Nutrigenomics is the science that examines the response of individuals to food compounds using post-genomic and related technologies (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabol/nomic etc.). The long-term aim of nutrigenomics is to understand how the whole body responds to real foods using an integrated approach termed 'systems biology'. The huge advantage in this approach is that the studies can examine people (i.e. populations, sub-populations - based on genes or disease - and individuals), food, life-stage and life-style without preconceived ideas. Post-genomic technologies take a more holistic perspective and use the information provided by the sequencing of the human genome, allowing us to measure how what we eat interacts with our bodies, or more specifically our genes, proteins and metabolism. In the past, we have been limited in our scientific exploration to a few dietary compounds, a handful of relevant biochemical pathways and perhaps latterly a small number of genes that might be pertinent to the disease in question. The result has been some specific examples of benefit provided by individual/ groups of food compounds. We are exposed to a complex mixture of foods throughout life and intricate biochemical processes extract energy and use nutrients and other compounds to enable us to grow and function properly. In the past, many food compounds were dismissed as being unimportant, having no obvious nutritional role. However, dietary intake is not just about avoiding deficiency diseases but also optimal health or the avoidance of age-related disease, and what is obvious is that the benefits of some dietary choices are not the same for everyone, which is why nutrigenomics is such an exciting prospect for nutrition researchers.