Single course of antibiotics can mess up the gut microbiome for a year
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
[1]: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v66/n1/full/ejcn2011141a....
[2]: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v505/n7484/full/nature1...
[3]: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/prebiotics-tending-our-inner...
The gut biome topic is hot now, but our understanding of it is so new and so limited that it's going to take a while to be confident about what would be a "good" or "healthy" biome in particular ways. It's definitely easy to change it, but still kind of unclear about how to know when particular changes can reasonably be called good or bad or beneficial or harmful (with particular counterexamples like clostridium difficile infection -- that seems bad).
Nitpick: Most Indians are NOT vegetarians, less than a third are. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/the-food-habits-of-a-na...
Of course, there are risks of using antibiotic like C. difficile infections, but saying more than that is stretching the truth.
I don't see anywhere in the article that it says the diversity in the gut was reduced. It says it was altered.
Also, if you change your diet, your diversity is also potentially reduced. Is that bad too?
While article of this post mentions that the linked study showed a change in composition and diversity, the abstract itself just mentioned a reduction of a particular beneficial group of bacteria:
Additionally, metagenomic predictions based on 16S rRNA gene amplicon data were performed using PICRUSt. The salivary microbiome was found to be significantly more robust, whereas the antibiotics negatively affected the fecal microbiome: in particular, health-associated butyrate-producing species became strongly underrepresented.[3]
Which I guess makes the assumption even simpler: greatly reducing a group of healthy bacteria from your gut for a while qualifies as messing it up.
Also the earlier article I read[3] does in fact posit that a reduction of diversity through diet change is in fact bad. Of course there is still a debate about the truthfulness and magnitude of that statement.
[1][3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10552477
[2] http://mbio.asm.org/content/6/6/e01693-15.full.pdf+html [iFrame + PDF]
Edit: Italicized the quote, clarity
Yes, potentially contributes to obesity in some people or anorexia in others.
EDIT: The probiotic in my case was capsules of 15B cells of Lactobasillus GG. Marketing copy on the box suggests this is the "most clinically studied probiotic strain" but I'm not able to verify that.
There are many more studies on the species of probiotic Lactobacillus Rhamnosus as a whole...but for that exact "cousin" of the species, it is likely the most clinically researched probiotic.
There's a bit more info on it here: http://probiotics.org/lactobacillus-gg-benefits/
This research lab is studying it and this doctor (Pimentel) has written a book about it: http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/Research/Research-Labs/Pimentel-...
It's only when I started the 30-day course that my doctor told me about probiotics. I started the probiotics at the same time as the 30-day course and saw immediate improvement.
Perhaps my problems were caused by a lack of beneficial bacteria while your troubles were caused by some type of infection? Or maybe it was only the 3rd antibiotic that cleared something out of my system?
That's the thing that gets me with probiotics/packaging: they list these counts that can vary widely and are sometimes seemingly astronomical.
It kind of implies that if some is good, then more is better. I've thought that there is certainly some level at which it's not good for you.
Logically, if a certain dosage is produced, then you assume it to have some therapeutic effect. So, adding an order of magnitude to a therapeutic dosage of something wouldn't seem universally harmless.
What I'm trying to get at is a low dosage might mean the little critters take a while to reach a good population, while a high dosage might be what's needed to discourage growth and encourage their reactions.
I'be personally used acidophilus lactobacillus after an oral yeast infection which I got after taking preventative antibiotics (took pretty much everything - azithromycin, flucloxacillin and ciprofloxacin) for a severe bout of reactive arthritis and it seemed to make a difference. However I was still very messed up for at least 6 months.
http://www.stonyfield.com/products/yogurt/smoothies/strawber...
Seems like saying "take probiotics" is insufficient.
In my case, I used a probiotic that contains only Lactobacillus GG (15B cells) and saw improvement after a course of antibiotics. My doctor recommended that when I asked, but said that it wasn't a prescription, just that he'd heard good reports from his patients.
For myself, I took them regularly for a couple weeks afterwards, then sporadically after that as constant usage doesn't appear to be required, at least for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mioR_WrkRaU
This book is also doing the rounds but I'm not sure how good it actually is
http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Maker-Microbes-Protect-Brain%C2%...
It was created by the guys behind the NSF funded Human Biome project. It's excellent and contains over 100 strains (not just a few like most probiotic).
Context: I grew up in India and to this day, there is a tendancy by Doctors to prescribe Antibiotics for anything, even cold viruses and non-bacterial illnesses.
Erythromycin is 1 such antibiotic that Indian doctors prescribe for things such as the common cold, cough and similar seasonal illnesses.
Due to this, I've developed a lot of food allergies and my gut is hosed.
So I was wondering if anyone has been able to successfully "reset" their gut and regrow the good bacterial and improve their immune system.
Thank you!!
I've been put through the gamut of antibiotics since, and noticed no change in digestion, temperament, allergies or any other adverse effects.
What you need to watch out for is a clogged nostril, no air in the sinuses means an infection.
So that's the goal: Get air in there.
Try antihistamines, they work sometimes - even if you don't otherwise need them, if they clear your sinuses it's worth it.
You can also try "air hunger", if your body feels it needs extra air it will open the closed sinus. The best way to do this is to run up and down some stairs until it's fully open - then get lots of air in there and blow your nose.
