Responsible antibiotic use

Antibiotics prevent serious illness and save lives.

I was glad to take them for a stubborn bacterial ear infection I had early this year and give them to our daughter when she had strep.

But it's important to understand how they affect the body.

Much has been written from a Biomedical perspective about damage to gut microbiome.

From a Chinese Medicine perspective, antibiotics are cold in nature. They harm the Qi, which is a warm material. They especially harm the digestive fire when given orally.

What often happens, especially in kids, is this:

An individual gets an upper respiratory infection and is given antibiotics.

The antibiotics don't completely clear the infection, but they harm the Qi (whose job it is to fight infections), so the body can't finish the job on its own, and the lingering infection goes deeper.

This especially happens when antibiotics are given for a viral infection - which they won't clear at all - or when a new viral or bacterial exposure occurs during the course of antibiotics.

Once an infection goes deep, it can lurk there for quite some time and cause recurring flares and longterm dysfunction. This is the etiology of many autoimmune, allergic, and asthmatic conditions.

We have antibiotic herbs in Chinese Medicine, and I never prescribe them alone - they're too cold. I always combine them with warming herbs and herbs that protect the GI tract.

Physicians don't typically consider any of this when prescribing antibiotic medications. So, it's a good idea to do your own balancing: eat ​warming foods​ and foods that are well-cooked, bland, and brothy during and after a course of antibiotics (for a month or two).