How to Restore Gut Health After Antibiotics

You’ve been holding out on taking antibiotics because you know they can wreak havoc on your gut. But what happens when taking antibiotics is actually necessary and you can’t avoid taking them any longer.

You might be thinking, “I had to take antibiotics. Now what?!” 

Don’t fret. Everything is going to be okay. Your body won’t be messed up forever if you put a few measures into action. You just need to learn how to restore gut health after antibiotics.

The Issue with Antibiotics

As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, I'm usually one or forgo medication whenever possible. This is because antibiotics are often overprescribed in situations where they aren’t necessary. 

I’m talking about cases where they are prescribed as the first line of defense or even as a precautionary measure, instead of the last line of defense.

For example: 

• 20% of acute pediatric care visits results in an antibiotic prescription

• By the age of 18, the average child receives 10-20 courses of antibiotics

• 40%  percent of women giving labor receive antibiotics

Now that’s what I’m talking about when I say they are overprescribed. In most of these instances, a course of antibiotics are not necessary and natural treatments would have addressed the symptoms at the beginning. 

But sometimes you can't avoid taking a course of antibiotics. Maybe natural treatments didn’t work effectively, or you’re in so much pain that antibiotics are a must.

For example, I'm currently having to take antibiotics for an ongoing sinus infection – of course I stillneed to get to the root cause of why I got this infection in the first place, which could be a reactivated epstein barr virus, mold exposure, or something else entirely. Even though this irks me as a functional medicine health coach, who typically preaches “AVOID ANTIBIOTICS '', they are actually a pretty incredible discovery that is necessary for certain circumstances.

So, I thought this would be the perfect time to share how to restore gut health after antibiotics. This way you can get your gut back in check, so other things don't go out of balance.

Gut Microbiome and Your Overall Well Being

First off, why should you be so concerned about your gut microbiome? Is it really that important?

YES! It is really that important. Here’s why…

The bacteria in your gut play a huge role in your immune response, the regulation of your digestion and intestinal function, protection against infections, and even the production of vital vitamins and nutrients.

Without a healthy balanced gut microbiome, your entire wellbeing is going to feel ‘off.’

What happens to your gut microbiome when you take antibiotics?

Antibiotics Kill Off the Bad and Good Gut Bugs

When you take antibiotics, it kills off not only the bad bacteria that is causing the infection, but unfortunately the good bacteria as well.

Since it wipes out everything, it's VITAL that you know how to restore gut health after antibiotics and repopulate your microbiome the proper way. If you do this, your body is going to be just fine and your body will rally.

However, if you don’t address it carefully, that’s when antibiotics manifest into consequences and sometimes severe long-term consequences. 

Bad Bugs Can Flourish

If you don’t repopulate your gut with healthy bacteria, the harmful bacteria can flourish and a plethora of symptoms can start appearing.

You may start saying, “hello” to frequent yeast infections, bloating, GI issues, anxiety, brain fog, irregular periods, and fatigue.

If you are someone who uses antibiotics frequently, you may even have a greater risk for autoimmune, allergic diseases, heart disease, depression, obesity, diabetes, and autism.

But, fortunately, you are reading this article and will know what you need to do, so you’ll be prepared to repopulate your gut microbiome after having to take any type of antibiotics, right?

5 Tips on How to Restore Gut Health After Antibiotics

1. Eat a whole-foods, low-glycemic diet

Healthy bacteria love a diverse diet of whole foods. Harmful bacteria feast on sugar, and processed foods, so the last thing you want to eat is frozen pizzas and sugar-filled snacks (watch out for the sneaky sugars lurking in your cereals, yogurts, and sauces.) 

These processed food can reduce the diversity of your gut, inhibiting healthy bacteria to grow and allowing harmful to flourish. 

2. Take a high quality multi-strain probiotic

This can help you repopulate your gut with a variety of healthy strains from a probiotic. You can even start your probiotic during your antibiotic treatment. 

The key is to have a balanced gut microbiome. There can be ‘too much of a good thing’. 

If one specific healthy strain flourishes, it could inhibit other necessary beneficial strains from flourishing. This is why a multistrain probiotic is recommended after taking antibiotics so you receive a bunch of vital strains together. 

3. Eat foods with prebiotics

Prebiotics is a form of soluble fiber that helps feed probiotics and the beneficial bacteria. Food with prebiotics includes garlic, onions, sweet potatoes, resistant starch, dandelion greens, and jicama.

4. Consider supplementing with gut-healing nutrients

This can help repair your gut lining from the damage that could've been done not only from the antibiotics, but just from prior unhealthy lifestyle habits. 

Gut healing nutrients include omega-3 fats (from a high-quality fish oil), L-glutamine, vitamin A, and zinc.

5. Consider digestive enzymes if needed

This can help your gut digest the foods you eat better. This is important because if you’re not digesting food properly, then harmful bacteria can have a field day on that food sitting in your gut. 

This can produce excess gas build-up and can help those bad bugs to flourish and overgrow, and cause issues.

Take Our Gut Health Quiz

Want to know if your gut is really healthy or not? Our gut health quiz can help you discover if your symptoms are a result of poor gut health. 

You’ll answer 10 gut-related questions, including some about antibiotics. If you answer “yes” to the antibiotic question, you’ll receive more info about antibiotic-gut-related info. 

Want to Restore Your Gut Health After Antibiotics?

Have you recently had to take antibiotics and are worried about the consequences? Don’t worry, we’re ready to support you on your healing journey to help you restore your gut health. This way you can continue feeling your best self and avoid future gut-related complications.

Our Detox Your Life, 6-week small group coaching program that is foundational to Gut Health.  Sign up for a discovery call to learn more about Detox Your Life.

You’ll learn the ins and outs of how to restore gut health after antibiotics, so you can reap the benefits and you can help your family members if they happen to need antibiotics as well.