Eric Bakker, a naturopath from New Zealand. How do
you replenish good bacteria when you've had antibiotics?
As I mentioned in a previous video, a lot of it depends on the state of your microbiome before you
took the antibiotic. But the best way to replenish bacteria is by eating the right type of foods
that are conducive to building up the health of the microbiome. That's the intelligent approach,
which usually means a plant-based diet, the fibers. I'm not saying avoid meat. I don't
see meat as being a bad thing in a diet, but I do see it bad if when you want a 16-ounce steak
once or twice a day. I see that as pretty darn bad, but small amounts of meat here or there have
not shown to destroy or wreck the microbiome at all. On the contrary, people with balanced diets,
who eat a wide range of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, some legumes, and nuts and
seeds have shown to have a very, very biodiverse gut, hundreds of species.
So all the research I've read from people, for example, that live in the Amazon,
indigenous cultures tend to have thousands more species in their digestive system than us
Westerners do. The main reason is because their diet is far more natural and plant-based.
But the other thing that you must never forget with these people
compared to us and these cultures is their lifestyle, all right? They'll spend hours and
hours walking every day. They'll be quite content doing small tasks. You don't see them on iPads,
looking at Netflix and stuff like that. They're people that have got very good physiques and
bodies for their age, and it's incredible how that really adds to the health of the microbiome. So we
can take a leaf out of their book by being far more active, by drinking a lot more fresh water,
and a lot less Coca-Cola, eating a lot more plant-based foods. These are things that will
encourage the bacterial biodiversity in our gut, and it makes a lot of sense to me to do that. So
replenishing good bacteria is not just about popping a pill;
it's about popping the right food in the mouth. Now, I've spoken plenty of times on this channel
about the right type of foods to eat to build up digestive health, so make sure you have a look at
my videos regarding that on what to eat to build up the gut, on the probiotic foods, for example.
The brightly colored foods. We've spoken so much about this on this channel already. We're talking
about things like carrots and sweet potatoes and broccoli and Brussels sprouts and kale, and
all of the things which I enjoy eating, which I'm sure that a lot of my viewers like eating too.
Hazelnuts, would you believe it, are good for the microbiome?
So are almonds, an alkaline nut. Good to eat two or three Brazil nuts a day. All clever
things that help to build up and replenish the gut. Kombucha, if your gut can handle it.
So the foods you need to be careful of in terms of the rebuild would be kefir and kombucha,
especially if you're not accustomed or seasoned to those foods, taking them regularly.
To me, adding kefir to your diet is a little bit like buying a high performance motorbike.
Now, you may be used to riding a bicycle, but now you're hopping on a 1,000 cc motorbike with
a lot more grunt there and power. It can cause a lot of damage if you don't know how to handle it
properly. Kefir is no different. I've seen people that will drink a pint of kefir a day. Literally
two or three times a day they're drinking kefir thinking it's going to help their gut.
Then, of course, several days later I get the email that they've got an explosive diarrhea
and serious cramping in their digestive system. You don't hop on that motorbike and go around
the race track on the first week you've got it and expect not to come off. It can take a while
before you get the skill set in knowing how to operate the machine and then after a while
you know exactly how to operate that machine. Now, kefir is no different.
Now, yogurt, I would put more in the scooter category, to be honest,
especially sour Greek yogurt. Small amounts.
Again, we don't want a big scooter, we want a little scooter, so we start maybe even with
a few teaspoons. If you're not accustomed to the cultured foods or fermented foods,
start small and then a little bit more and a little bit more, a little bit more, a little
bit more. Just gently. This is how I started with sauerkraut years ago. Now, I'm just starting now
with tempeh, to make tempeh cultures and to add a lot more tempeh, the fermented soybean,
into my diet. So always start small and this is how you rebuild your gut. As you're
building up those levels of those things like sauerkraut or kefir is down the track, remember,
wait till you're a bit better. So the yogurt; the sauerkraut; miso, if you can tolerate it.
As you build up and build that more and more, remember to support that
also with the correct types of vegetables, plenty of steamed vegetables and then salads.
Now, that it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, you can add a lot of fresh herbs,
all sorts of things into your diet. That, with the addition of the probiotic, will rebuild the gut.
It can take three weeks up to one year depending ... remember what we said before
in other videos? Depending on how long you are in antibiotic for; is it a repeat prescription,
were you drinking Coca Cola and eating fries before you had the antibiotics?
So all these things account for your recovery time. If you play the game right,
you'll recover really fast. That's what I wanted to say on how to replenish your good bacteria.
And the last thing I'll leave you with, it's the P word, it's called patience. Thanks for tuning in.