What Probiotics Should You Take After Antibiotics

How Long Should You Keeping Taking Probiotics After A Course Of Antibiotics

Why you should take probiotics after antibiotics

There are over 100 trillion bacteria in our gut. And replenishing your good bacteria is all a matter of knowing how strong your antibiotic is. If you are taking a broad-spectrum antibiotic, it will battle the infection with great strength, but leave many friendly casualties as well.;

During one study, lab mice were given a cephalosporin antibiotic which is a trio of bismuth, metronidazole and amoxicillin. The mice had very noticeable changes in their gut microbial ecosystem, and were able to recover their normal microbial diversity.;The mice which were given more narrow antibiotics mostly went straight back to normal levels again.;

Antibiotics are very potent and they dont often discriminate against which bacteria they kill. Thats why doctors are so careful not to prescribe antibiotics so freely. It takes a long time for the body to return to its normal bacteria diversity after a trial of antibiotics.

The bottom line is, if you are ever given antibiotics, make sure you have probiotics handy.;You might also want to check out our post on taking probiotics with specific antibiotics like Doxycycline and Amoxicillin.

How To Restore Healthy Gut Flora

Probiotics are generally safe, and sometimes even recommended to take during a course of antibiotics, except for hospitalised patients and people with compromised immune systems. They are especially helpful afterward to support the recovery of your gut microbiome.

TIP There is no such thing as a clean gut diet your gut naturally cleans itself. However, you can help your gut bacteria keep you healthy with a plant-rich prebiotic diet.

Dont Go Strain Shopping

Its not necessary to find the one right probiotic strain for your specific health condition.

Thats because all probiotics have a similar synergistic effect of balancing the gut microbiota, modulating the immune system and reducing inflammation.

Lactobacillus/Bifidobacterium blends and Saccharomyces boulardii are the two categories of probiotics that are used most often in research. Soil-based probiotics are a third category of probiotics used in research, however less frequently. One very large meta-analysis compared results for 82 different studies and found no difference in results across the three probiotic categories . Most of the research trials used a blend of probiotic strains.

While there are a lot of different probiotic strains, all you really need to know are the three main probiotic categories. Learn more in my Probiotics Starter Guide.

Also Check: Diarrhea From Lettuce

So What Are Prebiotics

Prebiotics are compounds that help beneficial gut microorganisms grow and survive.

Prebiotic foods contain complex carbohydrates that cant be digested and dietary fibres that resist digestive processes in the stomach and small intestine.

They pass undigested into the large bowel where they are fermented by the healthy good bacteria.

To be called a prebiotic, they need to undergo the processes above, and be shown in clinical trials to selectively improve the microorganism composition in the gut.

Not all dietary fibres are prebiotic. Common ones include complex carbohydrates called fructo-oligosaccharides, inulin and resistant starch.

You can find foods at the supermarket with added prebiotics, but non-digestible carbohydrates occur naturally in many everyday foods, including:

grains: barley, rye bread, rye crackers, pasta, gnocchi, couscous, wheat bran, wheat bread, oats
legumes: chickpeas, lentils, red kidney beans, baked beans, soybeans
vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, beetroot, chicory, fennel bulb, garlic, green peas, leek, onion, shallots, spring onion, snow peas, sweetcorn, savoy cabbage
fruit: nectarines, white peaches, persimmon, tamarillo, watermelon, rambutan, grapefruit, pomegranate, dates, figs
nuts: cashews, pistachios.

Additional sources of resistant starch include under-ripe bananas, cooked and cooled rice, cornflour, cooked and cooled potatoes.

For babies, breast milk is naturally rich in oligosaccharides.

Taking Antibiotics And Probiotics

Should You Take Probiotics with Antibiotics? in 2020 ...

You can take probiotics while you are taking a course of antibiotics but you shouldnt take them both at exactly the same time.

Antibiotics are designed to kill off all bacteria in your gut harmful and beneficial bacteria. So, taking a probiotic supplement right after taking an antibiotic pill may result in all the good bacteria getting destroyed as well.

The journal Antibiotics reports on various studies on when and how long you should take probiotics. Some studies indicate that you should take probiotics 5 to 10 days during antibiotic treatment and continue for one week after finishing the course of antibiotics.

Other studies recommend taking probiotics for as long as the antibiotic treatment lasts. However, some reports indicate that taking probiotics for as long as 8 weeks can help to restore healthy gut flora.

To get the most benefit from probiotics, it is good to wait for around 2 hours after taking an antibiotic pill. This will help to offset the negative impact that antibiotics have on your gut and prevent diarrhea.

To make sure that you get the full benefit from probiotics, you should always take probiotics with food. The journal Beneficial Microbes advises to take a probiotic supplement with a meal or 30 minutes before it. Also, you should preferably take probiotics with a meal containing some fats.

