Functional medical approach to food intolerance

Abstract

Food intolerances are defined as difficulty digesting or metabolizing a particular food. They are a subset of adverse food reactions. Adverse food reactions include immune-mediated food allergies and non-immune-mediated food intolerances. Food intolerances are estimated to affect up to 15-20% of the population, but understanding of diagnosis and management is complicated and controversial, and given presentation and mechanisms associated also vary greatly. In addition, food intolerances can be associated with various clinical imbalances of functional medicine, such as dysbiosis, leaky gut syndrome, histamine imbalance, and functional adrenal insufficiency. This review aims to provide a scientific update and clinical application of food intolerances in the perspective of functional medicine.