Make Sure To Eat Your Vegetables
Especially the leafy green ones! Vegetables are loaded with fibres, which cannot be digested by people but are consumed by the good bacteria in your gut. It has been observed that people who follow a diet rich with fruits and vegetables are less likely to grow disease-causing bacteria. Some great examples of vegetables that feed your microbes are:
Comprehensive Testing For Digestive Health
Home tests are simple and can help you understand your health better. They can help you to identify certain digestive health problems without seeing a professional. However, if you have digestive health troubles and symptoms of gut dysbiosis, further testing is highly beneficial. Here is what I recommend.
The Kind Of Antibiotic
If you visit your doctor for any infection, youll likely receive an antibiotic with a broad spectrum. This is because unless your doctor takes a sample of your blood and sends it to a laboratory to be examined, they will not know what kind of bacteria is responsible for the infection. Prescribing an antibiotic with a broad spectrum makes the drug more likely to act against your infection. However, the bacteria in your gut will suffer more of a hit.
When researchers treated mice with either a broad-spectrum antibiotic called cephalosporin or a combination with three antibacterial agents , Both treatments led to significant changes in the gut the microbial community.
The mice given the broad-spectrum antibiotic didnt recover their average diversity. Still, the other mice were given the amoxicillin-containing combination mostlybut not whollyreturned to pre-treatment levels.
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When The Community Is Disrupted It Can Quickly Become Unbalanced And Creates A Greater Risk For Disease And Inflammation
By killing the good guys, antibiotics undo the balanced relationship that exists between you and your gut bacteria. As a result, the diversity and quantity of bacteria strains decreases.
When important members of the bacterial community are killed off, those that remain have a difficult time carrying out all of the important functions because they dont have the support from the rest of the community.
Resistant members of the community, meaning bad bacteria that are extra strong, are able to survive in the face of an antibiotic. Increases in these resistant members makes you more prone to further infection and development of antibiotic resistant disease.
Doesnt sound good? It isnt.
The extent of the changes to your gut microbiota will depend on the strength of the antibiotic and the length of time it is taken. However, regardless of type and time there are things you can do to protect yourself and your gut community:
FIND A QUALITY PROBIOTIC
Make sure to select a good quality, pharmacy grade probiotic. When it comes to probiotics, buying one at the grocery store may be cheaper, but those are not always best. The antibiotics have wiped out your good gut bacteria so you want a probiotic with a variety of strains since you want to replenish as much of the bacteria as you can.
Look for a high CFU count, which are the amount of live cells capable of forming new colonies. Generally, looking for 25-50 billion CFUs and the greatest number of strains will be the most helpful.
How To Increase Good Bacteria In The Gut Naturally
A good gut diet requires lots of dietary fibres, called prebiotics. You know, the ones found in natural, plant-based foods? Your gut bacteria love them!
The probiotics we mentioned above thrive on prebiotics many of which are the non-digestible carbohydrates in fruit, veg, seeds, grains, and pulses. However, the Western diet is low in foods that promote healthy gut flora, but high in fat, meat, and refined sugar.
Ultimately, this affects our health by reducing healthy gut bacteria and increasing our risk of weight gain, metabolic problems, chronic inflammation, and disease. Fortunately, its an easy problem to solve because your gut bacteria love edible plants.
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The Role Of Probiotics
If microbiota are so vital to our health, how can we ensure that we have enough or the right types? You may be familiar with probiotics or perhaps already using them. These are either foods that naturally contain microbiota, or supplement pills that contain live active bacteriaadvertised to promote digestive health. Probiotic supplement sales exceeded $35 billion in 2015, with a projected increase to $65 billion by 2024. Whether you believe the health claims or think they are yet another snake oil scam, they make up a multi-billion dollar industry that is evolving in tandem with quickly emerging research.
Because probiotics fall under the category of supplements and not food, they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. This means that unless the supplement company voluntarily discloses information on quality, such as carrying the USP seal that provides standards for quality and purity, a probiotic pill may not contain the amounts listed on the label or even guarantee that the bacteria are alive and active at the time of use.
Add A Collagen Supplement
There is some research to suggest that collagen supplementation has therapeutic effects on the gut lining. This is largely due to the amino acid content in the collagen protein. Collagen contains the amino acids glycine, glutamine, and proline, which are largely beneficial to the intestines.
