Lipidomics: An omics discipline with a key role in nutrition

Abstract

The importance of lipidomics to unveil crucial aspects in the nutrition field is afforded in this article. With this aim, historical facts such as demonization of fats, enthronization of carbohydrates, and subsequent changes in the food pyramid are first discussed. After considering basic and analytical aspects of lipidomics and the upstream information this omics provides, its key role in personalized nutrition (PN), and the importance of lipids as nutrition biomarkers are critically discussed by appropriate examples. Pendent challenges to clarify the role of lipidomics in nutrition are overcome limiting factors, design of new lipidomics-based biomarkers, unveil mechanisms involved in lipidomics processes, and integrate lipidomics with other omics for a more complete and validated information useful in PN. The conclusions of this study also include the scant role of analytical chemists in the lipidomics-nutrition binomial, basically supported on analytical data.

Keywords: Biomarkers; Food pyramide; Lipidomics; Nutrition; Personalized nutrition.