Restoring your gut health after a course of antibiotics is anything but easy.
Sinus infections, bouts of respiratory illness, and countless other infections often come with a prescription for antibiotics and a run-down gut.
I’ve been there.
The good news is you can restore your gut health! In fact, holistic gut health is possible if you know what to do.
Rest easy. I’ve put together the key ingredients to restoring your gut and feeling great again.
Each of these ingredients is built on my firsthand experience with gut issues. This is what worked for me, and I’ve seen the same course of action work for others.
Tips for Restoring Gut Health After Antibiotics
Tip #1. Eat Superfoods for Holistic Gut Health
My number #1 tip is to eat superfoods that support holistic gut health. After all, what you put into your gut either supports or destroys your good bacteria.
Superfoods that are good for your gut health include:
- Yogurt (ensure you are eating yogurt with live active cultures
- Sauerkraut
- Kimchi
- Kefir
- Garlic
- Vegetables (broccoli, brussels sprouts, leafy greens, artichokes)
- Fruits (including bananas, berries, and apples)
- Leeks
Other Foods include:
- Onions
- Leeks
- Asparagus
- Bananas
- Garlic
- Fatty Fish—Mackerel, Sardines, and Salmon
- Chia Seeds
- Flaxseeds
- Raw walnuts
- Bone Broth
A healthy, balanced diet is the best way to restore your gut health.
If you can, try to get at least 5 of these foods into your diet daily. Change up which foods you consume, but keep your diet consistently healthy.
The more balanced your diet is, the easier it is to restore your gut health.
#2. Avoid Alcohol
There are no two ways about it; alcohol is terrible for our bodies, but especially our gut.
Here’s why alcohol kills your gut health.
Disrupts Beneficial Gut Bacteria
It disrupts the balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut. This can cause an imbalance in the gut microbiome and lead to digestive issues like inflammation and a weakened immune system.
Gut Inflammation
Alcohol also irritates and inflames the gastrointestinal tract. If you want to avoid severe disorders like alcoholic liver disease or possible ulcers, it’s critical to avoid alcohol.
While a glass of wine once a week isn’t deadly, I highly recommend going sober if you’re serious about restoring your gut health after antibiotics.
#3. Stay Hydrated
Another important element of restoring gut health is hydration. Water is essential for proper digestion. It helps with breaking down food, aids in the absorption of nutrients, and supports the movement of food through the digestive tract.
Insufficient hydration can lead to constipation and other digestive issues.
Water also supports the gut microbiome by improving the gut microbiota. A well-hydrated gut environment is conducive to a healthy balance of beneficial bacteria.
Proper hydration helps maintain the integrity of the gut lining. It supports the mucosal layer of the intestines, which acts as a barrier against toxins, pathogens, and harmful substances. The barrier function is crucial for preventing the entry of harmful agents into the bloodstream.
Another benefit of proper hydration is ensuring the absorption of essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are efficiently absorbed.
#4. Reduce Stress
Stress changes the composition of the gut microbiota.
When you feel stressed, you’re feeling the release of hormones like cortisol, which affects gut motility, increases contractions in the intestines, and potentially leads to digestive issues.
These stress hormones lead to inflammation, increased gut permeability, and an overall disruption in your digestive processes.
Tips for Reducing Stress
Keep your gut healthy by reducing stress via…
-Yoga
-Daily Walks
-Meditation
#5. Probiotics Supplements
If you’re serious about restoring gut health after antibiotics, I highly recommend investing in probiotic supplements. My gut restoration kit on my resources page has all the goodies you need to jumpstart your gut restoration process.
Post-Antibiotic Care Plan—Step-By-Step Instructions
Week 1: Rehydrate & Probiotics
Start by drinking the appropriate amount of clean spring water for your body every single day. This article from the University of Missouri gives you a great breakdown of how much water you need. Next, take your probiotics daily to nourish your gut health.
Week 2: Adjust Your Diet
Take the recommendations up top to heart and adjust your diet accordingly. Add the appropriate foods and eliminate inflammatory foods from your diet. You’ll be surprised by how good you start to feel after these changes.
Week 3-4: Continue to Consume Probiotics & Dietary Changes
Maintain the diet you’ve started and continue to take your probiotics as recommended to continue to see results from your lifestyle changes.
Week 5: Evaluate Your Gut Health
Once you’ve continued to improve your diet and taken your probiotics, evaluate your gut health and see what improvements could be made. If you’re still feeling sluggish, anxious, or have discomfort in your gut, you need to make more changes.
How Long Does It Take To Restore Your Gut Health?
Restoring your gut health after antibiotics can be a rather long road, speaking from my experience. However, if you stay consistent with the lifestyle changes you made, it is entirely reasonable to expect positive changes to your gut health after a few months.
Keep Your Gut Healthy After Antibiotics & Beyond
By…
- Getting plenty of rest
- Drinking adequate amounts of water
- Taking plenty of probiotics
- Improving your diet
You can keep your gut healthy. Our bodies are amazing healing machines; if you support yours with the best nutrition and hydration possible, you’ll see incredible results.
For more information about gut health, lymphatic drainage, and more, follow me on social media and keep up with the blog. I also offer consultations https://rochelleclark.janeapp.com/