How To Heal Gut After Antibiotics

Why Is It Important To Support Your Childs Gut Microbiome

Recent research has found that an alteration to the balance of healthy gut bacteria during infancy can have a negative effect on their immune health into adulthood meaning that disordered gut health early in life, can have lifelong ramifications.

Further studies into the area support this idea that healthy gut bacteria is essential in babies and young children to reduce the risk of developing atopic conditions such as asthma and eczema, digestive symptoms such as colic, and even in the eventuality of lifestyle related conditions in adulthood, such as obesity.

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.

Ways To Heal Your Gut After Antibiotics

Are you looking to heal your gut after antibiotics? I can certainly understand, as I was in the same position just a couple of months ago.

I had to go through an intense few months of antibiotic treatment. Though I had gone to the dentist and doctor regularly, an infection in my jaw bone was missed repeatedly over the course of 2 years.

The infection had spread over that time span and had become fairly serious. I was scheduled for surgery and was put on a course of long-term antibiotics. This included one month of at-home IV antibiotics. I administered my own infusions every 6 hours around the clock.

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The Composition Of Gut Bacteria Almost Recovers After Antibiotics For Most People

Research has revealed an interesting strategy that some bacteria deploy to re-establish themselves after antibiotics. They use resistance genescalled the resistome by scientiststo make sure theyre never wiped out.

After attempting to eradicate certain bacterial species with antibiotics, researchers looked at the microbiomes of 12 healthy men over a six-month period and documented the collateral damage.

Initial changes included blooms of certain types of potentially harmful bacteria, along with the depletion of friendly Bifidobacterium and butyrate-producing species. However, the researchers state that the gut microbiota of the subjects recoveredalmost to original levelswithin 1.5 months.

Its important to note, though, that nine common species, which were present in all subjects before the treatment, remained undetectable in most of the subjects after 180 days .

How To Balance Your Gut Microbiome

Now Ill tell you about another secret weapon I recommend everyone consider when dealing with an unbalanced microbiome. Microb-Clear® is a cutting-edge blend of botanical extracts, minerals, and fatty acids that create a favorable environment for beneficial bacteria that could have been killed with antibiotics. It also creates an inhospitable environment for microorganisms that have become dysbiotic or imbalanced.

Most bacteria do not live alone, they live in communities. These communities, called biofilms, adhere to surfaces and tend to be multiple species of organisms, commonly bacteria and fungi. Inside the biofilm community, bacteria share nutrients, and even DNA, while undergoing changes to evade your immune system. As a whole, the biofilm can sustain itself with less oxygen and fewer nutrients than individual bacteria great for the bad guys, not great for us! The biofilm is more resistant to antibiotics, forming a physical barrier that even cloaks the bad bacteria from being detected by immune cells.

With biofilms cleared out and an optimal balance of microorganisms in the gut, you are supporting your immune system. I mentioned earlier that 80% of your immune system is headquartered in your gut, and 90% of your neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, are also produced there! By supporting optimal microbiome and gut health with Microb-Clear®, you are setting the stage for optimal health!

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Impact On Host Defense Against Infection

Antibiotics have attracted much attention as one of the most important factors that causes microbial dysbiosis during infancy and are linked to a higher risk of diseases with immune involvement in later life, including infectious diseases . In case control retrospective studies, prolonged exposure to antibiotic therapy was found to be associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis, late-onset sepsis, or death among very low birth weight infants . By analyzing the stool microbiota and metabolites of preterm infants with seven days of empirical antibiotic treatment, Zhu et al. showed a significant reduction in bacterial diversity and enrichment of pathogens, such as Streptococcus and Pseudomonas . A Danish cohort study demonstrated that maternal antibiotics prescribed before or during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of infant infection-related hospitalization . Epidemiological studies further shed light on how antibiotic use predisposes human infants to susceptibility to diarrhea and respiratory tract infections . Although these studies provide crucial indications on increased susceptibility to infection, more convincing and direct evidence originates from studies involving animal models.

What Probiotics For Antibiotic Side Effects

Typically, it will take the body time to balance the microbiome to healthy, diverse bacteria levels. In fact, research shows that it takes about 6 months to recover from the damage done by antibiotics. And even then, the body might not even be back to its pre-antibiotic state.

Saccharomyces boulardii, a probiotic yeast is particularly good at preventing and alleviating antibiotic-associated diarrhea and travellers diarrhea. Its also a friend to your gut bacteria that supports good bacteria and prevents inflammation.

Lactobacillus acidophilus, a probiotic bacterium best known for being in yoghurt is also great for your gut. Studies show that its good at treating and preventing infections, and reducing the digestive side effects of antibiotics.

Other bacteria that help recover from antibiotic use include:

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How Do Antibiotics Work

Antibiotics are mighty drugs that people are given when they have a bacterial infection. They target bacteria causing infections, and kill or decrease the growth of that bacteria.

