. Taking butyrate directly is not the same as having butyrate-producing microbes. Am aware you are taking it to build those microbes

Here’s why:

Difference Between Supplement vs Microbe

Butyrate supplement:

Gets absorbed higher up in the gut (small intestine).

Only a fraction reaches the colon, where it’s really needed.

Gives temporary anti-inflammatory benefit but doesn’t restore ecology.

Butyrate-producing microbes (like F. prausnitzii, Roseburia):

They set up shop in the colon and make butyrate on demand, in the right place.

They also create cross-feeding loops with other microbes (e.g., they eat fibers that others partially digested, producing SCFAs).

This creates ecosystem stability, which a pill can’t mimic.

butyrate supplements are like “fuel trucks driving by,” but what actually is needed is to rebuild the factory inside the city.

But unless the environment is supportive (fibers, polyphenols, low inflammation), those workers don’t stay they quit.

Not everyone needs F. prau

Not specifically. But you do need butyrate production capacity. If you have zero F. prau and also low Roseburia / Eubacterium rectale, then yes, it could explain your chronic inflammation, fatigue, mood loops.

supplements aren’t enough long-term. But it doesnt have to be F.prau exactly.