Read Also: Are Bananas Gassy

Take Therapeutic Grade Probiotics

Lastly, you may want to guide the process of recovering your gut health by implementing high-quality probiotics.

I rarely recommend supplements to a real food lifestyle, but this is an exception. Good probiotics can aid in the introduction of good bacteria into your digestive system, and many report that they improve their overall health in a much shorter period of time.

Why Is Diversity So Important

In a healthy, diverse gut microbiome, the resident microbes help protect against invasion by pathogens that could cause infection or disease. They work together, using different methods to inhibit pathogens, such as:

producing antimicrobial compounds that fight bad bacteria off
crowding pathogens out and preventing them from getting real estate space in the gut
maintaining the mucus layer that lines the intestines so pathogens cant reach intestinal cells and set up home
training the immune system to respond to pathogens

When the resident gut microorganisms are reduced during antibiotic use, these protective functions may stop. Thats when pathogenic bacteria can move in and upset the balance.

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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:

L. casei

Take A Probiotic Supplement

Should You Take Probiotics After a Course of Antibiotics?

If you werent taking a probiotic during your antibiotic course, you can choose one of the below :

Saccharomyces boulardii biocodex;;is found in the;Florastor;brand probiotic and helps to prevent C.diff infections and even helps those who tend to have recurrent C.diff infections. . This strain does not need to be refrigerated, so its very easy to buy saccharomyces boulardii online.
Visbiome; has also been shown to reduce the incidence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Note that if you buy Visbiome online, you should choose a retailer that ships it refrigerated.
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG; has been shown to reduce the occurrence of antibiotic-associated diarrhea, as well. Like Florastor, its easy to buy Culturelle online since it does not need to be refrigerated.

Why Do People Take Probiotics

Probiotics work by balancing the levels of microorganisms in the intestines. They drive down the numbers of harmful bacteria. They also seem to boost the body’s immune system.

Although research is ongoing, there’s good evidence that some probiotics may be helpful in treating irritable bowel syndrome, some types of diarrhea, colitis , acne, and eczema in children. They may also be used with antibiotics to help prevent diarrhea that may come with taking antibiotics.

In addition, researchers are studying probiotics to determine if they may help certain types of stomach ulcers , infections , dental disease, allergies, and diseases of the liver. However, more research is needed to determine if probiotics are safe and effective for these conditions.

There are many types of probiotics. They include lactobacilli , bifidobacteria and some yeasts . Different probiotics have different effects. So while one may help treat diarrhea or a vaginal infection, another may have no effect. Before you start taking a probiotic supplement, talk to your health care provider to make sure that you get the treatment most likely to help.

Probiotics are different from prebiotics. Prebiotics are non-digestible ingredients in foods that are used to spur the growth of probiotic bacteria in the body by providing a suitable environment in which the probiotics themselves can flourish. Synbiotics are combinations of prebiotics with probiotics.

Continued

Should I Try Probiotics

If you are interested in adding probiotics to your diet, its worth a conversation with your healthcare provider. Many providers may suggest giving them a try to see if they help with your general health. It is important to remember that not all probiotics behave the same way and have the same effects. Each has their own individual benefits. They generally dont cause harm. One easy way to start can be by simply introducing probiotic-rich foods into your diet, like yogurt.

Before you start any supplements, make sure you talk to your healthcare provider. Your provider may be able to point you in the right direction, helping you figure out the best probiotic to take, how much to take and when to take it. A conversation is always worth the time when it concerns your health.

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Why Probiotics Are Essential After Antibiotics

Find out why probiotics are important after antibiotics

What are probiotics?

The word probiotic literally means for life; but the term usually refers to supplements that contain living, beneficial bacteria. Billions of these friendly bacteria from more than 400 different species occur naturally in a healthy digestive system, with most living in the intestines, where they are sometimes called intestinal flora.

These bacteria support general well-being in several ways, such as assisting digestion and helping to maintain immunity. However, they can be very sensitive to changes in their environment and taking a course of antibiotics can significantly reduce their numbers.

Why is it important to take a probiotic supplement after a course of antibiotics?

Antibiotics eliminate both bad and good bacteria. It is important to quickly replenish intestinal bacteria after antibiotic use. Taking a probiotic can help as they contain special live bacteria that can repopulate the intestinal tract and may also reduce the risk of developing candida .

When should I start taking my probiotic?

Given The Very Heavy Involvement Of The Industry Clear Conclusions As To Whether Probiotics Are Truly Helpful To Humans Remain To Be Proven Erin Elinav

Probiotics should only be taken after antibiotics

The rate of continued moderate to severe gastroenteritis within two weeks was slightly higher in the probiotic group than in the placebo group . And there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the duration of diarrhoea or vomiting.

Despite evidence such as this, the demand for probiotics is large and growing. In 2017, the market for probiotics was more than $1.8bn, and it is predicted to reach $66bn by 2024.

