Sodium Butyrate & Tributyrin
Also known as: Butyrate · Butyric acid · Tributyrin · Calcium-magnesium butyrate
Butyrate fuels the cells lining the colon. One detailed forum account credits it with major healing, and a small open-label Crohn’s study was encouraging.
Why people try it
Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that gut bacteria make from fibre, and it’s the main energy source for the cells lining the colon. People with IBD tend to have fewer butyrate-producing bacteria, so the idea is to supply it directly. Tributyrin is a form designed to survive further down the gut.
What people report
- A HealthUnlocked member wrote a detailed post crediting sodium butyrate with a major improvement in their IBD.
- Replies to that post discussed tributyrin as an alternative form.
Counter-reports & downsides
- We found few other detailed firsthand accounts, so the positive picture rests on a small number of enthusiastic posts.
- Sodium butyrate has a strong, unpleasant smell, so capsule quality and coating matter.
Where it’s discussed
Public threads we drew from. Read them in full for the context around each experience.
- Sodium butyrate is healing me HealthUnlocked (IBD community)
What the research says
In a small 2005 open-label study, 13 people with mild-to-moderate Crohn’s took 4 g a day of enteric-coated butyrate for 8 weeks. Nine improved and seven reached remission, with improvement also seen on colonoscopy and biopsy. There was no placebo group, so the results are preliminary.
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Oral butyrate for mildly to moderately active Crohn’s disease
Di Sabatino A, Morera R, Ciccocioppo R, et al. · Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics · 2005 · PMID 16225487
Forms people mention
Sodium or calcium-magnesium butyrate capsules (ideally enteric-coated), and tributyrin capsules or liquid.
Amounts people mention online are personal choices, not recommendations.
Safety
- Well tolerated in the small Crohn’s study above.
- Sodium butyrate adds sodium, which matters if you’re limiting salt.
If you decide to try it
Talk to your gastroenterologist first, especially if you take prescription medication. If you go ahead, these quality markers help:
- Enteric-coated or delayed-release capsules, as used in the Crohn’s study
- Clearly stated butyrate amount per capsule
- Third-party tested for purity
Coming soon
Tried Sodium Butyrate & Tributyrin? Your experience matters.
Our Community Symptom Tracker will let you log what you take and how you feel — and see what’s working for people like you. Alongside it, our wellness store will offer curated, third-party-tested protocols.
Phase 2 — in development
Where traditional research stops, our community begins
Natural compounds can’t be patented, so they rarely get the multi-million-dollar trials that drugs receive. That leaves people with Crohn’s without answers to the questions that matter most: what actually helps, at what dose, and for whom? Our Community Symptom Tracker will crowdsource those answers from real people living with Crohn’s, and our upcoming wellness store will make it easy to find quality, third-party-tested products.
- Log your symptoms, supplements and doses in a private daily tracker
- See what’s working for people with the same disease location and medications
- Contribute to the largest real-world dataset on natural Crohn’s support
- Shop curated, third-party-tested protocols from our upcoming store
Be one of the first to join
Early access is opening soon. Bookmark this page and check back — we’ll announce sign-ups here first.