Research

Energy balance

Colonic administration of short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) mixtures (high in acetate, propionate, or butyrate) increases fasting fat oxidation and resting energy expenditure in overweight/obese men.

To boost fat burning and energy expenditure, focus on consuming high-fiber foods that your gut bacteria can ferment into short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like acetate and butyrate. While the study used direct colonic infusion, the physiological goal is to support a diet rich in diverse fibers (vegetables, legumes, whole grains) to naturally elevate these metabolites in the colon, which signals your body to oxidize more fat and burn more energy at rest.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
All three SCFA mixtures increased fasting fat oxidation (P < 0.01)... whilst resting energy expenditure increased after HA and HP compared with PLA (P < 0.05).
Emanuel E. Canfora et al. · Scientific Reports · 2017

Why this rating

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design with physiological relevance, though small sample size (n=12).

Source

Colonic infusions of short-chain fatty acid mixtures promote energy metabolism in overweight/obese men: a randomized crossover trial

Emanuel E. Canfora et al. · Scientific Reports · 2017

DOI 10.1038/s41598-017-02546-x

crossover · n=12Cited 319×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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