There are some infections or sicknesses when you rely on antibiotics for the treatment process. Antibiotics 1are medications used to treat any type of illness. It can impact your health in many medical ways.
How well your antibiotics work on your body depends on your diet. You will feel better only when you eat proper and healthy foods. Here is everything you need to know, but before that, let’s look at some important terms.
1. What are Antibiotics?

Medications that fight any sickness or infection are called antibiotics. Taking antibiotics is also most helpful for life-threatening disorders. These antibiotic medications save thousands of lives and kill bacteria in the body.
Antibiotic treatment does not include viruses; they are medications for infections caused by bacteria in your body. This includes urinary tract infections, strep throat, or pertussis.
Moreover, antibiotics also do not work on some infections caused by bacteria, such as sinus infections. This is because these can be treated on their own; antibiotic usage will not heal these infections. Taking antibiotics in high doses unnecessarily can have many serious side effects, which can be life-threatening.
2. Why is it Important What You Eat With Antibiotics?
Some foods interact with antibiotics easily, which helps absorb them, while some foods can even cause gas. Though these antibiotics help treat your infection, they also have other side effects. This can result in gas, killing beneficial bacteria, nausea, dizziness, and body pain.
Therefore, eating healthy and advised meals can lead to proper body care. If you are unfamiliar with antibiotics, get advice and check with your doctor. Doctors prescribe proper guidelines on what to eat with antibiotics and what not to eat with antibiotics, which can positively affect your gut.
3. What to Eat with Antibiotics?
Taking antibiotics can treat your bacterial infection, but what you eat with antibiotics can affect how well it works. Here are the foods, professionals recommend to add to your diet when you are taking antibiotics which are good for your gut microbiota.
3.1. Probiotics
Probiotic supplements with antibiotics can contribute effective bacteria and is beneficial for antibiotic-associated diarrhea. You can also take antibiotics and probiotics at the same time without getting spaced out. But you should follow the instructions written on the label.

Taking probiotics 2can not only help preserve diarrhea but also benefit restoring healthy bacteria.
Before consuming probiotics with antibiotics, get advice from your doctor first. This is because there are doctors who advise you to take probiotic supplements four to five hours difference after the antibiotic dose. To keep the health of your gut microbiome at bay, follow your medic’s prescriptions.
Eating probiotic foods sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and miso are all beneficial bacteria that deliver all sorts of useful aspects for your health. These probiotic-rich foods are useful for gut health and immunity and help beneficial bacteria. Fermented foods also contain probiotic benefits.
3.2. Fermented Foods

Fermented foods contain useful probiotics that are useful in removing the side effects of certain antibiotics.
Fermented vegetables, kombucha, kimchi, and sauerkraut support the health of the gut and are useful for the digestive system. Fermented foods rebuild the damage caused by antibiotics.
Therefore, eating certain foods is useful to support gut health and helps remove the damage caused by antibiotic treatment.
3.3. High Fiber Foods

Meals that are rich in fibre are useful for bacteria in the gut after a course of antibiotics. Not only this, but high-fiber foods also reduce antibiotic resistance genes.
After the antibiotic course, eating high-fibre meals is beneficial for antibiotic absorption3. Fiber is good for the digestive system. It can be absorbed by gut bacteria, which boosts your growth.
Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are helpful for the healthy bacteria in your gut. Eating fibre-rich foods after setting the time with the course of antibiotics is nutritious for the bacteria in the gut microbiome.
3.4. BRAT Diet

Eating healthy when you are sick is the formula for healthy treatment. The brat diet, 4including Bananas, time, applesauce, and toast, is healthy for antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Also, non-citrus fruits are a healthy choice for your system.
3.5. Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is essential when your body is weak. Water is one of the most important and beneficial keys when it comes to staying hydrated.
Drinking plenty of water will remove the side effects of antibiotics and is beneficial for the digestive system. It helps to fight infections.
4. What to Not Eat with Antibiotics for Healthy Gut Bacteria?
When you consume antibiotics, it is necessary to absorb them to cure your bacterial infection. Preventing any side effects of what you eat with your antibiotics plays a crucial role, especially for your gut bacteria health5. Here are some of the meals you should avoid when you consume antibiotics to prevent any side effects.
4.1. Acid Foods
Meals with high acid content can decrease the absorption of antibiotics. You should avoid these acid foods at least before and after a few hours of consumption of antibiotics.
These foods include citrus fruits such as orange, grapefruit, and lime juice. Adding on, avoid chocolate, tomato, and caffeine to protect your gut health created by these foods.
4.2. Alcohol

