Taking Antibiotics With Milk: There is a Risk Here

Taking antibiotics with milk – is not a general problem

It is a common myth that antibiotics should not be taken with milk in general.

• With most antibiotics, there is no danger if you take the drug with milk. As a rule, you do not need to worry about your health.
• More precisely, the ban on the combination of antibiotics and milk affects less than 15 percent of the range of antibiotics.
• A look at the leaflet that comes with the medicine will give you certainty. If taking it with milk is not explicitly mentioned as prohibited there, you do not have to worry about any interactions between the active ingredient and the drink.

Antibiotics and dairy products: there is a risk to your health

There are a few antibiotics that must not be taken with milk.

• These include all antibiotics of the tetracycline group, some fluoroquinolones, and so-called gyrase inhibitors. With these medications, you will also find a clear note in the information leaflet stating that taking them with milk is not permitted.
• The active ingredients of these drugs clump together when combined with milk. Although these lumps are tiny, they are too large to be absorbed into the blood through the intestinal wall. The active ingredient does not get into the blood but is excreted unused.
• If taken with milk, such an antibiotic consequently loses its effect. This can have serious consequences for your health. After all, there’s a reason you’re supposed to be taking an antibiotic.
• Incidentally, this does not only apply to taking it with milk: all milk products that you consume at the same time as the antibiotic lead to the ineffectiveness of the drug – including quark, cheese, or yogurt.
• However, you do not have to avoid dairy products for the entire course of antibiotic therapy. It is important that you do not drink milk for at least two hours before and two hours after taking the medicine.