Sugary intake may worsen antibiotic-related gut damage

Foods that are high in sugar may worsen antibiotics' effects on the gut by reducing microbial diversity and encouraging the growth of bacteria linked to difficult-to-treat infections, Science News reports.

Researchers tracked more than 9,000 meals consumed by 173 hospitalised patients undergoing blood-forming stem cell transplants, comparing food intake with gut bacteria data from stool samples.

Science News reports that for every additional 100 grams of sugar consumed in the two days before sampling, patients taking antibiotics had a 24 percent reduction in bacterial diversity.

Sugary foods and drinks were also associated with an increase in Enterococcus bacteria, some of which are drug-resistant and linked to difficult-to-treat infections, cited per report.

Jonas Schluter, a microbiologist at NYU Langone Health, said simple sugars could give bacteria that survive antibiotic treatment a resource to grow and become more dominant.

According to Science News, iIn experiments involving mice, researchers also found that a sugar-rich diet worsened the growth of Enterococcus bacteria after antibiotic exposure.

Nutrition scientist Sarah Berry of King's College London said reducing sugar intake could help patients support their gut microbiome during antibiotic treatment.

However, further research is needed to determine whether the findings apply to everyone taking antibiotics.

Schluter added antibiotics remain necessary to fight infections, but researchers need to identify ways to reduce their harmful effects on the gut microbiome.