Exhaustive Search of Dietary Intake Biomarkers as Objective Tools for Personalized Nutrimetabolomics and Precision Nutrition Implementation.

This article presents a comprehensive scoping review investigating metabolite biomarkers in human biospecimens that are associated with dietary intake across five food groups: cereals and grains, dairy products, protein-rich foods, plant-based foods, and a miscellaneous category. By analyzing 158 primary research articles using rigorous data-cleaning and bioinformatic methods, the review identifies specific metabolites—such as 3-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl) propanoic acid glucuronide for cereals, pentadecanoic acid for dairy, docosahexaenoic acid for protein foods, proline betaine for plant-based foods, and theobromine for coffee-related miscellaneous items—that show potential as objective biomarkers of food consumption. The findings underscore the promise of biomarkers of food intake (BFIs) to enhance precision nutrition by enabling more accurate, individualized dietary assessments beyond traditional self-report methods. The review also highlights challenges including variability in biomarker specificity, analytical techniques, and the need for further research on factors like genetics and chronic disease to optimize the application of BFIs in clinical and public health nutrition.