Go with your gut
These tips will offer some protection if you have to take a course of antibiotics
The days when antibiotics were doled out like Smarties for every sniffle are long gone. Overall, prescription rates have dropped dramatically in the last few years as doctors combat the problem of antimicrobial resistance.
Sometimes, though, antibiotics are unavoidable. So how do you know when you really need them, and how can you protect your health?
THE GOLDEN RULES
“Antibiotics can be life-saving drugs for severe infection-related conditions such as sepsis,” says Stokes-Lampard. “But instances where children who have an infection really do need antibiotics should be relatively uncommon.”
Family doctor Fiona Cornish says antibiotics should still be prescribed when really needed. “I will always do my best to prescribe antibiotics appropriately, for example, in the case of someone who is suffering from a severe urinary tract infection,” she said.
There are some groups — people with cystic fibrosis, for example — who have to take antibiotics daily to keep themselves healthy, she adds. “Women with cystitis may also need antibiotics, particularly if the problem is severe or they are pregnant.”
When you are given antibiotics, the golden rule is always take the course as directed.
PROBIOTIC POWER
Research by University College London found that a single course of antibiotics can change the composition of the microbiome for at least a year. But when you do have to take them, there are ways to minimize the damage to your gut microbiome, which is made up of a complex community of trillions of bacteria.
Glenn Gibson, professor of food microbiology at the University of Reading, says it’s “essential” when taking antibiotics to take prebiotics — which provide nutrition for microbes — and probiotics.
“They can certainly help resist the negative effects of antibiotics on the gut microbiome. They are routinely given in some countries when antibiotics are prescribed. That should happen here, too.”
THE GOOD GUT DIET
“There’s a lack of really good quality evidence, but some studies do seem to show that eating prebiotic and probiotic foods can reduce the impact on the microbiome of taking antibiotics,” says Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and author of The Diet Myth. “For me personally, it’s the three Ks; kefir, kombucha and kimchee.”
Kefir is a yogurt drink that contains five times the diversity of microbes as traditional yogurt, kombucha is a Russian tea drink that contains yeast and fungi, and kimchee is a spicy fermented cabbage from Korea rich in “good” lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.
Sauerkraut is the less spicy version, and another excellent prebiotic food.
As a fizzy drink, kombucha can seem like a treat to children, but if they’re fussing at the three Ks, try mixing kefir in with their favourite yogurt or ice cream.