And in the blink of an eye, it’s Sunday again! I hope that you’ve all had a great week. I’m on day 3 of 7 of a week-long course of antibiotics for a horrid horsefly bite infection! It’s horrible and although I don’t like taking antibiotics, it was TOTALLY necessary as the infection was spreading really quickly and it was soooo painful!

Anyway, the tablets are doing their job and my leg is infection-free! I’ll stop banging-on about it now! It has however given me the subject for this weeks self-care Sunday theme! 

Many of you know that I love talking about the gut; the microbiome that is intrinsic to our overall health and wellbeing. If the meadow of our gut is flourishing, so are we!

This, however is the niggle when we introduce antibiotics into the system. They are amazing at fighting infections because they eradicate the bad guys but they also reduce the number of good guys in the gut, too.

The depletion of friendly bacteria is something that can be rectified and here are my top-5 ways to encourage the growth of the friendly little fellas that make our gut abundant with life! 

1) Increase the amount of raw fruit and veg in your diet. Friendly bacteria thrive on this fibre.

2) Eliminate (or cut-back as much as possible on) processed sugar. This has no beneficial effect and the unfriendly guys love it! 

3) Drink lots of water (generally) but especially during and after taking antibiotics. It helps to clear the liver of toxins and enables the body to recover more quickly.

4) Take a probiotic supplement. I’m a huge advocate of these lovely gems anyway. I take 1 x bio acidophilus daily (Biocare are amazing), this helps to feed friendly gut bacteria and will help the gut to repopulate and give it a helping hand after taking medication.

5) Sleep. This is so important and good rest is so integral for general health – more so when we are fighting an infection. During sleep, the body restores itself and clears-out toxins. So if you need to take a nap, take a nap! I most certainly have been!

Have a great Sunday everyone and enjoy the sunshine.

With my love and encouragement,

Holly xxx