Will Antibiotics Help With Gut Health?
The term gut health has become more popular, but most people don’t know exactly what it means. It’s all about the balance of microbes in the gut—the gut’s microbiome. Most people think of the stomach immediately when talking of gut health, but it’s more about the microbes in the small and large intestines. The microbiome is made up of fungi, yeast, viruses, and bacteria. Its size is estimated to be in the100s of trillions. A lot of things affect gut health. They include your overall health, certain medications, diet, and antibiotics. Not only can an unhealthy combination of microbes cause illness, but it can also affect your mental health.
Antibiotics can kill all types of bacteria, including beneficial types.
Antibiotics can cause an imbalance in the microbiome of the gut, indiscriminately killing all bacteria and leaving yeast to flourish. That can cause Candida and also lead to SIBO. A broad-spectrum antibiotic kills both beneficial and pathogenic bacteria, leaving an imbalance in the intestines. If there’s a void or imbalanced state, it provides the perfect opportunity for harmful bacteria to take over. That can lead to SIBO, an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestines.
Ironically, what causes the problem may help the problem.
If antibiotics caused SIBO, you might be surprised to find antibiotics are often the recommended cure. Unlike the original offender, these antibiotics specifically target the offending bacteria, allowing the beneficial bacteria to resume its place of power. Some symptoms of SIBO include nausea, gas, abdominal pain, bloating, indigestion, fatigue, unexplained weight loss, diarrhea, and abdominal distension.
If you’re taking an antibiotic, prevent problems by making these changes.
Candidiasis—a yeast overgrowth—can be prevented if you’re taking antibiotics and treated if you already have a problem. One of the most significant ways is to add probiotics to your diet or take a probiotic supplement. Probiotic foods include kefir, yogurt, kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut. Consuming prebiotics—plant fiber—feeds beneficial bacteria and enhances the rebalancing of the microbiome. Cutting sugar from your diet, which encourages the growth of yeast, and highly processed food also helps.
- Stress can create an imbalance, so learning to manage stress can make a big difference in your microbiome health. Stress can be psychological, but environmental stress can also play a role.
- Being active and exercising regularly can also aid in maintaining gut health. Studies show that athletes have a wider diversity of gut flora than those who aren’t athletes.
- Don’t forget to get adequate sleep. Not only does a change in your sleep habits, like going to bed late or sleeping late, cause an imbalance, too little sleep also has an effect on your microbiome. If you’re taking antibiotics, make sure you stick with a sleep schedule.
- Antibiotics can play both a positive role and negative role in gut health. The best way to avoid damage to your gut microbiome is to carefully monitor antibiotic usage and understand they do nothing for viral infections. Living a healthy lifestyle can reverse the antibiotic effects when it’s necessary to take them.
For more information, contact us today at Next Level Fitness
People who find it difficult to fit their workout in during the day find it’s easier if they do it in the morning before the day starts. They rise and really shine by revving their bodies and getting their system primed and ready for a day of work and enjoyment. Is early morning the best time to workout? There’s always been a debate about the best time to exercise, but for many people early morning is perfect.
At Next Level Fitness in Irvine, CA, we can help you feel great with a plan of action, motivation and a scientific plan to help you get the fastest results. If you’ve felt like you aren’t sick, but still don’t feel your best, making a few lifestyle changes can make all the difference. You deserve to feel your best, perform your best and enjoy life to the fullest. It all starts with your attitude. Rather than dreading what it takes to feel better, appreciate the fact you have helped achieving your goal. Enjoy every minute of your journey to fitness and good health as you get stronger and see how much better you look.
Whether you workout to become healthy, look better or feel better, one thing is certain, it can boost your energy level. It’s one of the reasons people workout. If you’re out of shape, everything is more difficult. That can tire you out quickly. Exercise also helps you lose weight. Losing extra pounds can also bring relief from premature exhaustion. Think about it. If you’re 20 pounds overweight, it’s like carrying a 20-pound weight around all day. Exercise helps you build muscles, improve endurance and lose weight. It makes a significant difference.
Probably the first on the list of healthy shopping tips for the grocery is to always eat before you go. While the family-size Doritos or big bags of M&Ms will still look good, you’ll be full enough to resist buying them. If they aren’t in the house, you’ll be far less likely to eat them. With that said, also remember to include on your list some options for healthy snacks. They’re just as important for weight loss as they are for good health.
People who come to Next Level Fitness in Irvine, CA, know that they’re getting more than a gym. One benefit offered is nutrition education. Eating healthy is just as important, if not more important, than exercise. Knowing the healthiest foods can only help you if you eat them, but too often, life can become too busy and overwhelming. That’s often when people opt for fast foods and unhealthy, but quick, options. If you choose to meal plan you won’t have that problem. You’ll have meals ready to heat and serve during the busy work week in less time than it takes to get drive-through food.
You may have heard that cardio burns tons of calories and is great for weight loss. That’s partially true, but not the entire story. Just doing cardio doesn’t improve all types of fitness. You need strength, balance and flexibility training, too. Cardio also isn’t the only type of training that burns lots of calories. Strength training will also torch those calories quickly. Strength-building also has other benefits that make it a great option for your weight loss program.
If you’ve never worked out or had a regular program of exercise, it’s difficult to judge how intense, how long and how often to workout as a beginner. It’s one reason working with a personal trainer is so popular, especially when you’re also trying to learn the proper form for each exercise, while building a workout that provides all types of fitness and works all parts of the body. One question is relatively simple to answer. How much time do you spend exercising?
If getting into shape was one of your 2023 resolutions, you may be one of the hundreds now jogging, sprinting or running in Irvine, CA. Not all running shoes are the same. Walking shoes differ from shoes you use for jogging and those you use for sprinting. Sprinting has explosive movements for a shorter period. It helps burn fat, while building the legs and abs. Because it’s high intensity for a short period, it is a HIIT—high intensity interval training—workout, since the intensity volleys between high intensity and a recovery pace.
With all the noise and nerve racking urgency of living in the big city, it’s nice to get back to nature and go on a hike. Hikes can vary from a short day in a nearby wooded area to traveling to a remote location that takes several days to reach. What you bring on a hike will vary by location, the amount of time you spend and the weather in that location. You also need to know how remote the location is and whether there is any type of access to cell networks or supplies along the way.