What one antibiotic can do to your gut microbiome
Antibiotics:
the harmful effects to our gut health!
So we have discussed it before! You have trillions of gut bugs living inside your intestines and they play a major role in our immune health, brain health, nutrient production and absorption and even our weight! I would say they are kind of important! So what happens then we we take an antibiotic. Anti means against life, and Pro means for life, so the antibiotic can kill bacteria that can cause an infection but it also kills off our good bacteria. A lot of antibiotics are broad spectrum meaning they kill of certain types of bacteria, not just the bad one that is causing the infection. During the time you take the medicine it will start affecting our good gut bacteria, and then can also affect the lining of the gut since they secrete things to protect it. Since our gut lining is only one cell thick those cells can be damaged and start to lose the tight junctions in between them that prevents waste from entering the rest of our body. NOT GOOD! This is why many of us experience bad side effects like diarrhea, stomach discomfort, feeling unwell during the time we are taking the antibiotic. Now sure your gut can recover and it will recover faster if you are diligent about repairing it with health food choices, healthy water, and supplements to speed things along like l glutamine to heal the cells, and probiotics to repopulate with good bacteria, but this is not common knowledge. It can actually take up to a full year to recover from the damage one round of antibiotics can bring. Read more here https://www.asm.org/index.php/mbiosphere/item/364-one-course-of-antibiotics-can-affect-gut-microbiome-diversity
Now as someone who has worked in primary care, many people get more than one round of antibiotics in a given year. Sometimes people get 2-3 rounds and even steroids to get over an illness!! I have seen many people get overgrowth of bad pathogens and a bad imbalance in gut bacteria causing major side effects of diarrhea, and can even lead to the triggering of an autoimmune condition. Since 80% of our immune system comes from having a healthy gut population, then antibiotics can actually weaken our immune system over time making us more susceptible to getting infections. Here lies the problem! A cycle that we can't get off, but we CAN get off the hamster wheel if we do a few things! Don't take antibiotics unless you truly have a proven bacterial infection! Most sinus infections, colds, ear infections and even some bladder infections don't require antibiotics to get better! If you start getting cold symptoms you will most likely start getting better in 5-7 days, so wait ten days at least. During that time, drink lots of filtered water, get off sugar and dairy as they are inflammatory and can cause problems, take vitamin C 2000-3000mg, take lots of vitamin D3 up to 50,000IU for 3 days, REST, and I bet you things will improve. Use a sinus rinse if you have sinus issues or a nasal spray called Xlear. I used to get so many sinus and bronchitis crap growing up and as an adult but I figured out my immune system goes crazy with dairy so I got off that, and I eat clean food and drink clean water and take care of my gut and my decades of allergies are magically gone! If you do need antibiotics take probiotics during and even after for at least 6 months. I stay one two different ones continuously for the benefits!
If you feel like you have taken way to many to count antibiotics in your lifetime and have weight gain, immune system concerns, then we should chat further because I bet food changes and focusing on rebuilding the health of your gut will make a huge difference!