Glutamine for one, is the most abundant amino acid in the body and works to repair and maintain the integrity and function of the gut barrier both of which are vital post-antibiotic treatment.
Whats more, glycine is an essential amino acid that directly improves the health of the gut by protecting cells from damage and helping to rid of toxins .
Soothing the gut with foods and supplements that help strengthen its barrier will help make it more resistant to damage and better equipped to heal after antibiotics. Incorporating a collagen supplement into your routine is a great way to provide your body with the amino acids it needs .
To ensure you are getting a high-quality collagen supplement its best to look for one sourced from grass-fed cows and without any added ingredients.
Our Naked Collagen is made exclusively from European pasture-raised and grass-fed bovines, its highly soluble, and tasteless, making it an easy addition to your morning coffee or smoothie.
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Improving Gut Health After Antibiotics
There is increasing clinical evidence that taking probiotics during and after antibiotic use can decrease the risk of invasion by opportunistic pathogens and development of antibiotic-associated diarrhea1820. However, further research is still needed in this area and it is likely that different strains of probiotics have different levels of efficacy.
Although it is likely probiotics can protect against the invasion of opportunistic pathogens, a recent small study observed that probiotics may also inhibit the return of the native gut microbiota21. The study found it took longer for the native gut microbiota to return in individuals who consumed probiotics for 28 days following antibiotic use compared to individuals who did not take probiotics. Therefore, it appears there are both positive and negative factors to consider when deciding to take probiotics to help the gut microbiome recover from antibiotics.
A good general strategy to improve gut health is to make sure you feed your gut microbiome foods that will allow your beneficial resident microbiota to grow back. This means eating a wide variety of foods that are high in fibre and plant polyphenols such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains22.
This microbiome test is not intended to be used to diagnose or treat medical conditions. A full disclaimer is available here.
References
Focus On A Healthier Lifestyle Overall
While eating right is crucial for restoring harmony in your gut microbiome, theres more that you can do to accelerate the healing process.
- Drink plenty of water throughout the day, all day. Hydration will help the gut and smoothen digestion naturally.
- Move! This is importantfocus on at least 20-minutes of exercise, preferably in nature every day.
- Your body needs time to rest and recover after putting up a fight against the effects of antibiotics. Make sure you get 7-8 hours of sleep every night to stay energetic throughout the day and wake up with the sun and stop eating around 7PM.
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Avoid Sugar And Processed Foods To Control Growth Of Candida
One of the ways how to heal gut flora is to avoid sugar since yeast tends to feed on them. Yeast thrives on sugar, so reducing your sugar intake will directly reduce your risk of a yeast infection. Without cutting back on sugar, yeast can take over and cause some health problems.
Although, while you are reducing your intake of sugar, you should also not consume too many artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners are popular replacements for sugar. However, there have been studies shown that artificial sweeteners can harm your gut microbiota.
How Long Does It Take For Your Gut Bacteria To Recover After Antibiotics
As we rapidly discover the importance a rich and diverse gut microbiome has on our overall health, some researchers are beginning to ask what the impact of widespread antibiotic use has been on our gut bacteria. A new study has closely examined the regrowth in gut bacteria after major antibiotic interventions, revealing that while much of our microbiome does recover, some species could be permanently eradicated.
The research focused on 12 healthy male subjects, each of who was initially subjected to a four-day treatment comprising three strong antibiotics designed to almost completely eliminate most bacterial species living in their gut. The participants were then monitored for six months to analyze how the microbial flora in their gut recovered.
The initial results were somewhat positive, with most bacterial species reappearing after around one and half months, but not everything returned to normal. At the six-month point the researchers discovered that nine common species of bacteria had still not reappeared in most of the subjects. No conclusions have been made by the researchers to link the missing gut bacteria to specific health effects, but Oluf Pedersen, lead on the study, does suggest recurrent antibiotic use may confer permanent gut bacteria alterations over a persons lifetime.
The new study was published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
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Commonly Recognized Signs Of Gut Bacteria Imbalance
You may not realize that the source of your issues is due to a gut bacteria imbalance caused by the use of antibiotics. Here are some signs that your healthy gut flora has been damaged:
- yeast infection
- chronic bad breath
The good news is there are ways to help speed up the process of restoring gut flora after antibiotics. Below, I will explain some of the most important ones.
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Ways To Restore Your Gut After Antibiotics
Home> Blog> 4 Ways to Restore Your Gut After Antibiotics
6 minute read.
