Butyrate and tributyrin: what you need to know

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid and one of the most studied substances in microbiome research. You do not get it from your food: your gut bacteria make it, from the fibre you eat.

That is where the limitation sits. How much butyrate you produce depends on which bacteria you happen to have in your gut. And over that you have only limited influence.

Tributyrin turns that around. It is a molecule with three butyrate molecules bound to a glycerol backbone. Once the capsule dissolves in your small intestine, lipase enzymes release them. No gut flora required (Smith et al., 2024).

Tributyrin or sodium butyrate: not what you expect

If you have looked into butyrate supplements before, you will have come across sodium butyrate. It is by far the most common form on the market, and it has one well-known drawback.

Butyrate is also known as butyric acid, and it takes that name from the smell of rancid butter. Anyone who has taken sodium butyrate knows exactly what that means: the smell, the taste, and an aftertaste that lingers for hours. That is not a small detail. A supplement you cannot stick with is a supplement you will not take.

In tributyrin the butyrate is bound, and that changes everything. Odourless and tasteless, a stable powder, shelf-stable at room temperature. It is precisely why current clinical research uses this form rather than the salt (Smith et al., 2024).

Why is there also a probiotic and a fibre in it?

Tributyrin is the active component of this capsule. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG and the Sunfiber fibres are in there for a reason that can be measured: in a laboratory model of the large intestine, ButyraGen combined with LGG produced more butyrate than ButyraGen on its own.

We do not add a probiotic to pad out the label, and we do not sell 100 mg of fibre as a fibre supplement. This is the composition as it was studied. We claim nothing beyond that.

That these three can sit together in one capsule at all is not a given. Moisture is what destroys a probiotic, which is why most probiotics are packaged separately. The ButyraGen raw material has an exceptionally low water activity: typically 0.12, against a specification below 0.20. That dryness is what makes the combination possible.

200 mg per capsule, the full researched dose

Each capsule contains 200 mg ButyraGen, of which 100 mg is tributyrin. That is exactly the amount used in the published human research on this ingredient (Smith et al., 2024; Dosz et al., 2025). One capsule a day is the entire daily dose, not a fraction of it.

That is less obvious than it sounds. We could just as easily have put in 50 mg. Same ingredient on the label, a considerably better margin, and nobody would notice. It is exactly what makes this market so difficult to read.

Butyrate and Akkermansia: do you have to choose?

No. Akkermansia muciniphila is a gut bacterium that lives exclusively on mucin, the mucus layer in your gut. Tributyrin is not a bacterium but a molecule, and it delivers butyrate by a route that is independent of which bacteria you have. Two different paths within the same field of research. They do not get in each other’s way.

Give it 90 days

Your gut is a complex ecosystem that needs time to respond to change. The published research on this ingredient ran for three to six weeks. Our own advice goes further: allow three months. The 60 capsule bottle covers two months, the 180 capsule bottle six.

Made entirely in the Netherlands

All three raw materials trace back to a manufacturer with a dossier: ButyraGen from NutriScience, Sunfiber from Taiyo, and the LGG strain. No anonymous bulk material whose origin disappears somewhere along the supply chain.

We encapsulate in our own FSSC 22000 certified factory. Sourcing, testing, production and packaging: all under one roof, under our own supervision. Every batch goes to an independent laboratory before we release it, and is checked for:

• Pathogens: E. coli, Salmonella, Enterobacteriaceae
• Heavy metals: lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury (far below EU limits)
• Microbiological purity: yeasts and moulds
• Pesticides and PAHs: compliant with European standards

We publish those results because we can. The certificate of analysis and the Product Specification Sheet are in the product gallery on this page.

Certifications

• GMO-free: certified in accordance with EC 1830/2003
• Not irradiated: in accordance with EC 1999/2
• FSSC 22000: international food safety standard
• Vegetarian: plant-based HPMC capsules

Product features

• Direct source of butyrate through 100 mg tributyrin per capsule
• 200 mg ButyraGen per capsule, in line with the published clinical research
• With the LGG strain and Sunfiber fibres from the laboratory research
• Odourless and tasteless, without the aftertaste of sodium butyrate
• Branded raw materials with traceable origin and their own dossier
• Plant-based capsules (HPMC), suitable for vegetarians
• Shelf-stable at room temperature, no refrigeration needed
• Available in 60 and 180 capsules, covering two to six months
• Made entirely in the Netherlands in our own FSSC 22000 facility
• 50% cheaper than comparable products
• Certificate of analysis and Product Specification Sheet viewable in the product gallery
• GMO-free and not irradiated in accordance with EU law

About Kala Health

Kala Health was founded in 1997. Since then we have formulated our own supplements, treated clients and advised on nutrition and supplementation. That combination of developing, producing and advising has always been at the core of Kala Health. We make no compromises on quality and have every raw material carefully tested in independent laboratories.

Today we work with a team of nutritionists, an in-house therapist and a pharmacist. Everything happens in our own FSSC 22000 certified facility in the Netherlands: from raw material analysis to finished product, under our own supervision. That integrated approach is what allows us to deliver products you can rely on completely: transparent, pure and carefully made.

References

1. Smith, M., Lelah, M., Goggans, M., et al. (2024). Investigation of the tolerability and potential health benefits of a novel butyrate generating supplement in a pilot human study. Nutrition and Healthy Aging, 9(1), 133-144. https://doi.org/10.3233/NHA-240005
2. Dosz, E., Conley, D. & Lelah, M. (2025). A novel direct butyrate generator reduces belly pain in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. Nutraceuticals, 5(2), 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/nutraceuticals5020014
3. Dosz, E., Conley, D. & Lelah, M. (2025). A novel butyrate generator helps modulate the gut-brain axis: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical study. Nutrition and Dietary Supplements, 17, 127-143. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDS.S565532

Questions about butyrate or ButyraGen®?

Would you like to know more about ButyraGen, or do you have questions about your own situation? Our team of nutritionists and therapists is happy to think along with you. Call us on (+31) 070 345 0290 or email info@kalahealth.eu.

Due to legal restrictions we are not permitted to state every detail about this food supplement. A food supplement is not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.