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  4. The final video of stool testing shows short-chain fatty acid levels, and the butyrate level was slightly above the normal range, but within the normal overall level. Is there a danger or a clinical significance to ‘excess butyrate’?

The final video of stool testing shows short-chain fatty acid levels, and the butyrate level was slightly above the normal range, but within the normal overall level. Is there a danger or a clinical significance to ‘excess butyrate’?

Dr. Amy Nett: Great question because this one comes up quite a bit. We normally think of butyrate as a beneficial short-chain fatty acid, and my patients ask that question all the time. They say, “Well, my butyrate is a little high. Is that bad?” I haven’t really seen a lot of research on high butyrate being a concern, so I did run this question by Chris as well, and similarly, he hasn’t really seen much research on concerns around high butyrate levels. That said, he also said that he would think that any relative imbalance of the short-chain fatty acids, whether high or low, could potentially indicate dysbiosis, so I think that’s going to be an interesting place for us to keep an eye out for additional research. But at this time, it’s really unclear. It might indicate some dysbiosis, but I don’t think it indicates anything in particular. Just take a close look at what the makeup of the bacteria are in that microbiology section.

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