Alcohol is not good for health in any case. It affects the lungs and damages the digestive system. Alcohol consumption will prevent antibiotics from doing their work. Doctors advise patients to avoid alcohol to stay healthy.
4.3. Dairy Foods
When you eat dairy food with antibiotics, the calcium in the food will prevent the absorption of antibiotics in your system. Do not use these foods before six hours of your dose.
Dairy foods such as cheese, yogurt, milk, and butter all have calcium, which stops the absorption of antibiotics in the body. Therefore, even though yogurt is a probiotic food, you should still avoid eating yogurt with antibiotics since it contains some calcium.
4.4. Multi-Vitamins
Remember, if taking multivitamins, give maximum time space between antibiotics and multivitamins. Multivitamins6 of minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc are all responsible for your inability to absorb these minerals with antibiotics.
4.5. Foods with High Amounts of Calcium
Foods high in calcium will probably affect your system with antibiotics. These common foods, such as orange juice, tofu, and chia seeds, all interfere with the absorption of antibiotics and have many side effects.
5. How to Take Antibiotics for Healthy Bacteria?

When you are taking antibiotics the right way, the results will always be right. Here are the steps for taking antibiotics in the right way. To take antibiotics, always follow the instructions of either your doctor or the medic label.
If you miss a dose of your antibiotic, consider taking it as early as possible before your next dose timing. It should take time to consume the next dose of antibiotics. Taking too many antibiotics together at a time or even at a time gap of two hours can generate too many side effects with no healing.
There are some antibiotics that should not be chewed; some are taken after meals, and some are taken before breakfast. It is advisable to consult a doctor and follow the prescription.
In The End
Eating only foods that are healthy and labelled with antibiotics is a beneficial option. Eating healthy foods with antibiotics not only treats bacterial infections easily but also supports gut health. This will neither create digestive discomfort nor upset stomach.
Taking antibiotics for various bacterial infections is fine, but always remember that taking them in the long term can also cause various side effects. Consult a doctor and eat a healthy diet to overcome bacteria. Always complete the antibiotic course to reduce side effects.
FAQs
Q1. Is it better to eat foods while taking antibiotics?
Antibiotics are beneficial in the treatment process of bacterial infection. There are antibiotics like tetracycline, which asked for taking with an empty stomach.
Moreover, antibiotics like amoxicillin and doxycycline are required to be taken after eating proper, healthy food for absorption.
Q2. Can I eat meat with antibiotics?
The introduction of chicken into your gut can pose a risk to your health. It will create many health-related problems like weight gain, diabetes, asthma, and cancer. Therefore, consider eating meats by spacing time with your dose of antibiotics.
Q3. What are natural antibiotics?
Natural antibiotics include garlic, ginger, oregano, honey, clove, and many more. These can benefit your balanced diet but do not change it with your prescriptions. These natural antibiotics also have a lot of health risks, such as the risk of too much bleeding caused by garlic.
Therefore, do not consume these feeds regularly, it is not much helpful for your gut.
Q4. Is it true that antibiotics kill good bacteria?
Yes, this is true that antibiotics eliminate good and beneficial bacteria and this is generally bad since good bacteria help in fighting infections in the bad bacteria.
Antibiotics help in curing bacterial infections, and unfortunately, these antibiotics can distinguish between bad bacteria and good bacteria. This is the first main side effect of taking antibiotics.
- Hutchings, M. I., Truman, A. W., & Wilkinson, B. (2019). Antibiotics: past, present and future. Current opinion in microbiology, 51, 72-80. ↩︎
- Aureli, P., Capurso, L., Castellazzi, A. M., Clerici, M., Giovannini, M., Morelli, L., … & Zuccotti, G. V. (2011). Probiotics and health: an evidence-based review. Pharmacological research, 63(5), 366-376. ↩︎
- Anvari, S., Lee, Y., Lam, M., Doumouras, A. G., & Hong, D. (2020). The effect of bariatric surgery on oral antibiotic absorption: a systematic review. Obesity Surgery, 30, 2883-2892. ↩︎
- Ramsook, C., Sahagun-Carreon, I., Kozinetz, C. A., & Moro-Sutherland, D. (2002). A randomized clinical trial comparing oral ondansetron with placebo in children with vomiting from acute gastroenteritis. Annals of emergency medicine, 39(4), 397-403. ↩︎
- Zhang, Y. J., Li, S., Gan, R. Y., Zhou, T., Xu, D. P., & Li, H. B. (2015). Impacts of gut bacteria on human health and diseases. International journal of molecular sciences, 16(4), 7493-7519. ↩︎
- Prentice, R. L. (2007). Clinical trials and observational studies to assess the chronic disease benefits and risks of multivitamin-multimineral supplements. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 85(1), 308S-313S. ↩︎
Last Updated on by riyaspeaks