CHEMISTRY OF THE NEW NUTRITION

A SCIENCE REQUIREMENT COURSE

FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY

Dr. John C. MacDonald, Professor of Chemistry, Fairfield University, Fairfield CT 06430
  1. COURSE ORIGINS
  2. COURSE CATALOG DESCRIPTION
  3. COURSE MATERIALS
  4. INTERNET RESOURCES
  5. EATING DISORDERS
  6. MEDICAL ADVICE
  7. DIET AND NUTRITION IN ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
  8. LITERATURE REFERENCES

1. COURSE ORIGINS

In 1981 I proposed to teach a unique chemistry course to fulfill a science requirement in our School of Continuing Education (now University College) which was for the older part-time student seeking a degree. Core courses are required for all students graduating from Fairfield University. This core curriculum is taught from our College of Arts and Sciences. I wanted these students to have the opportunity to acquire a better knowledge of nutrition but with the emphasis on chemistry.

The course would emphasize not the classical adequate nutrition but the more desirable optimal nutrition. By choosing this course students acquire a unique view of the nature of chemistry and this nutritional role in their lives.

To emphasize this difference between adequate and optimal the course was and is called CHEMISTRY OF THE NEW NUTRITION. The idea for the course originated in my reading of the book "Nutrition Against Disease" by biochemist Roger J. Williams. Professor Williams spent most of his career in nutritional research at the University of Texas.

2. COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course description follows and is essentially unchanged from the beginning over 15 years ago:

"Based on biochemist Roger J. Williams' concept of biochemical individuality the course presents nutrition from the viewpoint of the chemist; fats and carbohydrates are the main sources of chemical energy driving body processes; quality protein, vitamins, and minerals yield enzyme chemical structures that control body chemistries. Concepts of classical nutrition, such as recommended dietary allowances, are included but not emphasized. The course has no prerequisites and will fulfill a science requirement."

3. COURSE MATERIALS

Over the years many course materials have been incorporated into Chemistry of the New Nutrition. Until September, 1997 I used only one required text: Total Nutrition, edited by V. Herbert and published by St. Martin's Press, 1995. The most comprehensive nutritional text is "Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease," 8th edition by Shils, Olson and Shike but this is not appropriate for my course. Total Nutrition is an inexpensive paperback that contains much of the appropriate content of the more comprehensive text. Both texts have more emphasis on adequate nutrition. I used supplementary articles from the scientific literature to more emphasize optimal nutrition. Until recently, I used two additional texts by Sidney M. Baker, M.D. that offer some optimal nutrition: "Folic Acid" and "Detoxification and Healing" published by Keats Publishing, Inc. These two were replaced by Roger Williams' "Biochemical Individuality" which recently became available again. I have now replaced "Biochemical Individuality" with another Williams' work "The Wonderful World Within You" which became newly available in 1998 from Bio-Communications Press.

I have used the monogram Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA's) from the National Academy of Sciences. This is the bible of adequate nutrition in the United States. The most recent complete edition is the 10th published in 1989. This was supposed to be published in 1985 but was delayed to give more recognition to optimal nutrition. Because of the ongoing conflict between the old adequate and the new optimal nutrition I thought we would never see an 11th edition of the RDA's. After the problems in 1985, however, the Academy "regrouped" and we are now seeing the result which is not a new complete new edition but several publications that cover most of the nutrients. These can be purchased or read online at the National Academy Press homepage.

The RDA's from the National Research Council - National Academy of Sciences are intended to meet the adequate nutritional needs of almost all healthy individuals. If you are not one of the "almost all" or are not healthy the RDA's may not meet your optimal needs to preserve health and prevent disease.

The times they are a changing! In the past the greater emphasis was on cure after disease was present. In the future there will be greater emphasis on prevention of disease. Dental doctors already are practicing preventive dentistry and medical doctors will practice preventive medicine increasingly in the near future. Nutritional chemistry will play a major role in preventive medicine. Further information is available from a site for improving  education  Images of Health: the Nutrition link
 

As an example of these changing times, CDC, Centers for Disease Control has become Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We should now be calling this organization CDCP. I believe optimal nutrition will play a major role in this prevention of disease. Fats and carbohydrates as energy sources will receive less attention; the "...quality protein, vitamins and minerals..." that Roger Williams emphasizes in his book "Nutrition Against Disease" will receive more attention.

The content of this RDA monogram is quite technical and I no longer require this text. I now use summary handouts of the content for these students. To further summarize the content of Recommended Dietary Allowances for the students I have prepared a series of eight video tapes that have been used also on public access television here in Connecticut. The 30 minute tapes are also shown at scheduled times on the campus-wide University TV channel and are available for viewing in the Media Room of the Nyselius Library of Fairfield University. These videos are usually discussions between Dr. Donald J. Ross of our faculty and myself. A complete list of all 27 videos in the Fairfield University Library is available at
CHEMFARM. The topics of the portion of these videos that try to summarize the major content of the RDA text are:

I also have a collection of handouts that I have accumulated over the years for my students. For example there was a good article summarizing the work of Kilmer McCully, M.D. that is an excellent example of what the NEW NUTRITION is all about. I wrote a summary of the article for the students:
 
 

THE RISE AND FALL OF KILMER McCULLY M.D.
NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, 8/10/97Michelle Stacey writes that nearly 30 years ago, Dr. McCully at Harvard Medical School theorized that the amino acid homocysteine triggers heart disease. Nobody listened then; now the whole world is listening. For students in my course "Chemistry of the New Nutrition" at Fairfield University (Fairfield CT) and for others interested I've excerpted some facts. (John C. MacDonald, Professor of Chemistry)

