Anyone who has ever had to take antibiotics knows all too well what these medications can do to digestion. After taking them, it is especially important for the immune system to rebuild a healthy gut flora. Here you can find out why antibiotics have such an effect on digestion and how you can restore your gut balance after treatment.
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How antibiotics changed the world
Without a doubt, antibiotics are the most important medical discovery of the 20th century. They have extended human life expectancy by an average of 23 years. Procedures that were previously unthinkable, such as open-heart surgery or organ transplants, were only made possible by antibiotics. The first antibiotic was discovered in 1910, but it was not until the discovery of penicillin in 1928 that antibiotics began their global triumph. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was a veritable antibiotic boom, a time when new types of antibiotics were discovered almost annually. These are fungal cultures or bacterial products that have the ability to kill bacteria. They occur naturally in the soil, among other places, where they are presumably used to protect plant roots from pest infestation. In most cases, an antibiotic works against a specific type of bacteria.
More is more? Dangerous with antibiotics!
Antibiotics prescribed today for bacterial diseases therefore contain several different types that are effective against the most common types of bacteria. This increases the likelihood that they will be effective. It is increasingly clear that increased prophylactic use of antibiotics, e.g. after birth or during a longer hospital stay, leads to bacteria developing resistance to them. Medical professionals are concerned about the rising number of bacterial infections that are resistant to all known antibiotics.1
Much evidence suggests that antibiotic use in early childhood promotes the later development of autoimmune diseases, obesity, and allergies.2 Since we now know that the balance in the gut flora also affects many other aspects of health, it is plausible that other diseases and psychological disorders are among these long-term consequences. On the other hand, there are also considerations and studies on possible treatment methods for, e.g., neurological disorders with antibiotics.3 Our relationship with antibiotics therefore remains ambivalent. We owe them many possibilities and interventions that are now considered routine, but we also know that they can cause harm.
What antibiotics do to your gut flora
The problem with the broad spectrum of antibiotics is that they cannot differentiate between good and bad bacteria. When they encounter the bacteria of the microbiome, many good gut bacteria are killed along with the actual pathogens. This means that during and after antibiotic treatment, your gut microbiome is severely weakened and reduced. Studies have shown that while the gut flora can recover and return to its previous diversity, it can take up to twelve weeks.4 That's twelve weeks during which your gut flora and thus also your digestion and immune system are disturbed. This is precisely when you are particularly susceptible to diseases and infections. If you get another bacterial infection, the treatment method is, of course, antibiotics again. Your gut flora is attacked again, and the few good bacteria that are still or again present may also be killed. Many people thus enter a veritable vicious circle of antibiotic treatment and bacterial or viral infections.
Breaking the vicious circle - strengthening gut flora
To break the vicious circle and finally have a strengthened immune system and functioning digestion again, it is important that you rebuild your gut flora as quickly as possible after antibiotic treatment. There are several ways you can specifically support the natural regeneration of the microbiome.
1. Supplement with synbiotics
To quickly diversify your microbiome immediately after antibiotic treatment, it is advisable to take synbiotics as a restorative treatment. This means that you not only supply important gut bacteria but also provide them with important fiber, which serves as food for them. This ensures that the small helpers can settle well in the gut and perform their important work there.
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2. Variety ensures diversity
Different varieties of vegetables or meat lead to the multiplication of different types of bacteria in the gut flora. Studies have shown that children usually have greater microbial diversity than their parents. This is attributed to children trying many different foods during the transition from liquid to solid food, while adults have already developed fixed eating patterns and tend to always choose the same types of vegetables and meat.5 To keep your microbiome as diverse as possible, it is advisable to try new foods more often.
3. Probiotic foods
Not only for building up, but also generally for supporting the gut flora, probiotic foods are particularly suitable. These are fermented with the help of lactic acid bacteria or other microorganisms and are therefore also rich in important, helpful bacteria. If you integrate them into your meals, they can settle and multiply in the gut and thus support the balance of your gut flora. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, or kefir, for example, are probiotic. However, you should definitely make sure that they are not pasteurized, as only then will the bacteria truly still be alive and able to benefit you.
Sources:
- Matthew I Hutchings, Andrew W Truman, Barrie Wilkinson. Antibiotics: past, present and future. Current Opinion in Microbiology, Volume 51, 2019, Pages 72-80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2019.10.008
- Mamieva Z, Poluektova E, Svistushkin V, Sobolev V, Shifrin O, Guarner F, Ivashkin V. Antibiotics, gut microbiota, and irritable bowel syndrome: What are the relations? World J Gastroenterol. 2022 Mar 28;28(12):1204-1219. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i12.1204. PMID: 35431513; PMCID: PMC8968486. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8968486/
- Angelucci F, Cechova K, Amlerova J, Hort J. Antibiotics, gut microbiota, and Alzheimer's disease. J Neuroinflammation. 2019 May 22;16(1):108. doi: 10.1186/s12974-019-1494-4. PMID: 31118068; PMCID: PMC6530014. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6530014/
- Patangia DV, Anthony Ryan C, Dempsey E, Paul Ross R, Stanton C. Impact of antibiotics on the human microbiome and consequences for host health. Microbiologyopen. 2022 Feb;11(1):e1260. doi: 10.1002/mbo3.1260. PMID: 35212478; PMCID: PMC8756738. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8756738/
- Heiman ML, Greenway FL. A healthy gastrointestinal microbiome is dependent on dietary diversity. Mol Metab. 2016 Mar 5;5(5):317-320. doi: 10.1016/j.molmet.2016.02.005. PMID: 27110483; PMCID: PMC4837298. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4837298/
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