Natural Antibiotics

Probiotics

Beneficial bacteria that live in our bodies, probiotics live in the digestive tract and on skin and mucosal surfaces, where they function as regulators of immune function. Probiotics compete with other species of (infectious) bacteria to limit their growth and ability to cause infection. Probiotics also communicate with immune cells in the gut and improve the cells’ ability to fight infection systemically.

Probiotics have shown efficacy, for example, in reducing pneumonia among critically ill patients, group B streptococcus infection rates in pregnant women, and rotavirus gastrointestinal infection among children. As well, probiotic usage may help increase the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in eradicating certain bacteria, such as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), a common infection affecting the stomach.

Perhaps most importantly, taking probiotics concurrently with a prescribed course of antibiotics has been shown to dramatically decrease the rate of developing a difficult bacterial infection. Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a gastrointestinal infection that may occur as a result of antibiotic treatment and can be devastating, especially for the elderly.

A meta-analysis of 19 studies and more than 6,200 patients found that administration of probiotics to hospitalized patients reduced the rate of C. diff infection by over 50 percent, and that this effect was strongest if probiotics were started on the same day as antibiotics.

Honey

Honey is well known for its ability to promote wound healing. Studies of hospitalized patients have found that application of honey-based dressings shorten wound healing time and hospital stay compared to standard iodine dressings or standard care. Honey has been shown to reduce the bacterial load of wounds infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus and improve healing.

Garlic

Garlic has well-known antibacterial and antifungal properties; it may help improve eradication rates of H. pylori when combined with antibiotic triple therapy; and a proprietary garlic product has been shown to reduce vaginal candida infection. Topical garlic extract and royal jelly has been shown to improve healing of MRSA-infected cells in vivo. Garlic may also help improve proliferation and activity of T cell lymphocytes and NK cells, which are important in fighting infection.

Goldenseal

In vitro evidence shows that Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal) extract containing alkaloids berberine, hydrastine, and canadine, exerts activity against MRSA bacteria. Berberine has also been shown, in cell lines, to exert antifungal and anti-biofilm effect (biofilms being a mechanism of chronic bacterial infections).

Naturopathic doctors often use goldenseal in the treatment of bacterial pharyngitis, sinusitis, and intestinal infections.

Echinacea

Echinacea has also shown, in lab tests, to increase immune system CD4 (helper) T cells, B cell proliferation, and NK cell activity. A 2024 meta-analysis of 30 clinical trials found that use of echinacea preventively or in the early treatment of respiratory infection reduced recurrent infections, infection complications, the overall need for antibiotics, and the total days of antibiotic usage.

Oregano

Two constituents of oregano oil, carvacrol and thymol, have shown antibacterial activity against a number of bacteria, in vitro, including Streptococcus mutans, Cronobacter sakazakii, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 along with surface-dwelling bacterial pathogens.

Antibiotic resistance

Widespread overuse of antibiotic medications has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This means that select species of bacteria have now developed ways to survive antibiotic treatment, necessitating the use of different, more expensive, less effective, or more toxic antibiotic regimens.

Examples of this include organisms such as E. coli colonizing the urinary tract, H. pylori that colonize the gastric mucosa, group A streptococcus that is responsible for causing strep throat, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) which colonizes the skin, and vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) in the gut.

To combat the rise of antibiotic resistance, health professionals are being urged to limit unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions for conditions such as ear infections, pharyngitis, and the common cold.

The single most important thing we can do to preserve our antibiotics is to avoid using them unnecessarily. We can use natural health products to help reduce the need for antibiotics as well as to potentiate their use when necessary.

This article was originally published in the September 2024 issue of alive magazine.