Bringing Back The Good Gut Bacteria With Probiotics

by Eric Bakker N.D.

I’ve had clients prescribed antibiotics in situations where something like grapefruit seed extract would have been sufficient. I think that is unfortunate because the collateral damage from antibiotics use can be quite significant. For example, doxycycline is an antibiotic that kills off bifidobacterial, one of the beneficial bacteria found in the colon.

If you are using doxycycline, I would recommend a regime of probiotics and prebiotic foods once you’ve finished your prescription. Some people will recommend taking the probiotics while still on the antibiotics, but that doesn’t make any sense to me. Instead, wait until the course of antibiotics is entirely done.

Doxycycline can cause side effects for some people. I would not recommend that you repeat this prescription of antibiotics. Sometimes when you go back and repeat the laboratory test, they still find the same microorganism. In those cases, it’s not uncommon for further antibiotic treatment to be recommended. If possible, avoid another round of antibiotics. You want to protect the beneficial bacteria in your gut from further harm.

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I would start taking the probiotics as soon as you stop taking the antibiotics. I recommend taking the probiotics twice a day – usually with breakfast and your evening meal. If you’ve been on antibiotics for three weeks, you should take probiotics for a minimum of two to three months. I usually suggest that my clients take probiotics until they are feeling in very good shape, and then continue for an additional three to four weeks beyond that.

I also recommend using prebiotic foods in combination with probiotics. Prebiotic foods are high in fructooligosaccharides (FOS), galactooligosaccharides (GOS), and inulin. Prebiotics provide sugar to healthy bacteria, such as bifidobacteria, that need to re-populate the colon after exposure to antibiotics. If you are interested in learning more, I have videos on YouTube that provide further information about prebiotic foods.

If you’re feeling weaker than usual after using antibiotics, you can get your strength back without taking probiotics, but it is going to take a lot longer. It’s much easier to rebound physically if you take probiotics. I recommend using a probiotic that contains bifidobacterial.

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About Eric Bakker N.D.

Eric Bakker ND has completed almost ten years of study and has almost almost 25 years of clinical experience in natural and integrative forms of medicine, and has pursued continuous post-graduate study in Australia, America, India as well as in New Zealand.

Eric is the past Vice President of the NZ Natural Medicine Association and is currently on their editorial advisory board.