Can You Take Probiotics With Alcohol?
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You’re probably seeing them everywhere: advertisements and commercials for probiotics — the “miracle” supplement for improving digestion and enhancing our overall health. You’ll find whole sections dedicated to probiotic supplements in pharmacies, grocery stores, or any other health and wellness center.
But what, exactly, are probiotics — and is it okay to drink alcohol with them? In this post, we’ll explore how consuming alcohol affects our gut health and whether it’s a good idea to mix alcohol with probiotics. We’ll also shed light on some of the best probiotic sources and offer tips for maintaining a healthy gut. Let’s get started!
Before we look at whether it’s ok to take probiotics with alcohol, we need to understand what probiotics are. Simply put, probiotics are beneficial living microorganisms, including bacteria and yeasts, that naturally reside in our body. While we often think of bacteria as bad, some types of bacteria are actually good for us, helping to keep our body healthy and working well.
Probiotics are made up of good bacteria that play a vital role in helping us digest food, fend off disease, and even create vitamins. Trillions of them reside in our digestive tract, otherwise referred to as our “microbiome.”
Sometimes, our microbiome becomes unbalanced, with too many bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria. This can happen due to illness, obesity, medication such as antibiotics, mental health problems like depression and anxiety, and other issues.
While we can get some probiotics from certain foods, probiotic supplements can help restore the delicate balance of gut bacteria that we need to feel well and stay healthy. In fact, more and more research shows that probiotics play an instrumental role in helping maintain a healthy gut.
Let’s get more specific: what can probiotics do that make them so beneficial? Research is ongoing, but multiple studies have already shown that a healthy microbiome may prevent and treat diseases in many realms: digestive health, yeast infections, oral disease, food allergies, and eczema.
Here’s a closer look at 6 of the potential benefits associated with probiotics:
So now that we know what probiotics are and why they’re so important, we can turn to the next question: is it ok to drink alcohol while taking probiotics? In principle, yes. Probiotics are not an over-the-counter medication or prescription drug, so there aren’t any potential harmful interactions or side effects.
However, in practice, it’s a bit more complex. Alcohol kills the good bacteria in our gut — and it can also kill the probiotic bacteria in supplements. Combining the two can be counterproductive. Let’s take a closer look at 4 ways that alcohol affects our gut microbiome:
The bottom line? If we’re taking probiotic supplements, drinking alcohol will essentially compromise their efficacy.
So does any amount of alcohol kill the good bacteria, or is it only excessive amounts? Is there an amount to drink that lets us enjoy our drink while not harming our gut microbiome? While the occasional alcoholic beverage likely won’t hurt, repeated heavy drinking can lead to more profound effects on our gut microbiome and affect our overall health and well-being.
One study found that individuals who consumed excess alcohol had reduced bifidobacteria, lactobacilli, and enterococci bacterial strains — all of which are important for gut health. Even so, it’s worth noting that just one night of binge drinking can be harmful, disrupting the delicate ecosystem of our gut microbiome.
Similarly, the timing of our probiotics can also make a difference. If we do choose to drink, it’s recommended that we take probiotics at least several hours before consuming alcohol. This theoretically allows the good bacteria to colonize our gut and reproduce. If we consume alcohol and then take probiotics, the beneficial bacteria might be killed off by the alcohol and not survive the journey to our gut.
Let’s say you had a night out and ended up consuming more alcohol than you would have liked. Can particular probiotic strains help us replenish the healthy bacteria that was killed by alcohol?
While probiotics are by no means a cure-all, research indicates that two strains can help restore bowel flora and improve alcohol-induced liver issues: Bifidobacterium bifidum and lactobacillus. These two strains have been found to reduce the number of harmful bacteria in the gut and improve the overall balance of gut flora. They can also play a role in improving liver enzymes that may be affected by alcohol consumption.
But this doesn’t mean we have a free pass to drink alcohol! It’s important to keep in mind that alcohol can have harmful effects on our physical health and mental well-being — even in small doses.
While taking probiotic supplements can be beneficial, our body benefits most from getting natural sources of probiotics in food. Here are 9 probiotic-rich foods:
In addition to limiting our alcohol consumption and consuming probiotic-rich foods, there are many things we can do to support a healthy gut microbiome. Here are 3 tips:
Probiotics are beneficial bacteria and yeast that help keep our body and gut healthy. Consuming alcohol while taking probiotics is counterproductive, as it kills the good bacteria already in our gut as well as the good bacteria in our probiotic supplement. The more alcohol we consume and the more frequently we drink, the more our gut microbiome will be disrupted. While probiotic supplements can be beneficial, we may reap more benefits by incorporating natural, probiotic-rich foods into our diet.
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1. What are probiotics?
Probiotics are beneficial living microorganisms, including bacteria and yeasts, that naturally reside in our body. They play a vital role in balancing our gut microbiome and keeping our body healthy. We can get probiotics from the foods we eat or by taking a probiotic supplement.
2. What are the health benefits of probiotics?
Researchers find probiotics may help improve digestive health, contribute to weight loss, improve mood, and prevent allergies. They’ve also noted a possible link between probiotics and reduced cancer risk, though more research needs to be done.
3. How does alcohol affect probiotics?
While drinking alcohol with probiotics doesn’t cause any harmful reactions, it’s largely counterproductive, as it kills the good bacteria already in our gut in addition to the good bacteria in our probiotic supplement. Alcohol can also damage our gut lining, prevent nutrient absorption, and slow digestion.
4. How much alcohol is harmful?
While the occasional alcoholic beverage likely won’t be harmful, repeated heavy drinking can kill good bacteria and disrupt the delicate ecosystem of our gut microbiome.
5. What probiotic strains can help restore gut balance?
While probiotics are by no means a cure all, research has found that Bifidobacterium bifidum and lactobacillus can reduce the number of harmful bacteria in the gut and improve the overall balance of gut flora. They can also help improve liver enzymes that may be affected by alcohol consumption.
6. What are the best sources of probiotics?
Probiotic supplements may be beneficial, but we may reap more benefits from consuming probiotic-rich foods, such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, kombucha, pickles and natto.
7. How else can we maintain a healthy gut microbiome?
Apart from limiting our alcohol consumption, staying hydrated, managing stress, and getting exercise are all good ways to support a healthy gut.
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