What You Should Eat During and After Antibiotics

There are a number of changes you can make to your diet both while you are taking antibiotics and after.

1. Take probiotics

Taking antibiotics can alter the gut microbiota, which can lead to antibiotic-associated diarrhea, especially in children. That’s where probiotics may be able to help.

Should you eat probiotics while taking antibiotics?

However, research shows that taking probiotics while or after you’re taking antibiotics can help preserve the bacterial diversity of your gut. It also seems to reduce the amount of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in your gut, which can help offset antibiotic resistance.

How long after antibiotics should you take probiotics?

However, given that probiotics are usually bacteria themselves, they can also be killed by antibiotics if taken together. So if you’re taking these simultaneously, some doctors recommend waiting 4-6 hours after taking a dose of an antibiotic before taking probiotics.

Summary

Taking probiotics during antibiotic treatment can reduce the risk of diarrhea, although the two should be taken a few hours apart. Probiotics can also help restore the gut bacteria after antibiotics

2. Eat fermented foods

Certain foods can also help restore the gut microbiota after damage caused by antibiotics.

Fermented foods are produced by microbes and include yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi, among others.

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They contain a number of healthy bacterial species, such as Lactobacilli, which can help restore the gut microbiota to a healthy state after antibiotics.

Therefore, eating fermented foods may help improve gut health after taking antibiotics.

Summary

Fermented foods contain healthy bacteria, including Lactobacilli, which can help restore damage to the microbiota caused by antibiotics. Yogurt may also reduce the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhea

3. Eat high fiber foods

Fiber can’t be digested by your body, but it can be digested by your gut bacteria, which helps stimulate their growth.

As a result, high fiber foods may help restore healthy gut bacteria after a course of antibiotics. In fact, research from 2022 found that consuming soluble fiber daily may help reduce ARGs in your gut.

That said, it’s best to eat high fiber foods after you finish your antibiotic course because fiber can reduce antibiotic absorption.

Summary

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High fiber foods like whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables can help the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. There’s no need to avoid these healthy, nutrient-rich foods while taking antibiotics. Just time your consumption to a few hours before or after taking antibiotics.

4. Eat prebiotic foods

Unlike probiotics, which are live microbes, prebiotics are foods that feed the good bacteria in your gut.

However, other foods are not high in fiber but act as prebiotics by helping the growth of healthy bacteria like Bifidobacteria.

For example, red wine contains antioxidant polyphenols, which are not digested by human cells but are digested by gut bacteria.

Similarly, cocoa contains antioxidant polyphenols that have beneficial prebiotic effects on the gut microbiota.

Thus, eating prebiotic foods after antibiotics may help the growth of beneficial gut bacteria that have been damaged by antibiotics.

Summary

Prebiotics are foods that help the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut and may help restore the gut microbiota after taking antibiotics.