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A fully functioning digestive system is needed to reap maximum benefit from a healthy diet. As noted above, the normal flow of nutrients from the gut into the body through the bloodstream is called absorption. When this process fails, malabsorption results. If malabsorption becomes severe, malnutrition sets in. Malnutrition destroys the body. It lowers resistance to infection, stunts physical and mental growth in children, causes infertility, and is to blame for the slow degeneration of bones, muscles and other organs. Many scientists believe that borderline nutritional deficiencies (in which the body receives smaller quantities of vital nutrients than are required by normal body functions) are at the root of heart disease, arthritis and possibly certain forms of cancer.

Symptoms of malabsorption are variable and may include weight loss, fatigue and foul-smelling, bulky diarrhoea. If untreated, malabsorption leads to illnesses as diverse as peripheral nerve damage and anaemia. Causes of malabsorption usually involve inflammation of the gut and include food sensitivities, Coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease, chronic pancreatitis, advanced diabetes mellitus and cystic fibrosis. Left untreated, parasitic infection of the gut can also block the passage of nutrients.

There is evidence that a genetic factor contributes to the development of illnesses leading to malabsorption.