Can You Take Multivitamins With Antibiotics?

Vibrant Health

You just got your new multivitamin, but are also feeling under  the weather. You may be wondering whether or not it's safe to combine your daily multivitamin with the antibiotics your doctor has prescribed. It's a valid question—after all, antibiotics are powerful medications designed to fight bacterial infections, and you don't want to inadvertently diminish their effectiveness or harm your health with a bad combination.

In this article, we will go over the answer to this question along with other tips.

Is It Ok To Take Multivitamins With Antibiotics?

In most cases you could take multivitamins with antibiotics, however, there are some things you should keep in mind.

Antibiotic Absorption

While taking some antibiotics along with multivitamins, you may have issues with the absorption of some antibiotics, specifically tetracyclines and fluoroquinolones. It’s important to ask your doctor. It's important to consult with your doctor about the timing of your multivitamin intake. 

Gut Flora

Taking antibiotics can sometimes disturb the delicate balance of your gut's microbiome. To support a healthy gut environment, it's beneficial to consider multivitamins that include probiotics. These beneficial bacteria can aid in preserving the natural flora of your digestive system. To ensure that the probiotics are effective and not immediately neutralized by the antibiotic, it's advisable to space out their intake (make sure to check with your dr. no matter what).

Antibiotics May Limit Nutrient Absorbtion

When you take antibiotic it kills bacteria to get rid of the infection that you have. However, in that process it also kills the good bacteria. When you’re gut doesn’t have good bacteria, this can interfere with your body to digest in a healthy fashion and may interfere with your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. 

Notable Antibiotic and Multivitamin Interactions

Source: Can I Take Vitamins If I Am Taking Antibiotics? - Livestrong.com

Tips For Taking Multivitamins With Antibiotics

If your doctor gives you the go-ahead and says that your antibiotic is ok to pair with your multivitamin, here are some tips to ensure that you get the most benefit from both.

Don’t Take them At The Same Time

Even if you could take both. You shouldn’t take them at the same time. Here are some reasons why you should avoid taking them together.

Optimizing Efficacy

By taking your multivitamins and antibiotics at two different times, you can make sure that both are absorbed more effectively as your body can focus on processing one at a time. This way, the antibiotic is able to fight your sickness, and you're able to absorb the necessary nutrients from your multivitamin (more effectively).

Reducing Overload On The Digestive System

Taking several pills at once can be hard on the stomach and digestive system. Both multivitamins & antibiotics are sometimes known to cause nausea, and taking both at the same time could be a recipe for disaster. 

Keep A Balanced Diet

As we mentioned above, antibiotics work by killing bacteria as a whole (which includes good bacteria), so it’s important to eat a balanced diet rich in high fiber foods. You could also take foods that are rich in probiotics to help restore the balance of bacteria in the gut. If you stay on top of your diet while taking antibiotics it could help support your immune system as well as minimize side effects from the antibiotics as well. Lastly, since antibiotics could potentially deplete the nutrients within your multivitamin, staying on top of your diet really helps.

Stay Hydrated

If you’re not already, you should be mindful of your water intake. This is for many reasons including:

Aiding in nutrient absorption

The more water you drink, the more you absorb nutrients. Drinking plenty of water especially around the time that you take your multivitamin can be beneficial because of the fact that water-soluble vitamins could be better absorbed when your body is well-hydrated.

Antibiotic Effectiveness

When it comes to antibiotics there are many benefits to drinking a lot of water. First off, antibiotics could be tough on your kidneys, so drinking plenty of water could help reduce the concentration of drugs within your body and within your urine. Secondly, just like your multivitamin, drinking plenty of water allows for better antibiotic absorption. Lastly, many types of antibiotics are considered acidic, so downing more water than usual when taking them could reduce the amount of acid in your stomach. 

This not only helps to minimize gastrointestinal discomfort but also ensures that the antibiotics are less likely to cause irritation to the stomach lining.

Consider Taking Probiotics

Last, but definitely not least, is to take probiotics. We mentioned twice already about how antibiotics could strip the good bacteria from your gut microbiome. Two ways to combat this is drinking plenty of water and eating a good diet, however, taking a good probiotic probably is the most direct method to replenish the beneficial bacteria in your gut. Here’s how taking a probiotic could help with both antibiotic and multivitamin use. 

Restores The Balance Of Bacteria In The Gut

We’ve mentioned this one a couple times already. But the first notable benefit of taking probiotics is its ability to help you restore the balance of bacteria in your gut. 

Nutrient Absorption

Another benefit you could get from taking probiotics is nutrient absorption. If the antibiotic you’re taking has the ability to deplete certain nutrients, probiotics could put your body in a better position to absorb and utilize the nutrients from your food and your multivitamin. 

Reduces Side Effects From Antibiotics

Some common side effects you could get from antibiotics include upset stomach, nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, and more. Taking probiotics could lessen the chance of getting any of these annoying side effects. 

