Dhaka, Oct. 25 -- Foods that are high in sugar may worsen antibiotics' effects on the gut by reducing microbial diversity and encouraging the growth of bacteria linked to difficult-to-treat infections, Science News reports.

Researchers tracked more than 9,000 meals consumed by 173 hospitalised patients undergoing blood-forming stem cell transplants, comparing food intake with gut bacteria data from stool samples.

Science News reports that for every additional 100 grams of sugar consumed in the two days before sampling, patients taking antibiotics had a 24 percent reduction in bacterial diversity.

Sugary foods and drinks were also associated with an increase in Enterococcus bacteria, some of which are drug-resistant and linked to diffic...