After the plethora of antibiotics prescribed in the 80s and 90s, it’s now common to see posters in pediatrician offices reminding care providers and parents that antibiotics do not help a cold, they are ineffective against viruses, and they are to be used with caution.
Antibiotics and future generations
The overuse of antibiotics has left moms with poor gut flora. Antibiotics damage your normal gut flora, which leave your body open to become imbalanced with pathogenic yeasts, bacteria, and other microorganisms.
Antibiotics are Life-Saving
Antibiotics do have their place, and we are fortunate to live in a time where they exist. When you’re dealing with an infection, especially in a vulnerable infant or mother who has just had an exhausting childbirth or surgical birth that made her susceptible to bacterial infection, antibiotics can be a life-saving intervention.
After taking antibiotics, do this
After you’ve had antibiotics, it’s important to replenish your good flora to help prevent what is called secondary infection and other conditions associated with poor gut flora like digestive upset, leaky gut, and even food allergies.
If antibiotics are taken it’s important to rebuild healthy flora after your good bacteria have just been wiped out along with the bad. Here are some things that can help you to get started recolonizing your gut as quickly as possible:
- Take probiotics while you take the antibiotics (though it’s likely that the antibiotics will wipe them out, they may help prevent secondary infection). Good quality probiotics can be found in your health food store in the refrigerated section, this is the brand I use (and a caution about using these high-powered probiotics here)
- Continue taking probiotics after discontinuing your antibiotics, for at least a week.
- Consume naturally fermented foods with live cultures with every meal. This includes yogurt, milk kefir, kombucha, Bubbie’s pickles, and real (live) sauerkraut.
- Consume chicken or beef stock daily. This helps rebuild the gut, which often is damaged with antibiotics, and provides essential amino acids that your body needs.
- Limit sugars as much as possible and focus on eating especially nutrient-dense foods after a period of taking probiotics to give your body the nutrition it needs to make a complete recovery.
- Drink filtered water, avoid chlorinated water that can prevent the good bacteria from populating.
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I think you meant “Consume naturally fermented foods with live cultures with every meal”, not email. LOL.
YES… haha thank you
Thank you! I just picked up a script for the icky, destructive Augmentin. Now, I’m picking up probiotics!
Great info, thanks! Love your blog! I have also learned that sacharomyces boulardi can be essential for complete healing as well. My 7 year old needed to go on an antibiotic earlier this year (much to my dismay as we have avoided them over the last 3 years!) and we did probiotics, fermented foods, yogurt etc but nothing could prevent the fallout from the antibiotics. She had symptoms like acid reflux, nausea and gas and bloating. The poor thing! I couldn’t understand why the GAPS protocol & probiotic wasn’t helping. After taking her to see my ortho molecular doctor he recommended sacharomyces boulardi and sure enough within 2 months all of the symptoms went away!! It was an eye opener for me to see that in her case a yeast- based probiotic was even more important than the “typical” probiotics (although still essential & part of the whole healing protocol). Hoping this info. will help someone else out! Blessings. Kristen
Hi Kristen , can you please share the name of the probiotic
Susana,
saccharomyces boulardii is a specific strain of probiotics and there are a lot of brand out there that would probably work well for this. My own pediatrician suggested Florastor in a pinch which is this strain and is fairly easy to find at most pharmacies. Otherwise you can search online for a brand you prefer. Hope this helps!
Great post! I wonder if you have any insight to those who are prone to cold sores….. Broth and gelatin, when taken daily, result in horrible outbreaks for me, due to the high arginine. I have wondered if just compensating with lysine supplements would help, or if I should avoid it altogether ( which, sadly, is what I have been doing).
Thanks!