How I’m Repairing My Body After Taking ANTIBIOTICS!!

Posted on April 10, 2016

It’s been a doozy of a couple weeks over here! In this week’s newsletter you’ll find the every day struggles and success of our real life, including what I’m doing to heal my body after a course of antibiotics.

Choices and consequences… last week I traveled on a business trip, didn’t sleep much at all, ate out daily, and drank alcohol during company dinners and happy hours- all gluten-free, but NOT PALEO. It was a wonderful experience, but I could feel the toll that it took on my body.

This week I was diagnosed with an Upper Respiratory Infection. Ugh! So it’s mug after mug of broth to help heal and recover. Cheers to broth! My favorite superfood!

I haven’t had an upper respiratory infection in years! Instead of feeling guilt for eating gluten-free Oreos from Rise Bakery (which were as good as they look) and hard cider, I thought about it a little more…

Look how far I’ve come! First of all I was able to DO ALL THESE THINGS. For someone who missed a semester in college from anxiety, I have taken hold of my career, managed Finn’s broken arm on his birthday, and travelled all in the same week- something I would never have been able to do before.

Further, this marks the 2nd respiratory infection I’ve had since going Paleo almost 6 years ago. While I can wish my body were stronger, exposing myself to ER germs and then doing activities I know to be counter productive to my health was a risk I knowingly took. I used to get 2-3 of these infections per YEAR. Now I’ve had two in SIX YEARS.

I say this to help you put things in perspective. I’ve had challenges this year, we all have our own challenges. But celebrating progress is much more productive than the guilt and shame of expecting more. I will remind myself of this over the next couple weeks as I CHUG KOMBUCHA AND BROTH!

This week I will be making choices for my health, putting self-respect first. Of course, I’ll recover, and am happy to be stronger for it.

How I’m Repairing My Body After Taking ANTIBIOTICS!!

Being diagnosed with multiple autoimmune disease, I’m no stranger to antibiotics! So I’ve had a LOT OF PRACTICE recovering from them, and come with an arsenal of tactics for rebuilding the good bacteria and gut microbia that they destroy. These good bacteria perform so many important function in the body, so getting them back quickly is important to me. Here’s what I’m doing:

Drinking all the kombucha I can get my hands on! If you haven’t acquired a taste for this probiotic-rich fermented tea yet, I strongly urge you to check out Live Kombucha “Soda.” It’s fizzy, slightly sweet, and comes in all your favorite soda flavors. It’s perfect for those who aren’t yet crazy for kombucha.

My other favorite brand, and one we AWAYS have around the house is GT’s Kombucha. Our family favorites are: Triology, Gingerade, Gingerberry and Citrus.

I’m eating probiotic-rich foods multiple times per day, and some of my staples are Bubbies Pickles, Relish, and Sauerkraut. I take a small amount of these with nearly every meal to keep adding good bacteria into my digestive tract.

Having a large variety of fermented and probiotic-rich foods ensures that I will get the greatest diversity of bacteria back in my system. Grass-Fed Organic Yogurt or Homemade Coconut Milk Yogurt (topped with organic berries!) is tasty way to get probiotics, especially for those don’t love all the fermented stuff!

The last important piece is making sure to feed the good bacteria so they will want to stick around- and the best way to do this is by eating a large variety of vegetables and other fiber-rich foods. I love veggies, so this is an easy one for me! We’ve got the fridge stocked with things like dark lettuce, kale, cabbage, broccoli, and carrots!