15/10/2025
What we put into our bodies leaves a longer imprint than we realise. Even prescription medicines.
This new research shows that common medications - from antibiotics and antidepressants to reflux and blood pressure drugs - can disrupt the gut microbiome for years. Even if you stop taking it.
The average adult has about 30 trillion human cells but it hosts roughly 38 trillion microbial cells!
Not only that, the collective microbiome has at least 100 times more genes than the human genome which influence digestion, mood, immunity, and even how we metabolise medications.
Now you see why we need to take care of it.
This isn't a call to 'cancel' medication or to stop your script. It's a call to increase awareness of the knock-on effects and highly the need to help our microbiome recover so it can keep working it's best for us.
Read the study here:
This is the first study using detailed retrospective medication usage data from electronic health records to systematically assess the long-term effects of medication usage on the gut microbiome. We identified carryover and additive effects on the gut microbiome for a range of antibiotics and non-an...