Given the very heavy involvement of the industry, clear conclusions as to whether probiotics are truly helpful to humans remain to be proven, says Elinav. This is the reason why regulatory authorities such as the USs Food and Drug Administration and European regulators have yet to approve a probiotic for clinical use.

Taking probiotics when your gut health is weak may not be a good idea

But that is not to write off probiotics completely. The problem with them may not be with the probiotics themselves, but the way we are using them. Often probiotics are bought off the shelf consumers may not know exactly what they are getting, or even whether the culture they are buying is still alive.

Elinav and his colleagues have also carried out research on who will benefit from probiotics and who wont. By measuring the expression of certain immune-related genes, the team was able to predict who would be receptive to probiotic bacteria colonising their gut, and for whom they would simply pass through without taking hold.

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A More Effective Alternative

The Israeli study also explored an alternative approach to microbiome restoration.

One group of participants had their own stool collected and frozen prior to antibiotic treatment. It was then re-instilled into their gut at the end of the antibiotic therapy.

This treatment, known as autologous fecal transplantation, was able to restore the microbiome to original levels after just eight days. The other group took 21 days to recover.

This approach has also been shown to effectively restore the gut microbiome following combined antibiotic and chemotherapy treatment. These patients are predictably at risk of serious complications, such as bloodstream infection, as a result of microbiome disruption.

Research currently underway will help us understand whether microbiome restoration with autologous fecal transplantation will translate into tangible benefits for these patients.

But such an approach would not be a realistic option for most people.

Probiotics Make Antibiotics More Effective

Rather than canceling each other out, research shows that taking probiotics and antibiotics together is more effective than taking antibiotics alone.

The most relevant study to show this effect is a systematic review of 20,215 patients with H. pylori infections . Patients who took probiotics and antibiotics together had better results than patients who only took antibiotics. Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces boulardii are the probiotic strains at the top of the list for effectiveness in these studies. But keep in mind that these two strains are among those most commonly used in research.

There is also research to show that probiotics and antibiotics are more effective together for SIBO and other gut infections:

One study of 40 patients with SIBO showed more than double the success rate for eradicating SIBO for those taking a combination of S. Boulardii and metronidazole when compared to those taking metronidazole alone.[2

Bottom line: Probiotic co-administration with antibiotics tends to enhance treatment results.

Recommended Reading: Are Probiotics Good For Colitis

How Do Probiotics Help With Digestive Issues After Taking Antibiotics

If you’re experiencing digestive issues after completing a course of antibiotics, probiotics can help you improve your digestive system by working to restore the balance of good bacteria in your gut. Read more about probiotics here.

Sonas Afterbiotic capsules;are designed especially to restore your gut health after a course of antibiotics by giving the good bacteria the chance to return at a faster rate, preventing bad bacteria from having the opportunity to take over.

The Life Inside All Of Us

Should You Take Probiotics After A Round Of Antibiotics? | Ask Eric Bakker

Microbes & me is a new collaborative series between BBC Future and BBC Good Food.

In the series, well be looking at recent research into the microbiome of bacteria that lives in all of us.

Well be exploring how it affects our health, what could be having detrimental effects on it, and recommending recipes that might help it thrive.

Probiotics have been touted as a treatment for a huge range of conditions, from obesity to mental health problems. One of their popular uses is to replenish the gut microbiome after a course of antibiotics. The logic is antibiotics wipe out your gut bacteria along with the harmful bacteria that might be causing your infection, so a probiotic can help to restore order to your intestines.

But while it might sound like sense, there is scant solid evidence suggesting probiotics actually work if taken this way. Researchers have found that taking probiotics after antibiotics in fact delays gut health recovery.

Part of the problem when trying to figure out whether or not probiotics work is because different people can mean a variety of things with the term probiotic. To a scientist, it might be seen as a living culture of microorganisms that typically live in the healthy human gut. But the powdery substance blister packs on supermarket shelves can bear little resemblance to that definition.

Even when researchers use viable, living bacterial strains in their research, the cocktail varies from one lab to another making it tricky to compare.

Recommended Reading: What Foods To Eat If You Have Diarrhea

Should I Give Probiotics To My Kids

Probiotics can be beneficial for both adults and kids. If your child has an illness that requires an antibiotic medication for treatment, taking a probiotic can help shorten symptoms. Probiotics can also be used to help relieve constipation, acid reflux, diarrhea, gas and eczema in children.

Introducing probiotics into your childs diet through food is typically a safe way to give them probiotics. Foods like yogurt and cottage cheese are often part of a balanced diet and can add in good bacteria without much risk.

There are commercially available probiotic supplements specifically designed for infants and children. However, it is important to talk to your childs pediatrician before giving them any probiotic supplement or changing the childs diet to include probiotic-rich foods.