Unfortunately, antibiotics dont stop at only killing bad bacteria. Instead, antibiotics kill good bacteria too. So antibiotics affect your entire microbiome. When an imbalance of good and bad bacteria happens, the microbiome can become unhappy, and this has consequences for problems with digestion, inflammation, and even mood and brain health.

Natural Intestinal Rehabilitation: Can The Body Regenerate Itself

The body possesses impressive regenerative abilities which also applies to the intestines. However, natural intestinal regeneration, especially after taking antibiotics, is not always complete. Additionally, this process can take quite some time which can lead to the further imbalance between the bacterial species resulting in more problems. For example, this happens when the antibiotic kills other bacteria which they were not designed to target.

Some bacteria are also very dominant. If their primary bacterial opponents are missing, they multiply uncontrollably which causes discomfort or can block important processes in the intestine.

Certain processes in the intestine can become so out of balance that the bodys regenerative powers alone are not enough. That is why you can do yourself and your intestines a favour and help them by supporting intestinal rehabilitation after taking antibiotics with high-quality dietary supplements.

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Take Probiotics During And After Treatment

Taking antibiotics can alter the gut microbiota, which can lead to antibiotic-associated diarrhea, especially in children.

Fortunately, a number of studies have shown that taking probiotics, or live healthy bacteria, can reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea .

One review of 23 studies including nearly 400 children found that taking probiotics at the same time as antibiotics could reduce the risk of diarrhea by more than 50% .

A larger review of 82 studies including over 11,000 people found similar results in adults, as well as children .

These studies showed that Lactobacilli and Saccharomyces probiotics were particularly effective.

However, given that probiotics are usually bacteria themselves, they can also be killed by antibiotics if taken together. Thus, it is important to take antibiotics and probiotics a few hours apart.

Probiotics should also be taken after a course of antibiotics in order to restore some of the healthy bacteria in the intestines that may have been killed.

One study showed that probiotics can restore the microbiota to its original state after a disruptive event, such as taking antibiotics .

If taking probiotics after antibiotics, it may be better to take one that contains a mixture of different species of probiotics, rather than just one.

Antibiotic Exposures And Samples

We collected fecal samples from infants in four different groups depending on their perinatal antibiotic exposure: Control group , IAP group , Postnatal antibiotics group , and IAP+Postnatal antibiotics group . NN group was unexposed to maternal antibiotics within one week before delivery, IAP during delivery, and postnatal antibiotics during the first week of life. YN group was exposed to sole intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. NY group received postnatal intravenous antibiotics starting within 24hours after birth. YY group was exposed to both IAP and postnatal intravenous antibiotics. Lactobacillus reuteri probiotic product, using a daily dose of 108 CFU, was administered to all infants receiving postnatal antibiotics until discharge. All antibiotics and probiotics were chosen and given as clinically indicated by the attending physicians according to local policy. Midwives and neonatal nurses collected daily fecal samples from diapers until discharge. Mothers provided a fecal sample for analysis after birth or soon after discharge. Samples were stored at 20°C until microbiome analysis.

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How Long Does It Take To Restore Gut Health

The length of time it might take to restore gut health post-antibiotic depends on how long a person has been taking the antibiotics. A high-quality probiotic supplement is your first line of defense, as probiotics are the very beneficial bacteria that antibiotics destroy.

A common recommendation is one round of probiotics for each week that you have taken antibiotics. One round of probiotics could last from one to two weeks. This is up for debate, but there is likely no harm in taking probiotics at the same time you are taking antibiotics, preferably with a two-hour window before or after you take your antibiotic.

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How Do Antibiotics Damage Your Gut Health

Antibiotics are prescribed to nearly half the UK population every year for common conditions and in hospitals to treat and prevent serious infections. Here are the most common applications for antibiotics:

Unfortunately, antibiotics dont stop at bad bacteria and they dont treat viral infections, which are often nearly impossible to distinguish from bacterial ones. Instead, antibiotics kill good bacteria too, and thats bad because good bacteria are often helping your body fight the infection.

Many people also experience mild-to-severe antibiotic side effects, especially if their immune health is already compromised, like hospital patients. More seriously, antibiotics can leave room for extremely harmful bacteria such as E.coli, C.diff and Salmonella infections that may be so severe that hospitalization is required.

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Eat Prebiotic And Probiotic Foods

Probiotics are your good gut bacteriathe ones that support healthy digestion, produce nutrients and get rid of toxins and pathogens, among other key roles. A diet rich in probiotics can help good microbes colonize in your gut and keep the unfriendly ones at bay.

Probiotics are essential, but in order for good bacteria to thrive, they need to eat. Thats why you need prebiotics in your diet. Prebiotics are compounds that feed beneficial gut bacteria. Well-fed, friendly bacteria populate the gut lining, helping to nurture a healthy biome. This helps restore and maintain the integrity of your gut lining.

