Leaky Gut Treatment in Newport Beach, CA

The lining of the intestine has a job: let nutrients across, and keep larger fragments and microbes on the inside of the tube. When that sorting gets sloppy, people call it leaky gut. FRI treats intestinal permeability as a question, not as a slogan that explains every symptom you have ever had.

You might notice bloating, food reactions that seem new, skin flares, or joint stiffness in the same season. Those clues can justify a look. They do not prove a porous gut, and they do not prove the gut created an autoimmune disease. Many autoimmune conditions have nothing to do with this mechanism.

Cells lining the intestine sit side by side. Tight junctions are the protein seals between them. When the seals are snug, traffic is selective. When they loosen, more material may cross. That is the idea behind the phrase you may already be using. It is a description of a barrier, not a diagnosis FRI stamps on day one.

Illness, some medications, heavy alcohol, and poorly digested food are among the stories people bring. Dr. Tara Kohen, D.C. and Dr. Sani Kohen, D.C. want that history before a kit. Functional Medicine does not open with a supplement stack aimed at junctions.

GI-MAP stool testing can describe organisms in the stool, signs of inflammation, and clues about digestion. Some reports include markers people associate with the barrier. None of that proves the lining is open, and none of it proves permeability caused your diagnosis.

A breath test asks a SIBO question. A food panel asks a sensitivity question. The gut health page explains why those are ordered separately. This visit stays on the barrier question. Food sensitivities are discussed only when reactions, not a theory, are in your history.

Bloating an hour after carbohydrates points toward fermentation and belongs on the SIBO page. A single food that swells your lips is an allergy question for a physician. A vague sense that many foods now bother you might lead here, or it might lead to a simpler meal-timing problem. The history chooses.

Functional medicine at FRI does not replace a primary physician, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, or mental health clinician. Nutrition and supplementation follows what the stool test and your symptoms support. There is no brand protocol, and sealing the gut is not described as the source of autoimmunity.

Book a complimentary 20-minute consultation if you want the barrier question sorted from the others. FRI is out of network. Superbills and HSA or FSA payment are available. Hours run Monday–Thursday, 9–6.

Expect a history of infections, medications, and which symptoms you think are gut-related. A stool test is not automatic. You will not be told that every autoimmune disease starts in the intestine.

Newport Beach is not one neighborhood. Corona del Mar climbs away from the water, Balboa Peninsula is flat and windy, Newport Coast sits on hills above the toll road, and the streets around Eastbluff, Big Canyon, and Fashion Island mix short drives with long desk blocks. People paddle in the harbor, ride the Back Bay loop, play tennis, or swim before a day of meetings. That mix shows up in the history we take: which shoulder loads a paddle, which hip complains on the hills, which neck tightens after a commute that ends at a screen. None of those details is a diagnosis. They tell us which movements to test.

Food and schedule questions belong in the same visit when symptoms are not only mechanical. A late dinner after a harbor event, an early paddle, and a short night are ordinary Newport weeks. If you are also dealing with cycle changes, reflux, or a fatigue that does not match your training, the Functional Medicine side of the clinic can look at labs chosen from that story. The manual care and the lab conversation happen in the same practice, so you are not retelling the history in two buildings.

Most Newport Beach patients take the 73 north from MacArthur Boulevard or from Bison and stay on the toll road until the Mission Viejo exits that feed La Alameda. Door to door it is about 18 miles. Midday it can be close to 25 minutes. Late afternoon toward the coast, or the reverse commute when the toll road stacks, it stretches toward 40. The office is in a ground-floor suite at 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, with parking at the building. Hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 to 6.

Plan the return before you book. A late-afternoon visit lands you back on the 73 toward Newport when the toll road is busiest. Morning and early afternoon slots are usually the calmer drive. Call (949) 312-1754 if you need to move a time. The first step for many people is a complimentary 20-minute consultation, which is a fit conversation, not a treatment squeezed into a sales pitch.

The first full visit is an evaluation. For pain and injury that means a history, movement testing, and the hands-on exam that fits the complaint, which may include joint motion, nerve tension, and orthopedic tests. You leave with an explanation of what we think is driving the problem and a short plan, often including something you do at home. Adjustments, soft tissue work, and exercise are tools inside that plan. They are not a package you are expected to buy before anyone has examined you.

If the main issue is hormones, digestion, energy, or an autoimmune diagnosis you already carry, the visit leans on history and on which labs are actually worth running. DUTCH, GI-MAP, thyroid panels, and the rest of the functional lab menu are chosen from the story, not ordered as a bundle. Medication changes stay with the physician who prescribed them. FRI is out of network with most plans. Many Newport patients pay with HSA or FSA funds, and we provide a superbill for whatever reimbursement your plan allows.