The probiotic that works best is the one you start on day one.
A five page recovery plan for during the course, the fortnight after, and the weeks that follow. Two named strains, the timing that matters, and what to eat at each stage. For children and adults.
Where should we send it?
Five pages, free.
- Works alongside your antibiotics
- Named strains, with the label codes
- Children and adults, fussy eaters included
What is in the guide
Five pages across three stages, from the first tablet through to week eight.
During, and the fortnight after
- The two probiotic strains with the most research behind them, named by their strain codes so you can check a label rather than trust a front-of-pack claim
- The spacing rule that most people miss: one of the two has to sit two hours away from each antibiotic dose, and the other does not
- Who should check with their GP before using probiotics at all
- The prebiotic foods to add in the first fortnight, in what order, and what to do when wind and bloating turn up as the bacteria adjust
Weeks three to eight
- Thirty different plants a week, and how to actually count to thirty without it taking over your shopping
- Polyphenol foods, and the species they feed that maintains the protective mucus layer of the gut
- The stewed apple recipe we use at every stage, with four ways to get it into a child
- A one page checklist for the fridge, the signs that need your GP promptly, and what to do when recovery is still not happening at week eight
That is the third course this year.
Antibiotics are sometimes essential, and when they are needed we want them to do their job properly. They work by killing bacteria, and they cannot tell the difference between the ones causing the infection and the helpful ones living in the gut. That community is the microbiome, and it has a hand in digestion, immunity, mood and regular bowel motions.
Most people's microbiome recovers over the following weeks. Research also shows some species take months to come back, and a few do not return on their own. That is the gap this guide is written for.
Starting a probiotic on the first day of the course has the strongest evidence of anything here for reducing antibiotic-related diarrhoea, in both children and adults. Which is the awkward part, because most advice about gut recovery arrives after the course has finished.
Why we made it
This is one of the few situations where timing genuinely changes the outcome, and where the window is short. Day one is better than day four, and day four is better than the week after.
The guide names strains rather than categories because strains within the same species behave differently, and a tub labelled simply "probiotic" tells you almost nothing. Both of the strains in here are easy to find in Australian pharmacies.
It is written for a family, so every stage has a version for a child who will not eat any of it. Capsules opened into cool yoghurt, a fibre powder that disappears into juice, and stewed apple frozen into pop moulds.
Always finish the course as your doctor prescribed. Nothing in this guide replaces the antibiotic or changes how you take it.
Send me the guide
Free, five pages.
General education only. It does not replace individual advice from your doctor or practitioner, and it does not replace or alter your antibiotic course. Seek medical advice promptly for severe or bloody diarrhoea, fever, significant abdominal pain, or signs of dehydration. © The Family Naturopath, The KAN Clinic.