You can get prebiotics from chicory root, artichokes, leeks, whole grains and foods that are high in resistant starcha type of starch that resists digestion. It ferments in your digestive tract and feeds the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Sources of resistant starch include unroasted cashews, raw green bananas, raw plantain flour and raw potato starch. It can cause digestive distress in some people, so start slow and build up to a few tablespoons.

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The microbiomes of children born by C-section look less mature than those delivered vaginally, said Dr. Martin Blaser, a professor at NYU who headed the second study. Even if their microbiomes do eventually catch up, theres still a period of time when the microbiome is not maturing at the same rate as the baby, he said.

Whether diseases like type-1 diabetes are a direct result of an altered microbiome is still an open question.

The studies do have limitations. Most notably, that they cant prove cause-and-effect. Most children receive antibiotics because they are sick. So maybe the illness itself, and not the medication, is to blame for the changes in the babys microbiome.

And women who have C-sections are usually given antibiotics during the procedure. So maybe its the antibiotics that alter the microbiome, not the C-section, said Dr. Tim Buie, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, who was not involved in the new research.

Regardless, Blaser urged women to be cautious when choosing a C-section for convenience, rather than for medical reasons. The C-section rate in the United States is 32 percent the rate in Manhattan, where his study was done, is even higher.

Bacterial diversity is so complex that the difference among strains can be as vast as the gap between Great Danes and dachshunds, said Dr. David Relman, a professor at Stanford Medical School, who was not involved in either study, though he does similar research.

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What Does The Science Say About Probiotics

Probiotics are widely promoted as being good for your overall health. The science on that has been mixed, but it does suggest people who are likely to get diarrhoea after antibiotics may benefit from consuming them.

One review of the evidence found probiotics may be useful for those at high risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, such as the elderly and people in hospital.

The review found side effects were common when taking antibiotics and include taste disturbances, nausea, abdominal cramping, soft stools, fever and flatulence.

But people taking probiotics reported fewer side effects, suggesting they may be helpful in countering some of the side effects.

Take Probiotics And Prebiotics To Decrease The Impact Of Your Treatment

Probiotics may help the good and beneficial bacteria to grow back quicker than it would without probiotic supplements. By taking probiotic supplements, you can help to keep one strain of gut flora from taking over. Restoring gut flora after antibiotics are essential as you need a diverse gut microbiome to remain healthy. When youre taking a treatment, you can kill bad bacteriaand sometimes the good ones. You may also disturb the functions of the remaining microorganisms, and the disruption can lead to digestive symptoms. You need probiotics to help increase the population of colony-forming units in the gut. Consider it as replenishing what youre losing. Meanwhile, prebiotics can help feed the remaining microorganisms in your digestive tract. Its like helping them survive and thrive despite the treatment. There are many sources for probiotics, but the best probiotic is one that also contains fungi such as BIOHM Probiotics. Many people are not aware they have fungi in their gut too, along with viruses and bacteria.

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The Composition Of Gut Bacteria Almost Recovers After Antibiotics

Date:

University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

Summary:

The use of antibiotics has long been linked to deprivation of gut bacteria. Now, a new study shows that the composition and function of gut bacteria can recover after antibiotic treatment in healthy people. But after six months, the gut still lack nine common beneficial bacterial species.

The trillions of bacteria in the human gut affect our health in multiple ways including effects on immune functions and metabolism. A rich and diverse gut microbiota is considered to promote health providing the human host with many competences to prevent chronic diseases. In contrast, poor diversity of the gut ecosystem is a characteristic feature of chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes, asthma and gut inflammatory disorders.

Due the general bacterial-killing nature of antibiotics, it has been speculated that repetitive use of antibiotics deprives people of a rich gut bacterial environment and through this lead to adverse health effects.

Now, an international team of researchers led from the University of Copenhagen and Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen report when 3 antibiotics were given to young healthy men for 4 days it caused an almost complete eradication of gut bacteria, followed by a gradual recovery of most bacterial species over a period of six months.

Is the missing beneficial gut microbes in the Western world due to over usage of antibiotics?

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The Length And Number Of Courses

Multiple courses of antibiotics appear to be the most damaging , and higher doses of antibiotics taken over a longer period of time have the biggest impact. This might be shocking news to the many people whooften as teenagerstook antibiotics for months on end in an attempt to treat their acne.

Oluf Pedersen, chief scientist on a 2018 project that looked at the impact of just one course of antibiotics on the microbiome, pointed out that most people will get multiple rounds of exposure to antibiotics. The concern relates to the potentially permanent loss of beneficial bacteria after multiple exposures to antibiotics during our lifetime, he said to journalists for the science news website ars TECHNICA.

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