How To Support Your Gut When On Antibiotics

There is definitely a time when we all need to take a dose of antibiotics and recently I was poorly and I couldn’t get them down me fast enough. We are so lucky to have access to antibiotics when we need them because modern medicine can be life saving. We know that antibiotics will kill off problematic microbes that we don’t want but it will also have an impact on the good microbes that reside in out gut. Here I am sharing ways in which I try and take care of my gut whilst on antibiotics. I am not suggesting you have to do everything just sharing what I do and find helpful in hope that it may help you too x

1- Probiotic foods contain live bacteria that support your gut health. Buy any probiotic foods that you like and enjoy and try and have some with each meal.

For example: Kefir, yoghurt. sauerkraut, kimchi, ACV, komchucha etc

I try and have some yoghurt and kefir in the morning and kimchi and sauerkraut with my lunch, sinner and snacks. I will also drizzle some apple cider vinegar over my greens.

2- Stewed Apples are very anti-inflammatory and healing for the gut lining and support levels of god microbes. You want to make sure you keep the skin on the apples and stew then in a little water for about 10 minutes until they look shiny and opaque, this means the pectin has been released .

Recipes:

Finely chop 2 apples, add to a pan with 1/2 a cup of water and 1/4 tsp of turmeric

Cover and simmer on low for 10 mins or until soft and shiny.

I usually have this on my morning yoghurt. bowl.

3- Eat a rainbow to get in all the polyphenols which feed and nourish our gut microbes and also aim for your 30g of fibre daily to feed those microbes. Simple foods like chia and raspberries are high in fibre and great to include. I focus quite a lot on red foods as they red a species called Akkeramnsia in the gut which is important for so many things including good metabolic health and can be lost with broad spectrum antibiotics. Fasting also allows this microbe to grow but fasts get shorter when you have to evenly divide your antibiotics throughout the day. I was taking mine at 7.00am, 3pm and 10pm and so my usually 14 hour fat was gone. Also sometimes when you are on antibiotics you just dont feel like cooking, I haven’t had the energy this week tbh but I wanted to ensure I was getting the fibre so I was just eating out of jars. I have chickpeas straight from the tin ( I love the ones in glass because you eat what you want and screw the lid back on and it goes in the fridge), sauerkraut from the container, added fibre like ground flax and chai to my yoghurt and just ate fresh fruit like figs and blueberries. It never has to be a complicated recipe is what I am trying to illustrate but just real foods.

My chia pudding recipe has been on repeat as it’s a brilliant high fibre food. You hit 8-10g of fibre per serving which is great and you also have red foods in it too to support Akkermansia

2 tablespoons of chai seeds, 1/2 of almond milk - just mix and leave it for 30 mins and then top with raspberries. I also like to add some vanilla powder and glycine to my chia. These are optional but if you have them really great. Vanilla makes it tastes even more delish. This is the one I use and I use glycine for natural sweetness. It’s a amino acid (protein) but tastes like sugar and has teh added benefit of calming your nervous system and also supporting your liver. Here is an example

4- A GREENS POWDER is my favourite diversity hack. They get a lot of criticism because there are small amounts of many fruit and veg and they say it’s not enough to have any sort of impact but thats exactly what you need to feed lots of different microbes in your gut ! A little of a lot! and why I am a fan! I often see people in clinic taking a greens powder and find they benefit from it. It’s also hydrating and contains other nutrients. It is something I personally take daily when I am not juicing and I love it. I always look for no added nasties and as much diversity in the ingredients as possible.

5- BONE BROTH is rich in glutamine which supports the lining. I pressure cook 4-5 chicken carcasses with dried Shitake mushrooms for additional immune support. Cover it all with water and pressure cook for 60 minutes. You can use this as a base for cooking or just drink. I’ve ben adding coco powder to this and have it as a ‘mushroom ‘ hot chocolate. Any extra that you don’t use you can freeze and its brilliant added to meals for some added nutrient density

6- Outside time because we breath in our microbiome and gardening is also great because the soil is full of living microbes. The foods that we eat has it’s own microbiome and whether it is through food or the soil it will impact our own microbiome. We are nature.

7- Taking a probiotic between antibiotics can be helpful. Studies have found Sac Boullardii great for preventing antibiotic related diarrhoea and there are also products out there that have researched stains that can be taken alongside antibiotics to negate some of the negative effects on the gut .

8- I try and avoid any foods with added sugar like cakes and biscuits during this time as they will feed more of the problematic microbes we are trying to kill off. If I want something sweet I will have some 85% dark chocolate by itself or stuffed in a date with almond butter