This is what can happen to a child later in life if they’re given antibiotics at a young age.
Timestamps
0:00 The effects of antibiotics on children later in life
0:10 The link between the gut and the brain
0:37 Antibiotics and children
1:07 Affects of an altered microbiome
2:02 What you can do
4:16 Share your success story!
I want to increase your awareness of how antibiotics can affect children later in life. There is a very important link between what goes on in the digestive system and what happens in your brain.
You have close to 100 trillion microbes both inside and outside of the body, most of which live in your gut. If those microbes are altered in a certain way, it can create huge effects on your cognitive state and your emotional state.
Penicillin is the most commonly prescribed antibiotic for children. Antibiotics can change the type of microbes living in your gut, as well as the number of microbes and the ratios of microbes to fungus.
One big effect of an altered microbiome is an alteration of the gene expression of both the frontal cortex of the brain and the amygdala, which has a lot to do with fear responses and stress responses.
This could affect your memory and put you in a fear state (anxiety) and a stress state (high cortisol). So, antibiotics early in life could potentially affect a child’s cognitive and emotional state later in life.
In other videos, I also talk about how it can affect the immune system, increase the risk of allergies and asthma, and slow down metabolism.
Antibiotics given to children can potentially increase the risk of certain things later in life, such as:
• Depression
• Autism
• Anxiety
• ADHD
What you can do:
• Be sure the antibiotics are necessary
• Make sure the child doesn’t consume foods that contain antibiotics (buy foods that are organic, grass-fed, and antibiotic-free)
• If the child has to take an antibiotic, make sure they also take a probiotic at the same time, and after they stop taking the antibiotic
• Allow the child’s immune system to learn from the environment
• Keep key nutrients high (zinc, calcium, and vitamin D)
Dr. Eric Berg
08/31/2023
