Gut Health Definitions You Need To Know

Popular Gut Health Terms and What They Mean

When it comes to gut health definitions, there’s a lot of misinformation and ambiguity. This is especially true for terms like postbiotics, butyrate, and even what exactly CoreBiome® is. Fortunately, we can all agree that human health begins with gut health! With competing gut health definitions and debates, explaining gut health products can become confusing for formulators and brands who want to do better by their customers. And worse, it becomes mega confusing for end-consumers who just want to find simple solutions on their health journeys.

This article is where we clarify the meaning of key words under the gut health definitions umbrella.

Gut Microbiome

The gut microbiome is the whole gut environment made up of trillions of microbes, bacteria, and fungi. These work to help with digestion and immunity, among many other aspects of your health.

Microbiota

In this case, the gut microbiota are the microorganisms (microbes, bacteria and fungi) that live in the gut microbiome.

Synbiotics

These are a mixture of two or more of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics. They are supposed to complement one another to achieve  better health and gut homeostasis (balance).

Postbiotics

Postbiotics are the substances created in the gut from good bacteria ‘eating’ and fermenting their ‘food.’ Good bacteria ‘food’ includes prebiotics, fiber, resistant starches and polyphenols. Butyrate is the #1 postbiotic.

Butyrate

One of three short-chain fatty acids, butyrate is the most important. It is produced when healthy bacteria in your gut break down dietary fiber. Butyrate helps regulate inflammation in the gut as well as gut barrier protection.  There is arguably no more important substance in gut health, and human health.

Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA)

There are three short-chain fatty acids: acetate, butyrate and propionate. Of those, butyrate is most important to our gut because it provides fuel to our colonocytes and helps maintain our gut lining to prevent bad bacteria from entering our blood stream. Butyrate is a liquid, though some product applications require a powder. So, reacting butyrate with sodium creates a powdered sodium butyrate. The downsides are that sodium butyrate smells rancid and is 100% absorbed in the stomach and small intestine before getting to the colon. So, sodium butyrate has very limited application.

Tributyrin (aka CoreBiome®)

Tributyrin (aka CoreBiome®) is three butyrate molecules reacted with glycerol. This creates  a triglyceride form of butyrate that is bioavailable in the colon. Tributyrin is naturally occurring in butter –  but who has time for that? This powerful butyrate triglyceride helps keep gut inflammation in healthy ranges and the gut lining strong.  CoreBiome® is a patented form of tributyrin which can be found in dietary supplements.

Tributyrate

Tributyrate is a less common way of saying tributyrin or butyrate triglyceride. All three mean the same thing.

CoreBiome®

CoreBiome® is a patented tributyrin postbiotic supplement. Some of it is released in the small intestine to help maintain gut homeostasis, and a large portion is bioavailable in the colon to support gut barrier protection. It also helps maintain digestive health, gut health, a balanced gut microbiome, regularity, immune health, and a healthy inflammatory response — faster than relying on dietary fiber alone.

Butyrate Triglycerides

This term is the same thing as tributyrin, though butyrate triglyceride is mostly used outside the United States.

Summary

The above terms are key to understanding the foundation of gut health definitions. In short, all of these statements are true –

• Butyrate is an SCFA
• Butyrate is a postbiotic
• Postbiotics are SCFAs
• Tributyrin (as CoreBiome®) is patented, and arguably the most important dietary supplement, yet. It delivers butyrate (a postbiotic and SCFA) to the small and large intestine for optimal gut health.

Think we should add to this list? Let us know.

Watch Formulator Minute on Gut Health

Learn Even More About Gut Health:

Tributyrin and Gut Health: Here’s the Scoop
Gut Health and Immunity
Butyrate Postbiotics: What are they and where can I find them?
CoreBiome® Tributyrin: The Source of Wellness
What are the Benefits of Tributryin?

Want to kick off your gut health formulations with the most innovative approach in the business? Contact us now.