Heal Your Gut After Antibiotics With Functional Medicine

While antibiotics are lifesaving drugs when used properly, they can really do a number on an otherwise healthy digestive system. Not only do they kill the bad bacteria causing an infection, but they also destroy many of the beneficial bacteria in your gut. This leads to an imbalance in your microbiome that can cause diarrhea, constipation, and stomach cramps, among other unpleasant symptoms.Now, we know that the health of your gut and microbiome is paramount to overall health, and that an imbalanced gut can cause long-term health problems if not addressed. Learn more about functional medicine for digestive health. A healthy microbiome has an abundance of diverse bacteria Your gut microbiome is made up of trillions of commensal (good) microbes, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and other microorganisms. These microbes have such an important role to play in human health that there are many functions we couldn't perform without them. Essentially, without our microbiome—we couldn't survive. Genes, environment, diet, age, early-life exposures, and history of medications all determine our gut microbiome profile, or how many and what types of bacteria reside in our gut. Each person's intestinal flora is totally unique—as much as a fingerprint. Having an abundance of these microbes, and a healthy diversity of them is vital to a healthy, balanced gut microbiome.  Boost your gut health with functional daily digestive support — Shop here. Antibiotics and gut health Eating, sleeping, passing illnesses, bowel movements and other daily functions naturally cause fluctuations in the microbes that reside in your gut. However, within these fluctuations, your gut still maintains an overall balance. When you take an antibiotic, this natural balance is disrupted to a much greater extent than the "normal" daily fluctuation. And when your microbiome becomes imbalanced, your gut health often suffers too. Antibiotics disrupt the gut microbiome because they don't only target the "bad" bacteria causing an infection. So, at the same time they're working to fight off harmful pathogens, they're also killing off other species that are beneficial to your health. As a result, antibiotics can lower the abundance and diversity of the gut microbiome, disrupting a healthy, balanced gut microbiome and causing various side effects. Diarrhea is a classic and common side effect caused by the overgrowth of certain bacterial species as a result of antibiotic use. Read: The Guide to Improving Gut Health Recovery for your gut microbiome Antibiotics affect two factors important for a healthy microbiome: Diversity Abundance If you had a low number (abundance) of good bacteria and a reduced microbiome diversity prior to taking an antibiotic, it's likely your microbiome will take longer to recover than someone who had a high number and diversity of microbes. The length of antibiotic treatment, what type is used, and the form it’s in also impact your microbiome’s recovery. In general, an effective approach to recovering gut health is to increase the diversity and abundance of your gut bacteria during and after taking antibiotics.