A physicist is mapping thousands of overlooked chemicals that food contains

Beyond familiar nutrients

Food is made up of more than the nutrients people commonly recognize, including macronutrients, vitamins and minerals. Menichetti is investigating a much less charted range of natural chemicals found in what we eat.

Many of these compounds have not been studied in detail. Menichetti describes this unexplored chemical landscape as a kind of “dark matter” in food.

Possible effects in the body

The compounds may matter because they can interact with human proteins and affect the microbiome. Their potential activity raises questions about how food influences health. Menichetti, a computational physicist at Harvard Medical School, says the research aims to expand understanding of nutrition’s role in human health. The work focuses on identifying compounds and exploring what they might do.

Building a broader picture

Mapping food’s overlooked chemicals could give researchers a more complete view of what people consume. It may also help clarify connections between diet and biological processes. Menichetti says the goal is to use these interactions to discuss food and nutrition in relation to health more fully. The effects of the many compounds still need to be understood.