Proteomics for precision nutrition: current evidence and future directions

This review critically evaluates proteomics research applied to clinical nutrition and metabolism published between mid-2024 and early-2026, examining whether recent advances have moved the field closer to clinically actionable precision nutrition applications.

Large prospective cohort studies show that circulating proteomic signatures reflect dietary patterns and are associated with incident cardiometabolic, hepatic, and neurodegenerative outcomes. In most analyses, these signatures capture plausible biological pathways, but their incremental predictive value beyond established risk models appears modest. Interventional studies confirm that circulating proteins respond to dietary modification, but these trials are considerably smaller than epidemiological cohorts and proteomic-guided randomized allocation has rarely been implemented to date. Although multiomics integration and machine-learning approaches have expanded discovery and improved pathway modeling, independent validation, cross-platform consistency, and clinically meaningful risk reclassification remain inconsistently demonstrated across studies.

Diet-proteome associations are biologically coherent and reproducible at the population level. Nevertheless, translation into individualized dietary prescription remains to be demonstrated at scale. Robust evidence of cross-platform consistency, formal clinical utility, and outcome-driven trials incorporating proteomic-guided interventions will be key to enabling circulating proteomics to support routine precision nutrition practice.