What is Good Nutrition? Gina Liberti, MS, DTR, MS ED


It is virtually impossible to turn on the radio, television or


internet without someone providing the newest information about what should be eaten or drunk or what exercise should be per- formed to establish or maintain good health. When my students ask me if a certain diet or food choice is a good one, my answer is almost invariably: “it depends”. There are so many variables that determine what kinds of choices could be the best for each and every one of us, that it becomes a bit tedious to listen to yet another great cathartic answer to obesity and other chronic dis- eases. So in an effort to not be just another pundit, let me provide some guidelines that might help everyone understand how to cre- ate their own perfect system of nourishment. To start with, it is important to understand that we are all bio-


chemically unique, and nutrition is nothing if not biochemical. That means that one recommendation that is good for one person, may not be appropriate for another. This is because, even if there are certain genetic similarities, how those genes respond to differ- ent environmental influences may not be uniform. So what exact- ly does that mean? Let’s use an example. There are several bio- chemical pathways that the body uses to detoxify substances that are not needed and/or are really dangerous and should be elimi- nated. The one pathway that I discuss the most in my classes is called methylation. This pathway is significant because it is one that the body uses in many different places with many different systems. So if you consider methylation to be a group of bills that the body has to pay in order to keep the “machinery going” i.e. growth, maintenance and repair, then the nutrients we consume in our diet represents the nutritional currency that pays those bills. In the methylation system of bills there is a hierarchy—meaning some bills are more important than others. In this system, detoxi- fication is the big one—it’s the mortgage. After that it is kind of a tossup. Perhaps making red blood cells is important or perhaps its neurotransmitter production for sleep, alertness, memory, pre- venting anxiety or depression. Perhaps its preventing homocys- teine, a toxic bi-product of proteinmetabolismlinked to the devel- opment of heart disease. Or perhaps it’s about DNA synthesis-- you are pregnant and need this pathway to ensure that the neuro- logical system of the developing fetus will develop properly and avoid a neural tube defect that can cause retardation or death. These are all important bills, but if there is only enough nutrition- al currency to cover a huge detox load, then the other pathways may not be ‘funded’. The next question is: What could cause a huge detox bill?


Stress is the best place to start. The stress response includes pro- ducing a number of chemicals that ultimately, need to be broken down and removed by the body.Additionally, some people prefer managing stress pharmacologically: using valium or alcohol, or with substances like cigarettes, or marijuana. All of these sub- stances need to be broken down and eliminated (in addition to the chemicals being produced by the body). So depending on how you manage stress, there could be an increased need for house cleaning, making it at the top of the list of important functions. If that doesn’t make sense think of what would happen if the garbagemen went on strike for….a fewmonths.What would you do with the garbage? Where would you store it and how long would it take beforemoving around your house or property would begin to get really challenging? And how long would it take for the garbage to begin to putrefy and attract microorganisms and other nasty things? House cleaning is at the top of the list for opti- mal health. So let’s get back to what would cause a huge detox bill. In


addition to the stress and management issues, there are environ- mental substances or a different kind of stress like cleaning prod- ucts that may not be appropriate in areas where there is no good ventilation. Add the breathing in of those fumes with perhaps a


rug from one of the big box stores that has been treat- ed with a flame retardant that is outgassing some chemicals. In addition to all those other issues, maybe you have mold in your basement or you have just decided to paint your bed- room or perhaps your office at work is being renovated, and on and on…adding layers of chemicals and substances that will tax the available nutritional currency leaving very little left over to cover the other bills necessary formaintenance, growth and repair. Nutrients are like the soap, water, bucket, rags andmops used


to clean any given place. Specifically, the nutrients that support themethylation pathway are a group of B vitamins, vitamin C and minerals zinc andmagnesium. But amajor player, a certain B vit- amin called folate, is a vitamin that has a genetic uniqueness asso- ciated with it. Approximately 25% of the population may not be able to use folate from food because of nonfunctioning enzymes that are designed to make this vitamin active and usable by the body. This uniqueness was discovered when large numbers of people began developing elevated homocysteine levels—a bi- product of protein metabolism that can become toxic to the car- diovascular systemin high levels. High homocysteine levels have also been implicated in the development of osteoporosis and new research is connecting this toxic protein to intellectual decline. Now it is well understood that folate is a fragile vitamin and


easily degrades with age and/or improper storage or cooking of foods that contain this nutrient. It is not really important, here, what foods contain folate (anyone with a computer can find out), suffice to say that many nutrients have this problem of fragility and so fresh, well cultivated, nutrient dense foods are of impor- tance when wanting to make sure there is sufficient nutritional currency to keep your body functioning at a level of optimal health. That is why it is not necessarily a bad idea to take a qual- ity, high potency multivitamin supplement, when unable to eat a variety of fresh, unrefined, clean food—clean referring to a lack of chemicals, pesticides or irradiation. It is important to remember that methylation is not the only


detox pathway the body uses to clear out unwanted or dangerous substances. So to avoid any further chemistry descriptions, think of making food choices that offer the most nutritional currency possible to support all of the biochemical pathways designed to keep the body clean and functioning at optimum efficiency. To do any less, is to risk creating a chronic inflammatory state, which is the underlying foundation of the development of disease—not the least of which is accelerated aging.


Ms. Liberti is an Adjunct Professor of Functional Nutrition,


at Rockland Community College, Suffern, NY Ms. Liberti earned a Master’s Degree in education from


Hunter College. Motivated by health concerns, she explored the functionality of food as


medicine and went on to earn a 2 year's Associates degree in Dietetics in 2000, and then aMaster’s Degree in Human Nutrition in 2002 from the University of Bridgeport. She has taught Functional Nutrition at SUNY Rockland Community College for the last 12 years. The focus of her teaching and lectures has always been the connection between chronic disease and the abil- ity to use food as medicine.The following lectures presented by Ms. Liberti: "Slowing the Aging Process with Nutrition and Life Style Choices" and "What You Or Your Doctor May Not Know About Breast Cancer" can both be access on ITunesU, under Rockland Community College. She can be reached at gliberti@sunyrockland.edu.


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