by Fiona Chapman.

MUCH against my herbalist and naturopath training and instinct, I am just coming to the end of a very strong course of antibiotics.
An ear infection which turned into cellulitis – neither of which should be messed with! Silly me.
I have, however, always said that conventional and herbal medicine should work alongside each other. There is a need for both and while I may have got away without taking the antibiotics, I would look stupid if I lost my hearing and got scepsis!

So, I need to finish the course and then treat myself to counter the damage the antibiotics have done to the whole of my system, not just to the nasty bacteria hanging around my ear!
When relatively healthy, the bacteria in our gut are friendly and will help to digest food and keep our gut environment strong – sadly, antibiotics are not selective and will kill most of these good bacteria.

They also take quite a toll on our liver as it must process all the toxins being released by the infection, dying bacteria and the pills themselves. All this activity in the gut and liver can also affect the brain and mood as they are so closely linked.
I will need to repopulate my gut with good pre and probiotics. I can obviously supplement with both, but the best way to do it is through food and herbs.
I don’t really eat dairy products so for me yogurt is out. The best thing to go for is fermented food like sauerkraut, kimchi, water kefir juice – a delicious one made locally by Bone & Broth – kombucha and green olives, all of which are quite easy to get hold of.

Herb-wise, I will take some Ulmus fulva or slippery elm, which not only soothes the digestive mucosa, but is a prebiotic and the fibres are fermented by the friendly bacteria to produce fatty acids which are healthy for the gut wall.
I will give my liver a little helping hand and take some Taraxacum officinale radix or dandelion root, Cynara scolymus, artichoke leaf and Silybum marianum or milk thistle, which help the liver process toxins, clear it out and encourage healthy cell growth.
Lots of filtered water will wash out any residual nasties and soon I will be bouncing around ready for spring and all the wonderful herbs that will start to pop up.

Fiona Chapman is a Naturopathic Herbalist (Pellyfiona@gmail.com)