Revitalize Your Gut: The Best Foods to Eat After Antibiotics, Backed by Science

If you’ve taken antibiotics, you know they can eliminate infections but may also disturb your gut health. This happens because antibiotics don’t just target harmful bacteria; they also wipe out beneficial ones. As a result, restoring a healthy gut microbiome can take time.

Eugene B. Chang from the University of Chicago compares this situation to a forest fire. “When the gut is damaged, it needs a specific sequence of events to rebuild,” he explains. Unfortunately, diets high in fat and low in fiber—typical of the Western diet—don’t support the recovery of beneficial microbes. Instead, they allow only a few types of bacteria to thrive, preventing a diverse ecosystem from forming.

In a study led by Chang, researchers examined how different diets affected the gut microbiome after antibiotic treatment. They fed two groups of mice different diets: one a typical Western diet, rich in fat and low in fiber, and the other a more balanced diet similar to the Mediterranean diet, which is high in fiber.

After giving both groups antibiotics, the researchers performed fecal microbial transplants (FMT), introducing healthy bacteria into the mice’s guts. Those on the Mediterranean-like diet successfully regained a healthy range of beneficial bacteria. However, the mice on the Western diet struggled to recover, even with the transplanted microbes.

Megan Kennedy, a lead author of the study, observed, “If the mice are on the wrong diet, the microbes don’t stick. The community doesn’t diversify, and it doesn’t recover.” This finding highlights how crucial diet is for gut health, especially after antibiotic use.

Though the study focused on mice, the implications for humans are significant. According to Chang, better nutrition could assist in faster recovery for those undergoing major medical treatments that require antibiotics. “We can potentially use diet to help restore healthy bacteria after therapies,” he notes.

Cleaning up your diet—especially when anticipating antibiotics—might be a wise choice. A more plant-based diet can not only help rebuild your gut microbiome but also offer broader health benefits. Research shows that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can lower bad cholesterol and even reduce biological aging.

In conclusion, food is more than just fuel; it has the power to heal. As Chang puts it, “Food can be medicinal.” Studying how different food components affect our gut bacteria may soon lead to dietary adjustments being as vital as medications in our healthcare.

For further reading, you can find the research published in the journal Nature.

Source: University of Chicago via EurekAlert.

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