There are truly amazing health benefits of consuming butter and ghee.
The benefits can be heavily attributed to a health-beneficial short-chain fatty acid called butyric acid. Butyric acid got its name from the Latin word for butter, butyrum.
Butyric acid was first detected in butter, and now ghee—which is a concentrated, clarified butter and a superfood in Ayurveda—is the highest known food source of this beneficial fatty acid.
As is turns out, the reason the body may love ghee so much is that the intestinal tract makes its own butyric acid – or, more accurately, our microbes make it!
This butyric acid produced in the gut performs many functions. It boosts immunity, is the primary fuel source for the cells of the colon, feeds the good microbes, and much more.
I use ghee as a detox agent in all of my Ayurvedic cleanses, specifically the Colorado Cleanse and the Short Home Cleanse. Ghee, which has been used for thousands of years, stimulates a detox through a process called lipophilic-mediated detoxification—a process now backed by modern science! Ghee is the tool used to attach to and pull fat-soluble chemicals, preservatives, and pesticides out of the deep tissues of the body. (6)
There is one special microbe that produces butyric acid in the gut, Clostridium butyricum. This strain has been used in Asia as a probiotic since the 1940s. It proliferates naturally in the small and large intestines of healthy individuals. Those with less-than-great digestion were found to have less butyric acid production in the gut. (5)
Potato skins, yogurt, and cream are said to be the foods that contain the highest amounts of Clostridium butyricum. (2)
Here are some of the benefits of butyric acid production from Clostridium butyricum in the colon: (1)
- Helps digestion by maintaining the integrity of the gastrointestinal mucosa.
- Inhibits the growth of unwanted bacteria in the gut and interferes with the growth of highly toxic bacteria.
- Encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria like Bifidobacterium.
- Supports healthy bowel function and regulates abnormal bowel movements,
- Helps adjust water and electrolyte concentration in the intestinal tract.
- Supports the health of the intestinal mucosa and normal bowel function in inflammatory bowel conditions. (3)
On top of this, in one very comprehensive study, butyric acid production in the gut was found to deliver a host of remarkable benefits that extend far beyond digestive health: (4)
- Increases insulin sensitivity
- Supports healthy cholesterol levels already within the normal range
- Increases cellular energy production and efficiency of energy utilization
- Mild reduction in fatty tissue
- Reduction in hunger levels
- Increases thermogenesis in the body
How to Get the Butyric Acid your Gut Requires with Ghee
You can make your own butyric acid in your intestinal tract by feeding your microbes who make it.
All you have to do is use 1-2 teaspoons of ghee each day as a cooking oil, or added to your food or beverage. Additional support to a healthy microbiome is to eat a high-fiber diet.
In nature, there is an abundance of soluble fiber in the winter, and insoluble fiber in the spring and summer. For soluble fiber, think grains, nuts and seeds, like chia, flax and oatmeal. For insoluble fiber, think leafy greens and spring and summer vegetables.
>>> Learn more about how to get the right fiber seasonally
>>> Download my seasonal grocery lists
Tina Huston says
March 24, 2018 at 8:46 amI use ghee as a cooking oil almost every day. I have to say that I haven’t been sick in years. I’m confident that the ghee has boosted my immunity. I use Ancient Organics ghee. People around me can be coughing and showing cold and flu symptoms, and I don’t pick up on it anymore. I used to get bronchitis that would last 3 months. No more. I do other things to keep illnesses away, but I truly have to say that the little bit of ghee each day is making a huge difference.
Amy says
March 23, 2018 at 12:43 amThese are all excellent questions posted. Can someone please answer them all either in the comments or another article?
Julia Pace says
March 21, 2018 at 9:25 pmInformation about how much butyrate your body can make from grass fed butter vs ghee would be welcome. Also, do some of us need more butyrate – like those who have had colon cancer or too many polyps?
Interesting article but lacking in hard data – do I need as much butyrate as my husband who is 100 lbs heavier?
Cathleen says
March 21, 2018 at 5:07 pmHi
Article suggested cooking with ghee daily, or putting on your food Is this subject to eating seasonally? Daily meaning during any season?
Thanks!
Premashakti says
March 20, 2018 at 10:04 pmHow does one make ghee taste better and digestible.. I can’t stand the taste at all nor can I digest it at all. It totally makes me sick. I know a lot about Ayurveda as I lived at an ashram for 25 years. I have done Panchakarma at the Ayurvedic Institute in Mexico. But I am allergic to dairy which I know what ghee is because I used to make it at home for fire ceremony and for eating but in the last decade I have been so careful with my diet and it excludes dairy and carbs and sugars that ghee simply tastes like the cow to me. Also since it is not made with unpasteurized butter it simply can’t have the qualities it did in ancient times.It is more Kaphic. What is your opinion on this?
Also butyric acid can be taken in a supplement if one can’t eat ghee.
Marina says
April 9, 2018 at 10:02 amPremashkti – gee is a butter without the dairy. So it can’t be called a dairy product.
Theodore Pong says
March 20, 2018 at 2:28 pmLike Amy says, why not plain old grass fed butter?
Ramon says
March 20, 2018 at 12:51 pmHello!
First of all thank you for all your wonderful posts and articles.
I was wondering why you keep talking about soluble and insoluble fibers whereas from what I have read in the past years the trend is to make a distinction between fermentable and non-fermentable fibers. What are your thoughts on this?
Thank you very much,
Ramón
Heather Huerta says
March 20, 2018 at 9:01 amDo you have to eat raw potato skins to benefit from the Clostridium butyricum? I don’t know if cooking kills the Clostridium butyricum. Thanks!
C says
March 20, 2018 at 9:16 amDefinitely don’t go eating raw potato skins just for the bacteria. Likely enough you’ll end up harming your digestive strength doing this. Bacteria other than just C. butyricum will beneficially create butyric acid, so targeting one species/strain isn’t necessary – the body will regulate microbial colonies by itself eventually. To stock up on a large variety of soil microbes and probiotic strains, simply add some raw root vegetables to your daily diet. “Herbs” like ashwagandha and ginseng, when in their raw, unprocessed form, contain large amounts of beneficial bacteria that will create butyric acid and a number of other good things. To prove this to yourself, simply combine uncooked ashwagandha powder (not extract or ground pill) to warm ghee, and leave this in a closet somewhere. After a week or so, it will have transformed to take on the characteristic odor of butyric acid! This is despite the fact that both ashwagandha and ghee by themselves are 100% room temperature/shelf stable. This is a good heart remedy, and specific for inflammatory conditions and psychological problems. The trick likely works with a large number of root medicines, especially those containing triterpenoid saponins.
Hope this helps!
Heather Huerta says
March 21, 2018 at 9:53 amHI Where do you purchase the uncooked ashwaghanda powder?
Thanks!
Amy says
March 20, 2018 at 7:34 amWhy not just grass fed butter? I had food poisoning from ghee once and I cannot see, smell or eat it now.