It'll close right back up, but it will still help. Blowing your nose will also cause it to close, so hold off until it's fully open, even if you feel you need to blow your nose right away. (Or do it twice.)
Another method is to hold your breath till you need air really really badly (not just a bit, but really badly), this can also cause it to open, but is more unpleasant (but might be your only option if too weak to run).
A tip for both methods: Close the nostril that was open before with your finger and breath a lot through the one that used to be closed. You might be able to convince your body to switch which sinus it closes. This is good since you can alternate and get air in both. Doesn't always work though.
I always complained to the docs that the antibiotics took too long to have a noticeable effect, to which more than one replied that there was limited blood flow to where the infection is, thus it took longer to clear.
I take probiotics on a daily basis, but research is much more scant for them[2]. That said, I notice a marked difference when I stop taking them for a few days.
Obviously, it's not at all scientific, so I have no idea what might work for others.
Ordinary probiotics such as the powdery capsules that is so prevalent aren't the most effective. They don't get retained as well. Liquid ones will stick to the small intestinal walls more easily. I implemented my own hack by eating something that is mucilaginous which sticks to the intestines. Then I take a capsule shortly afterwards. Seems to work well... for me.
This protocol worked for me after I hosed my gut microbiome which caused me to lose 80 lbs in 2 months. Take of it as you will.
Exercise is critically important, when you digestion is in turmoil as peristalsis likely gets impacted, at least it did for me. Peristalsis is the undulation of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines which pushes food forward. Exercise restarts this if it isn't functioning correctly.
It's important for keeping the healthy bacteria in the large intestines out of the small intestines. You don't want to cross the streams in this case as it can be very painful and even debilitating.
That's my recipe for a holistic reset and restoration of floral balance.
I do exercise 6 days a week -- Boxing and circuit training and running -- also lifelong vegetarian, recently turned vegan.
Eat Fermented foods, lots of fiber, more veg, occasional fatty meats. Eliminate sugar, reduce carbs, exercise.
Edit: I should probably add: Slowly introduce the fermented foods. If you're not used to them, might cause a few visits to the toilet if you have too much.
The not eating thing is actually pretty tolerable if you are already ketotic. But the transition to ketosis can be rough, and it's easier if you can eat while that happens.
One of the biggest things when you fast or do a ketogenic diet, you lose a lot of water (and with it, salt!), so maintaining electrolyte balance is huge. Your blood pressure will go down, and you'll feel awful if you don't add in some salt.
> I've developed a lot of food allergies
Really?
EDIT: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fiber-famished-gut...
>Your gut is the site of constant turf wars. Hundreds of bacterial species—along with fungi, archaea and viruses—do battle daily, competing for resources. Some companies advocate for consuming more probiotics, live beneficial bacteria, to improve microbial communities in our gut, but more and more research supports the idea that the most powerful approach might be to better feed the good bacteria we already harbor. Their meal of choice? Fiber.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628131358.ht...
> A University of Illinois study shows that dietary fiber promotes a shift in the gut toward different types of beneficial bacteria. And the microbes that live in the gut, scientists now believe, can support a healthy gastrointestinal tract as well as affect our susceptibility to conditions as varied as type 2 diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, colon cancer, and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.
> As these microbes ferment fiber in the intestine, short-chain fatty acids and other metabolites are produced, resulting in many health benefits for the host, said Kelly Swanson, a U of I professor of animal sciences.
http://press.psprings.co.uk/gut/june/gut308778.pdf
http://time.com/3936636/diet-gut-bacteria/
> The good news is that your initial Akkermansia levels are not your fate. People who started out with lower stores of Akkermansia had more after they followed the fiber-rich calorie-restricted diet. You can increase these bacterial populations by eating fiber, Cani’s research suggests, which acts as a prebiotic in the gut and has a beneficial effect on some bacteria.
Also, what fruits and vegetables are naturally rich in fiber. And of those, do you have to eat the skin to get the fiber? Finally, does cooking remove or reduce fiber content?
Many fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and lists of fiber content are easy to google for. Some plants carry more fiber in their skins, some don't.
No matter what, you should intake more fiber. If you're an adult in the west, it's pretty likely that you're Not Getting Enough Fiber.
Also, yogurt, which as far as I'm concerned is the same as a probiotic pill, but less controlled.
This is of course purely anecdotal, but the following year was pure hell from a digestive system standpoint, and looking back, I'm pretty sure it was tied to that course of antibiotics. Thankfully, things cleared up on their own, but I'd definitely be looking at probiotics if forced to go on antibiotics again for some reason.
Glad to see research on this topic.
I went on a super high fibre diet, ate as much low calorie food as I could a day to keep things moving. Ate lots of fermented foods, mainly dairy, sauerkraut, cured meats. Eliminated sugar, took up cycling to work to get fit. I've not been ill since, my bowels are moving, and piles are gone. Not the most pleasant story, but thought I'd share it.
Do you know of any high-fiber low-calorie non-meat, non-diary foods? Also, does the %age of soluble vs insoluble fiber matter, or no?
As for % of soluble and insolubale, I've never really paid attention to it. I probably eat far more soluble fiber than insoluble though, if it helps.
But when a doctor prescribes a medication a useful question (no matter what the medication) is "What happens if I don't take it? What happens if we just watch and wait?"