What Happens When You Stop Taking A Probiotic?

Gut health is so important. Full stop. In Chinese medicine and ayurveda, your digestive tract is considered the first warning sign of emerging chronic medical issues. And today, more people are becoming aware that compromised gut health can lead to other long-term medical problems.

Your microbiome changes daily with the foods you eat, so eating more fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt, and kombucha all help add good bacteria to your gut.

Oftentimes, a probiotic supplement is also a good option. As an Integrative and functional medicine physician, I often recommend patients take a probiotic supplement daily to help add good bacteria to the gut and also aid with bloating, gas, and constipation.* Fermented foods are great, but your body often needs more diversity than what you can get from those foods alone. 

Your microbiome also changes when you stop taking a probiotic supplement. Within three days, your microbiome can reset to whatever diet you are currently eating. 

For example, if you go on vacation and leave your probiotic at home (plus you're drinking more and eating less healthy), your new microbiome will adjust to the not-so-nutritious diet quicker since you're no longer supporting it with a probiotic supplement.

This can be problematic because you lose the protection of the probiotics supplement, and if you're not eating the best foods, it may be causing inflammation in your gut. As a result, this could potentially set you up for GI issues, or even chronic medical problems.