Metabolomics of diet-related diseases using mass spectrometry

•Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics applied to study diet-related diseases.•Selected biomarkers aid understanding of disease mechanisms.•Different analytical platforms (CE–MS, GC–MS, LC–MS) offer different information.•Integrated biology (different omics) reveals more information on pathway regulation.

We discuss a range of mass spectrometry techniques applied to metabolomics of diet-related diseases, including the combination of metabolomics with other studies to reveal systems properties of the diseases. Since it is difficult to set up a clinical study based on the probability of finding exploratory biomarkers to be applied in wide-population screening, many metabolomics studies have revealed biomarkers of the complications of the disease, which could have power as prognostic biomarkers.