Gut Reactions by Simon Quellen Field

Author:Simon Quellen Field
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

ACETATE, PROPIONATE, BUTYRATE

The fatty acids butyric acid and acetic acid have been shown to be protective against diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance (Lin et al. 2012), even when not reducing food intake. Propionic acid, on the other hand, has been shown to reduce food intake. Butyrate and propionate, but not acetate, induce gut hormones and reduce food intake. (When fatty acids combine with other molecules, they lose a proton and are no longer acids, and we refer to them by the name of the remaining part of the molecule.)

All three of these short-chain fatty acids are produced by microbes in the human gut, mostly the large intestine, and these microbes are strongly affected by diet.

Butyrate (the four-carbon fatty acid) is the main food source for the cells lining the intestine (enterocytes). Getting enough fiber in the diet helps to strengthen the gut barrier. This protects us from bacteria and inflammatory molecules that can otherwise leak through the intestinal lining. But butyrate also acts as a hormone, reducing inflammation, oxidative damage, and transcription factors that activate inflammatory cytokines. Butyrate gives a feeling of satiety (fullness) after a meal. Butyrate also promotes the formation of regulatory T-cells, immune cells that regulate immune function.

Mice fed a high-sugar, high-fat diet become obese and insulin resistant. Adding butyrate to the diet prevents and reverses insulin resistance.

Butyrate increases energy expenditure by modulating the mitochondria, the organelles inside cells that are responsible for managing energy.

Acetate and propionate stimulate production of peptide YY, which speeds up the passage of food through the intestines, thereby reducing the time it has to be absorbed. This reduces the amount of energy the body can harvest from a meal. Acetate and propionate also induce secretion of GLP-1, the hormone that increases insulin sensitivity and satiety.

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