that your gut is intimately associated with your metabolism.

Butyric acid is made in large amounts in your lower colon when friendly flora (acidophilus) ferment fiber and produce it. Butyric acid is the primary fatty acid required for repair of your digestive lining, prevention of cells turning cancerous in your colon, and now – as a metabolic booster for the improved metabolism of fat around your body.

If your colon gets out of balance with too many hostile bacteria or Candida, then your production of butyric acid declines as toxic byproducts increase. This not only slows your metabolism but increases your colon to risks for other problems, including irritable bowel.

Part of health, and part of healthy metabolism, is having your gut in really good working condition.