Best Way To Take Probiotics While On Antibiotics

You may be wondering if there’s a best time to take probiotics while on antibiotics. There is. You want to make sure that you take them a few hours apart. This is because of the fact that if you take them too close together, the antibiotics could kill the good bacteria your probiotics have to offer. 

Not All Probiotics Are The Same

You want to make sure you choose the right strain or strains of probiotics. Some have no effects when taking probiotics while others are much more effective.

Consistency Is Key

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t just take probiotics while you’re on antibiotics. The results you get from probiotics are best when you take them on a consistent basis regardless of whether or not you are on antibiotics or not. So, even when you’re done taking the antibiotics it could be helpful to continue taking your probiotic supplement.

Make Sure You Choose Good Quality Products

The same way not all probiotic strains are the same, not all probiotics are the same quality. You want to make sure you look for products with good potency, and ones that have been tested and verified.

Avoid Certain Foods and Drinks

Antibiotics aren’t the only thing that could kill the growth of your probiotics. You want to also make sure you stay away from foods and beverages that can inhibit the growth probiotics. These include foods that are high in sugar, or foods that have high antibacterial properties (garlic and other things). 

Storage and Handling

Follow storage instructions carefully. Some probiotics need to be refrigerated to maintain their effectiveness, while others are shelf-stable

Keep a Good Diet

Probiotics could help, but you also have to play your part as well. You want to eat foods that are high in prebiotics. Prebiotics are fibers that help feed your probiotics to make them stronger. If you like bananas, they are a great source of prebiotics. 

The Best All In One Supplement: Trilogy

If you’re looking for the very best multivitamin supplement while on antibiotics (as long as you get the ok from your doctor), consider going with Trilogy. Trilogy is a unique 3-in-1 formula that includes a multivitamin, omega-3’s and last but not least probiotics.

Combining these three while taking antibiotics offers a comprehensive approach. Instead of taking a multivitamin, antibiotic, and probiotic at three different times of the day, you’ll be able to take an antibiotic at one time and the Trilogy supplement at another, making it much easier for yourself.

Let’s dive into each aspect of the 3-in-1 formula and why it should be your go to option not only when taking antibiotics, but all the time. 

Multivitamin: Filling Nutritional Gaps

The multivitamin within the Trilogy is comprehensive. It contains essential vitamins such as vitamins A, C, D3, E, and B-complex vitamins. These are good for your immune function, bone health, skin health, and energy metabolism. Additionally, it includes minerals like zinc, selenium, copper, and manganese, which play crucial roles in various physiological processes.

Probiotic 

We went over all the different benefits probiotics have to offer, especially when taking them while on antibiotics. However, we do know that not all probiotics are the same so we need to discuss why the probiotics within Trilogy are your best bet.

Highly Potent

Trilogy contains 20 Billion CFUs which means it has a significant amount of beneficial bacteria. This is important when it comes to ensuring your gut gets the good bacteria it needs.

Diverse Strains

It contains 12 different strains. Diversity is very important when it comes to maintaining a healthy gut microbiome. 

Bile-Resistant Strains

Probiotics can have a hard time surviving within your gut. With that being said, it’s important that you take bile-resistant strains. While bile-resistant strains aren’t always antibiotic resistant, they do offer a significant advantage in ensuring that the probiotics you consume can withstand the harsh environment of the stomach and small intestine.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

There are many benefits when it comes to taking a supplement that includes Omega-3 fatty acids. Some of them include a healthy hear, brain health, eye health, inflammation reduction, and more.

When it comes to this article, Omega-3’s play a very crucial role in helping your probiotics survive. This is because it’s proven that Omega-3 fatty acids can act as a prebiotic. Simply put, prebiotics strengthen the ability of probiotics and help them survive.

Other Benefits Of Taking Trilogy (Table)

Vibrant Health Commitment To Quality

If you’re not convinced yet, let’s talk about the commitment of quality Vibrant Health as to it’s products. 

Continuous Improvement Since 1992

Vibranth Health started with one supplement, Green Vibrance. Over the last 30 years, they have consistently improved Green Vibrance by changing it to suit new studies and scientific findings.

Every Ingredient Has a Purpose

Since 1992, they have created more supplements, and every single one is crafted with a clear purpose. Every ingredient is chosen carefully to ensure a synergistic blend that serves a specific function, aiming to support overall health and well-being. This includes Trilogy.

Triple Redundant Testing

Every product Vibrant manufacturers undergoes rigorous testing. They follow GMP guidelines, and each material is test for heavy metals and contaminants. All tests are done by independent labs to ensure an unbiased approach. 

Transparency

Last but definitely not least, Vibrant  Health discloses every single ingredient and its dosages and never uses proprietary blends. 

So knowing that Vibrant is focused on continuous improvement, rigorous testing, and transparency, Trilogy is an easy choice for your next multivitamin. 

Conclusion

With the right precaution and timing you could definitely take antibiotics with your multivitamin. As we mentioned many times within this article, make sure it’s ok with your doctor before you do anything.