Each Extra 100 Grams of Sugar During Antibiotics Is Linked to 24 Percent Lower Gut Diversity
Sugary eating during treatment was also linked to blooms of drug resistant bacteria.
HEALTH TALK AMERICA · Ask the Pill, the Pancreas, and the Panel: Your Questions, AnsweredEating extra sugar while taking antibiotics is linked to lower diversity among gut bacteria, by 24 percent for each extra 100 grams taken in during the two-day window before samples were collected.
Researchers studied patients hospitalized for stem cell transplants for blood cancers. Because hospital meals are standardized, the team tracked more than 9,000 meals down to the gram and compared those precise diet records with stool samples.
Most diet studies rely on people recalling what they ate, which is unreliable. Hospital meals avoided that problem.
A total of 100 grams is roughly the sugar in two-plus sodas. As a rough illustration, that level could be reached with soda, dessert, sweetened coffee, and a granola bar.
The same sugary eating during antibiotics was also linked to blooms of enterococcus, a bacterium with some drug resistant strains tied to hard to treat infections. In vulnerable patients, those infections can extend hospital time and raise the chance of dying.
After antibiotics, some surviving bacteria remain, and feeding them simple sugars may help the dangerous germs dominate. Lead microbiologist Jonas Schulter of NYU put it this way: "It's like burning down a rainforest with fire and then trying to put out the flames by pouring on more gasoline."
Questions people ask
Does this finding apply to healthy people taking antibiotics at home?
The only evidence cited comes from hospitalized stem cell transplant patients, who are unusually vulnerable to infection. Healthy people taking antibiotics at home were not studied, so it is unknown whether the same link would hold for them.
How much sugar is 100 grams in everyday foods?
One hundred grams is roughly the sugar in two-plus sodas. As a rough illustration, that level could be reached with soda, dessert, sweetened coffee, and a granola bar.
What guidance was offered for protecting the gut during treatment?
General guidance was to go easy on sugary drinks and desserts during treatment and to keep eating fiber from vegetables, beans, whole grains, and fruit. That guidance also included asking your own doctor or pharmacist whether fermented foods or a probiotic might make sense and when to take one.