Postbiotics: more than microbes

Your gut doesn’t just rely on bacteria, it relies on what those bacteria produce. These compounds, known as postbiotics, are responsible for many of the gut’s key functions.

Butyrate is one of the most important postbiotics. Produced when beneficial bacteria break down fibre, it supports the structure and function of the gut barrier and contributes to a balanced digestive environment.

Modern lifestyle factors – including low fibre intake, stress, antibiotics and microbiome disruption – can impact both butyrate production and the bacteria that produce it. Providing butyrate directly helps support this system when natural production may not be keeping up.

Direct by design

Sodium butyrate: the research-preferred form

Butyrate is naturally present as butyric acid, but for supplementation it is stabilised as sodium butyrate, which is the form most widely used in clinical and mechanistic research. When consumed, it dissociates to release free butyrate, the biologically active compound used by the body.

Each capsule delivers 400 mg sodium butyrate, providing 320 mg of active butyrate. The sodium component acts as a stabilising carrier and is present in a small amount comparable to naturally occurring sodium in whole foods.

Lipid-protected delivery: reaching the right place

Butyrate is naturally produced and used in the large intestine. Without protection, it may be absorbed too early in digestion, before it reaches the cells that depend on it most. A lipid-based delivery system helps protect butyrate through the upper digestive tract and supports delivery to the colon, aligning with where it is naturally generated and utilised.


Beyond the barrier

Butyrate operates at multiple levels within the body, influencing cellular energy, gene expression and signalling pathways. In the large intestine, it serves as the preferred energy source for colonocytes, supporting rapid cell turnover, tight-junction protein expression and mucin production, which are key processes that support a selective gut barrier. Butyrate also acts as a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, which plays a role in gene expression related to immune balance and inflammatory regulation.

Beyond the gut, butyrate contributes to metabolic signalling, supporting insulin sensitivity, appetite regulation via GLP-1 and PYY, and broader gut–brain communication.


The Gut Barrier Builder difference

Formulated by a team of Nutritionists and Naturopaths using meaningful dosing, bioavailable forms and no unnecessary ingredients, with a focus on quality and thoughtful formulation.

Provides butyrate directly – the key short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) your gut produces from fibre – without relying on your microbiome to create it.

Butyrate is the primary energy source for the cells lining the large intestine, supporting gut barrier integrity and normal digestive function.

A lipid-based coating helps protect sodium butyrate through digestion, supporting delivery to the large intestine in alignment with where butyrate is naturally produced and used, while also helping reduce its naturally strong aroma.

Particularly relevant during digestive sensitivity, post-antibiotic recovery, microbiome disruption or periods of increased physiological demand, when butyrate production may be reduced or unreliable.

Butyrate plays a role in immune balance, metabolic signalling and gut–brain communication, supporting whole-body health.

Sodium butyrate is a valuable addition to gut-focused protocols, supporting the integrity and function of the gut lining. By nourishing colon cells and reinforcing barrier health, it helps support digestive resilience and a balanced gut environment as part of daily gastrointestinal care.

Gut Barrier Builder provides the fuel. Good Guts supports your body to produce it. One delivers the end product; the other builds the system that makes it.




Take control of your health and feel the Gutsi® difference.