Antibiotics work to remove or kill the bacteria causing your infection, but antibiotics also kill the healthy bacteria that your body needs. At least 400 known organisms live in the bowels, and 100 trillion microorganisms live in the intestinal tract. In order to keep the body from getting sick, there has to be a healthy balance between good and bad bacteria.
Step 1
Take your prescribed antibiotic with food or as directed. Most antibiotics work better when you take with food so take the dosage with a meal. Do not take the probiotic supplement with the antibiotic together at the same meal.
Step 2
Take a probiotic supplement with a snack two hours after your antibiotic dose. The University of Maryland Medical School recommends taking probiotic supplements that contains at least one to two billion live cultures each day. Take the supplement with crackers, fruit, yogurt or other healthy snack.
Step 3
Double the doses of the probiotic supplement after you complete a course of antibiotic treatment. You may take twice the recommended dosage of the probiotic supplement for up to 2 weeks after you take your last antibiotic dose.
Step 4
Incorporate prebiotic foods into your diet regularly. Probiotics are healthy bacteria, but prebiotics are food sources that give the healthy bacteria the chance to use their influence. According to the Mayo Clinic, there are not any specific guidelines on how many grams of prebiotics to consume, but the recommendation is to get 3 to 8 grams of prebiotics a day. Some of the foods that help probiotics work include garlic, honey, bananas, barley, flax, kale, legumes and wheat.
References
- The University of Maryland Medical School: Lactobacillus Acidophilus
- )"2010 Lippincott's Nursing Drug Guide with Web Resources"; Amy M Karch; 2010
- MayoClinic.com: Prebiotics: What are they?
