title: Toward systems epidemiology of coffee and health.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has been associated with many health conditions. This review examines the limitations of the classic epidemiological approach to studies of coffee and health, and describes the progress in systems epidemiology of coffee and its correlated constituent, caffeine. Implications and applications of this growing body of knowledge are also discussed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Population-based metabolomic studies of coffee replicate coffee-metabolite correlations observed in clinical settings but have also identified novel metabolites of coffee response, such as specific sphingomyelin derivatives and acylcarnitines. Genome-wide analyses of self-reported coffee and caffeine intake and serum levels of caffeine support an overwhelming role for caffeine in modulating the coffee consumption behavior. Interindividual variation in the physiological exposure or response to any of the many chemicals present in coffee may alter the persistence and magnitude of their effects. It is thus imperative that future studies of coffee and health account for this variation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Systems epidemiological approaches promise to inform causality, parse the constituents of coffee responsible for health effects, and identify the subgroups most likely to benefit from increasing or decreasing coffee consumption.
authors.affiliation: aDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois bDepartment of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health cChanning Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Marilyn C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Cornelis
mesh_terms: D002110:Caffeine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D003069:Coffee / Q000737:chemistry; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee; D005819:Genetic Markers; D002110:Caffeine