Yogurt can protect against diarrhea while taking antibiotics

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Eating yogurt with a certain strain of probiotic can protect against changes in the gut microbiome associated with the use of antibiotics.

This conclusion was made in a new randomized clinical trial conducted by scientists from the University of Maryland.

Results were featured in Nutrients magazine. The study found that yogurt containing the probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis (BB-12) supports the colon microbiome better than a placebo.

“This discovery provides a new look at the protective mechanisms of the probiotic BB-12. It can protect against antibiotic-induced diarrhea,” says study co-author Dr. Claire Fraser.

As part of the study, scientists prescribed a weekly course of antibiotics to healthy volunteers. Some of the participants consumed yogurt with BB-12 every day for a week after that. Another group consumed yogurt without the probiotic for two weeks.

Researchers found that levels of short-chain fatty acid acetate, a beneficial metabolite produced by the microbiota, were reduced in all subjects after taking the antibiotic. However, in the group that consumed yogurt with probiotics, these levels returned to their previous levels within a month, which was not observed in the second group.