While antibiotics combat infections and save countless lives, while not harming normal cells, they present drawbacks because they kill the bad bacteria causing the illness and the healthy bacteria that lives in your gut and helps your digestive tract.
Antibiotics overuse is a serious problem. Some of its side effects are upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, and yeast infection. Thankfully, they can be overcome by taking gut health supplements.
For example, taking a good probiotic supplement will help reseeding some of the good bacteria that lived in your gut.
These are the bacteria strains that have been confirmed to promote good health: Bifidobacterium bifidum, B. brevis, B. infantis, B. longum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. casei, L. paracasei, L. plantarum, L. rhamnosus, L. salivarius, and Streptococcus thermophilus.
Choose a supplement featuring a higher bacteria count as per the number of organisms per capsule. This is expressed in CFUs. Most brands offer from 1 to 50 billion CFUs. Usually, the higher this number is, the more potent and expensive it will be.
Take your probiotic supplement twice a day, morning and evening, during the first month after taking the antibiotics. Follow the bottle instructions because some brands should be taken on empty stomach, while others with food. For maintenance, take one capsule daily.
You should also avoid inflammatory foods for the gut lining. The worst foods are dairy, wheat, deep fried foods, and sugar.
It is recommended to stay away from inflammatory foods during antibiotic use and at least 1 to 2 weeks after. It is even better to avoid for 3-4 weeks and allows the gut lining to completely heal and rebuild.
You should eat stewed apples. Cut up a couple of organic apples into 1/2-inch pieces. Wash them and keep the peel on. Place them in a pot containing filtered water up to about 1/3 of the apples. Add some cinnamon and a few raisins. Boil and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, until you see the apple skin becoming shiny. This makes a total of four servings.
The cooked pectin from the apple skin comes to the surface ans acts as a prebiotic, which is a food that helps the good bacteria in your gut health supplements.
You should consume the stewed apples 2x/day during the first week after using antibiotics.
You can also eat fermented vegetables. You can make your own, or buy them from a store. Make sure they are not pasteurized, otherwise the good bacteria will all be lost.
Each type of vegetable provides a different strain of bacteria and probiotics. Since the diversity of gut bacteria is desirable, you are welcome to eat kimchee, sauerkraut, fermented beets, as well as pickled cucumbers, carrots, and onions.
Eat a forkful twice a day for the first couple of weeks after antibiotic use, and once a day for maintenance.