Metabolism has captured the interest of researchers across many different biological disciplines. In some fields, interest in longstanding metabolic questions has been renewed. In other areas, new metabolic connections are being made for the first time. No matter the topic, however, metabolism studies evoke pathway charts and methodological approaches that may not be common knowledge in all disciplines, and this could hinder dialogue between investigators. Moreover, many of the same metabolic patterns are observed consistently in different disease settings, animal models and cell types.