Definition
Food intolerance refers to the occurrence of physical symptoms relative to ingestion of foods that are not the result of conventional IgE-mediated food allergy. IgE is the subclass of immunoglobulins that cause an individual to make antibodies to food or other compounds that result in allergic symptoms. Food intolerance may be more common than true food allergy. The physical symptoms of food intolerance may impact the skin and the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts. Central nervous system symptoms like migraines may occur. Food intolerance may manifest in a delayed fashion, unlike IgE-mediated allergy. Food intolerance is attributed to the following mechanisms:
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Absence of an enzyme necessary for metabolism of an ingested food: An example of this is lactose intolerance. Approximately 10% of Americans are intolerant of the milk sugar, lactose, because of an absence of the enzyme necessary for digestion with resultant symptoms of diarrhea, bloating, and intestinal gas.
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Hyman, S. (2018). Food Intolerance. In: Volkmar, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_24-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_24-3
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