Maintaining proper balance of healthy gut flora the complex community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tracts is a crucial, yet widely overlooked component of human health. While the inception of antibiotics has lengthened lifespans, our excessive and often unnecessary use of these medications account for adverse, long-term health consequences. Antibiotic literally translates as against life, and their objective is to eliminate the bad bacteria that is responsible for your illness. However, antibiotics are not selective as to which bacteria they annihilate, and as a result they also kill the good bacteria. This is important because these beneficial bacteria support your immune system, protect you from disease and infection, help you digest and process food, aid in nutrient absorption and eliminate waste. We now know that at least 70% of our immune system resides within our gut. Unfortunately, after a course of antibiotics the natural balance between beneficial and pathogenic bacteria is compromised. So what can you do to repair and restore this imbalance following a course of antibiotics? Consider the following recommendations:
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How Long Does It Take To Restore Gut Bacteria After Antibiotics
You know how to replenish good bacteria after antibiotics, but how long does the process take? A year-long study found that it took between 1-12 months for the human microbiota to normalize after antibiotic administration. The most pronounced effect occurred on day 11, and researchers found that most microbiota returned to pre-exposure levels within 2-4 weeks.
Ways To Heal Gut Flora After Antibiotics
While we want to always encourage a preventative approach when it comes to health and wellness, sometimes things catch us by surprise, and we come down with something much more insistent than the occasional virus or flu. And although its been well established that over-dependence on antibiotics can weaken gut health, sometimes you just cant avoid it. For those times you have to take antibiotics, we want you to know there are ways of working through it with the best body support possible.As antibiotics kill infection-causing microorganisms in the body, they also take a wide indiscriminate swipe at the beneficial bacterial in your microbiome. Depending on the course of the prescription, it can actually devastate the biome and drive you away from optimal gut health. In fact, studies indicate up to a 10-fold reduction in good bugs immediately after treatment!Thats why were offering a series of 1-2 punches to really jumpstart your recovery. And theres no need to wait till the course is done, there are many benefits to supporting your body from day one. So, if you can: start including these tips into your recovery plans right away, and continue them even after the treatment has finished to ensure the best possible healing.
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How Do I Restore Good Bacteria
Below youll find some quick and easy tips for restoring good bacteria. For more information on the best strategies for restoring gut flora, see our article here.
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Good Bacteria And Gut Health
But weve been told for decades that all bacteria are evil, so if youre wondering, Is flora good for you? right now, then youre not alone. Dont worry, this widespread belief is a myth. In fact, now we know that bacteria are overwhelmingly harmless, some are great, and only a few are bad.
For your gut to stay happy and keep you healthy, it depends on microbial diversity. Basically, there must be lots of different types of microbes living together. When there isnt, it leads to dysbiosis, in which there isnt enough diversity and some bacteria can grow out of control.
When an imbalance of good and bad bacteria happens, the microbiome can become unhappy, and this has consequences for digestion, inflammation, the gut lining, and even mood and brain health.
Say hello to your little friends! Discover the diversity and composition of your gut bugs with the Atlas Microbiome Test.
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Heal Your Gut After Antibiotics With Functional Medicine
While antibiotics are lifesaving drugs when used properly, they can really do a number on an otherwise healthy digestive system. Not only do they kill the bad bacteria causing an infection, but they also destroy many of the beneficial bacteria in your gut. This leads to an imbalance in your microbiome that can cause diarrhea, constipation, and stomach cramps, among other unpleasant symptoms.
Now, we know that the health of your gut and microbiome is paramount to overall health, and that an imbalanced gut can cause long-term health problems if not addressed.
Learn more about functional medicine for digestive health.
How To Balance Your Gut Health After Taking Antibiotics
It may not be realistic to swear off all antibiotics because they can be necessary for certain circumstances. If your situation requires antibiotics in order for you to heal, then listen to your doctor, but know that there are ways to keep your gut healthy while doing so.
Adding these supplements and foods that promote healthy gut flora into your diet and daily routine can help to enhance your gut after taking antibiotics.
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Tips To Speed Up The Restoration Of Good Bacteria
Plan For A Healing Anti
Those of you whose children are experiencing limited healing in their gut should opt for a special healing diet, which can help their gut recover a lot faster. Anti-inflammatory foods, such as bone broth and gelatin, can be included as they help heal and restore the mucosal lining in your digestive system.
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