There is no doubt about it; once you become a parent there is nothing more important to you then making sure your children are happy, healthy, and well, growing. However, in an effort to protect your kids could you actually be doing them more harm than good? A new study has found possible links to common antibiotic medications and development issues in children.
What Are Antibiotics?
Antibiotics are specially designed medication meant to help fight off and prevent the formulation of microorganisms in the human body. However, antibiotics have been known to eliminate both good and bad bacteria.
The Study.
Recently, New York University’s researchers have conducted a study to examine the effects of antibiotics on growth development in children. For ethical and legal reasons human test subjects were excluded from this study. Researchers instead turned to lab mice as primary test subjects for investigating the effects of antibiotics on growth development.
During the study a test group of female lab mice were treated with two of the most common child friendly antibiotics. To create a control group, another batch of female lab mice were placed in identical conditions without regular antibiotic treatment.
The results this study yielded were surprising to say the least. The study’s findings show that the mice that were given the regular 3 shot course of antibiotics seemed to gain weight much faster than their control group counterparts.
These mice also experience irregular levels of bone growth. Mice that were given antibiotics also seemed to have a change occur in their gut microbiome.
This new study supports research conducted by Dr. Martin Blaser, MD, which suggested that antibiotic exposure during early development may disrupt the bacterial landscape of a child’s stomach. This would permanently change the body’s metabolism, ultimately leading to obesity.
Can Probiotics Help?
Isaac Newton had it right when he said “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” When it comes to antibiotics, probiotics are the closest thing to an equal yet opposite reaction one can get. Probiotics can help improve gut health by replenishing the amount of good bacteria in the stomach while also driving out bad bacteria that could negatively affect digestion.
Where antibiotics cause harm to the digestive system, probiotics improve. Probiotics not only help clear out bad bacteria, they also help the body brake down foods that would otherwise put a strain on your digestive system.
Bacteria have gotten a bad rap often being portrayed as little monsters that cause diseases.
When in reality they are what your body needs in order to fight off infections naturally. If you are looking to add some probiotics into your diet, aim for fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, tempeh, and sourdough bread.
Note: always speak with your doctor before making any decisions regarding the use or elimination of medications.