Recently the New England Journal of Medicine published an article that found taking Erythromycin, a commonly prescribed anti-biotic, increases your risk of dying from a cardio vascular complication by 250%.
Many of us, including myself, were given antibiotics as children to treat bronchitis, diphtheria, pneumonia, and ear, intestine, lung, urinary tract, and skin infections (source). The downsides of antibiotics weren’t well understood then, but now we know that it increases your risk of cancer, heart disease and digestive disorders.
The Problem with Antibiotics
Getting rid of bad bacteria is the main goal, but prescribed antibiotics kill all bacteria in your body both good and bad. It’s very similar to using dynamite to get rid of some weeds in your garden. Good bacteria, known as probiotics, are a large part of your immune system, keeping you healthy and your digestive system. If your digestive system isn’t working properly, you aren’t going to be digesting the foods you eat. You’ve heard it said that you are what you eat, well in this case, you are what you can digest. If your body doesn’t digest the food you cannot absorb the vitamins and minerals as well.
The best thing you can do to avoid the need for prescribed antibiotics is to increase your intake of probiotics either in supplement form or in cultured foods, and to take the following three natural antibiotics as soon as you begin to feel sick.
3 Natural Antibiotics
1. Raw Garlic – contains allison which is a powerful anti fungal, anti biotic, and anti viral. Garlic is often treated with chemicals to prevent sprouting, so it is very important to buy organic garlic Take 1 clove per day of raw garlic.
2. Oil of Oregano – anti viral, anti bacterial, anti fungal, anti parasitic, anti oxidant, and anti inflammatory. Take 500mg or 5 drops daily (the Oreganol
3. Colloidal Silver – Supports your immune system, is powerfully alkaline and is anti viral. Take 1 to 2 Tbsp. Daily (I recommend and use Sovereign Silver
Foods high in Probiotics
- Goat’s Milk Yogurt or Kefir
- Amasai
- Coconut Kefir
- Coconut Water
- Kombucha Tea
- Sour Kraut
- Apple Cider Vinegar
Thank you Dr. josh Axe I take Garden of Life
Products and watch what I eat. I will try Sour
Kraut and coconut water. your the best
Buying commercial Sauerkraut that has been pasteurized does not help your immune system. Get it from a local store, or make it yourself. I have been making it and eating a large portion (unheated) almost daily and it has made a difference for me.
Dr. Axe,
I have knee replacements and have been told when I go to the dentist I should first take a dose of antibiotics to prevent a possible spread of infection from my mouth to my knees.
Is this necessary? or is there a safe holistic approach? Thank you!
Thank you Dr. Axe. few points.
I think that it is worth mentioning that the absolute number of cases (deaths from cardiovascular disease) was very small in this study (47 additional cardiovascular deaths per 1 million courses of antibiotics).
you should also keep in mind that this is a retrospective study and you can not compare different groups (antibiotics versus no antibiotics) without controlling for confounding factors, which study authors tried to do in this paper.
in short, more studies are needed and the risk if present is small in absolute numbers.
I had multiple oral surgeries, oral infections and colon infections that led to needing to take some very strong antibiotics. My mom is a firm believer in oil of oregano, so we tried that first- but unfortunately with no success. For 10 weeks, I was alternating Amoxycillin, Penicillin, and Metronitazole with probiotic capsules (50 billion cells 2x a day), homemade yogurt and Kifir…again with no success. This caused for the need to be on Vancomycin for over 7 weeks. Doctors, nurses and specialists were all amazed that I was not in the hospital during this time, as Vanco is a VERY strong antibiotic only received through hospital pharmacies. Being on the medications, and my body being out of whack for such an extended amount of time had caused some irreversible damage. It has now been over a year and a half since my first surgery, and I currently deal with light to severe abdominal pain, cardiac problems and neuropathy on a daily basis. I highly recommend trying a natural route, but trying it as early as possible- although sometimes by the time a problem is diagnosed, it is often too late to try a natural route-especially when you’re talking about infections…I found that out with my colon infections…When I had my first infection, I had no clue what all the pain was from, and just figured it was the medications messing me up a little bit. It wasn’t until I began bleeding internally that I was sent in to be tested. By then it was too late to try a natural route. My only caution with natural remedies is to be extremely cautious to not believe so full-heartedly in it that you are unwilling to go to a doctor. Other than that, I think natural stuff is very healthy, and even though Kifir is made out of rotten mushrooms, and flavored like fruit, I guess I have a taste for it now! :)
i just had an infected root canal and so have to be on amoxicillin for a week. i am taking probiotics once a day and kombucha daily. I am making a kale smoothie with micro greens daily. I did have breast cancer three years ago and am so scared it will come back but I have always been a good organic eater. i should never had gotten cancer but it may have been partially from another infection in an old root canal. So i can’t avoid antibiotics this week, but if there is anything else to add to my regimen to combat the effects of the antibiotic, i would appreciate the input.
thank you