Butyrate is a short chain fatty acid molecule ... And it’s never too late — science says that the microbiome modulating benefits can also be accessed by elderly pet owners too.

These benefits seen with butyrate can be traced back to its beneficial impact on the gut microbiome (GM), the researchers explained. "Plant foods are fermented by GM to produce the antiobesogenic ...

Yukihiro Furusawa, Yuuki Obata, Shinji Fukuda, Takaho A. Endo, Gaku Nakato, et al. Commensal microbe-derived butyrate induces the differentiation of colonic regulatory T cells. Nature , 2013 DOI ...

Eating a handful of almonds a day significantly increases the production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that promotes gut health, according to a recent study.

In an Italian clinical trial of children with obesity, 6 months of butyrate supplementation was associated with a 10% average reduction in BMI and improved metabolic measures.