Short-chain fatty acidsSCFAs · Butyrate
What gut bacteria make from fibre — and a main fuel for the colon lining.
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) — chiefly acetate, propionate and butyrate — are the main products of gut bacteria fermenting the fibre your own enzymes cannot digest.
They matter because they are the mechanism linking fibre to gut health rather than a vague hand-wave: butyrate is a preferred fuel for the cells lining the colon, and SCFAs are studied for their roles in gut-barrier integrity, immune signalling and host metabolism.
In practice, you raise SCFA production by eating more and more varied plant fibre, not by buying them; supplement forms are early-stage and no substitute for the diet that generates them.
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Written and reviewed by Mathew Beale, MSc Biotechnology, University of Reading.
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