Taking probiotics after antibiotics may help support your digestion and reduce side effects, including diarrhea. Eating high fiber and prebiotic foods may also help.
What are antibiotics?
Antibiotics are a type of medication used to treat bacterial infections. They work by stopping the infection or preventing it from spreading.
There are many different types of antibiotics. Some are broad-spectrum, meaning they act on a wide range of disease-causing bacteria. Others are designed to kill certain species of bacteria.
That said, antibiotics can come with some side effects, including negatively affecting your gut microbiome.
How do you rebuild good bacteria after antibiotics?
There are a number of changes you can make to your diet both while you are taking antibiotics and after.
1. Take Probiotics
Should you eat probiotics while taking antibiotics?
Taking antibiotics can alter the gut microbiota, which can lead to antibiotic-associated diarrhea, especially in children. That’s whereprobiotics may be able to help.
However, research shows that taking probiotics while or after you’re taking antibiotics can help preserveTrusted Source the bacterial diversity of your gut. It also seems to reduceTrusted Source the amount of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in your gut, which can help offset antibiotic resistance.
How long after antibiotics should you take probiotics?
However, given that probiotics are usually bacteria themselves, they can also be killed by antibiotics if taken together. So if you’re taking these simultaneously, some doctors recommend waiting 4-6 hours after taking a dose of an antibiotic before taking probiotics.
2. Eat fermented foods
Certain foods can also help restore the gut microbiota after damage caused by antibiotics.
Fermented foods are produced by microbes and include yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi, among others.
They containTrusted Source a number of healthy bacterial species, such as Lactobacilli, which can help restore the gut microbiota to a healthy state after antibiotics.
Therefore, eating fermented foods may help improve gut health after taking antibiotics.
Bottom line
Antibiotics are important when you have a bacterial infection.
However, they can sometimes cause side effects, including diarrhea, liver disease, and changes to the gut microbiota.
Taking probiotics during and after a course of antibiotics can help reduce the risk of diarrhea and restore your gut microbiota to a healthy state.
What’s more, eating high fiber foods, fermented foods, and prebiotic foods after taking antibiotics may also help reestablish a healthy gut microbiota.
SUMMARY
Taking probiotics during antibiotic treatment can reduce the risk of diarrhea, although the two should be taken a few hours apart. Probiotics can also help restore the gut bacteria after antibiotics
Fermented foods contain healthy bacteria, including Lactobacilli, which can help restore damage to the microbiota caused by antibiotics. Yogurt may also reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea
Source: Healthline
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