Probiotics Prevent Diarrhea Related to Antibiotics

Did you know that taking probiotics will help prevent side effects related to antibiotics?   Antibiotics do not treat the common cold.  They do, however, kill the germs that cause sinus infections, skin infections and bladder infections.  But like everything else in life, antibiotics can have a downside.  They also kill the good bacteria that live in your gut and that in turn can cause resistant strains of dangerous bacteria to overgrow.

 

Probiotics are live organisms, usually high colony counts of certain yeast or bacteria, which help regulate your gut again.  Think of probiotic strains as “friendly bacteria.”  Now, you can eat yogurt to give back the good microorganisms to your gut, but you would have to eat ten times the amount of yogurt to get the number of organisms normally found in an over the counter probiotic supplement. 

 

So the next time you have an infection, talk it over with your doctor.  If it’s clear that you really need an antibiotic, ask your doctor if probiotics are a good option to take along with the antibiotic.

Last updated April 11, 2009