 In the mid 1960's McCully noted that victims of the genetic disease homocystinuria have high levels of homocysteine and have severe arteriosclerosis. He then demonstrated that in animal studies supplements of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid decreased levels of homocysteine (I might add that in treating genetic diseases it is already common and effective medical practice to use these and other vitamin supplements; in "Chemistry of the New Nutrition" I note that nobody's genes are completely perfect and vitamin/mineral supplements may be likewise effective for some of us without a gross genetic defect.) Working with animals and human cell cultures McCully demonstrated that increasing homocysteine increased arteriosclerosis. He demonstrated that homocysteine could be decreased by diet (eating less protein) and by vitamin supplements.

 In 1976 two Australians published the first human study showing the possible connection between heart disease and homocysteine levels in the blood. Until recently little else happened with this homocysteine theory. McCully's mentor had retired, his support at Harvard diminished, and he went on to his present position as pathologist at Providence Veterans Administration Medical Center. The emphasis then was on cholesterol as the major cause of heart disease. Granting agencies and grant reviewers were not amenable to supporting homocysteine studies until recently.

The big turnaround occurred when Meir Stampfer, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health (NOT the Medical School) did a prospective study on data available for 15,000 doctors. Blood samples drawn before heart attacks occurred had homocysteine levels that were predictive of heart disease. Then Jacob Selhub of the U.S.D.A. Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University, showed similar results for the data of the Framingham Study; that study also showed an association between high levels of blood homocysteine and low levels of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid. Selhub's work was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (1993) and the New England Journal of Medicine (1995). Both scientific papers cite in the first sentence McCully's original article in 1969 on homocysteine and arteriosclerosis.

Dr. McCully and homocysteine had become mainstream. But the cholesterol lobby goes on. The American Heart Association and the National, Heart, Lung and Blood Institute issued press releases to discredit reports that treatment for cholesterol in the young has not been shown to be useful or cost effective. Drug companies selling cholesterol lowering drugs and researchers in the cholesterol camp will continue to be resistant to lessening of emphasis on cholesterol as the cause of heart disease. For counterpoint: in the article Stampfer says the majority of heart attacks occurs in individuals with 'normal' cholesterol; cardiologist Thomas James says "Its the money that is the problem...anti- cholesterol medications are multi-billion-dollar industries;" McCully says "People don't make a profit preventing disease. They make a profit through medicine - treating critical, advanced stages of disease." Dr. McCully, the "father of homocysteine" published in May his book "The Homocysteine Revolution: Medicine for the New Millennium."

The article closes by referring to the April article in The New England Journal of Medicine "The Messenger Under Attack - Intimidation of Researchers by Special-Interest Groups." The political and economic forces that undid McCully and delayed medical use of controlling homocysteine by diet and vitamin supplements for two decades are still with us!

 This value of these vitamins against cardiovascular disease is now in the standard medical text "Principles of Internal Medicine" by Harrison but Dr. Kilmer McCully's name and initial contribution are not mentioned!

4. INTERNET RESOURCES

An excellent site with many redirections to other web sites. A marvelous place to start investigating nutrition on the net.
Many chemical health problems can be traced to brain function and an elementary understanding of the brain is desirable. This site presents the basics of clinical neuroscience.
This is the best scientific nutritional journal. Students of the Chemistry of the New Nutrition should browse through a copy in the library to see the kind of nutritional research that is occurring. You may not have the background to read the articles closely with understanding but the titles and the abstracts will give you insight. This Journal does a great service to nutrition by posting on the Internet at this site the Table of Contents and the Abstracts of each monthly issue and past issues. Monitoring this site from your available computer is a convenient way to stay current in nutrition. Unfortunately this now free site will become a profit center in September, 1999. An excellent paper from the Journal entitled "The Internet and the Nutritional Scientist" is available and I highly recommend it. That paper contains redirections to many excellent nutritional sites on the Internet. 
This site of the American Chemical Society is offered as a universal home page for chemistry-related information for all of society. 
This portal from CBS and Medscape offers a large number of health care resources for consumers. 
Some case studies from the National Academy of Sciences that reveal the crucial role played by basic research. Some of these are pertinent to this course.
Unveiled on April 12, 1999 the National Library of Medicine's (NLM) LOCATORplus is a Web catalog of the world's largest medical library, with over 5.3 million books and other materials. Bringing together previously disparate databases and information formerly available only to Library staff, the site allows users to search by a variety of specific fields and then email the results to themselves. Search returns are ranked by relevance and feature standard library catalog information as well as a link, in the case of electronic resources. LOCATORplus also offers tutorials on using the site and the NLM physical Reading Room and links to additional online catalogs and a variety of other authoritative online medical resources. 
This site contains Dietary Guidelines for Americans and much useful nutritional information from the Federal Government.
These are inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) that affect over 2 million Americans and degrade quality of life. Nutrition is a consideration in IBD and this site is a decent place to begin a search for useful information.
This site is maintained by a practitioner of Chemistry of the New Nutrition. Much useful nutritional information is here.
Here,"The rationale for essential fatty acid supplementation during dietary approaches to weight management" by Dr. Dennis Jones contains an introduction to essential fatty acid chemistry.
In his book "The Wonderful World Within You" Roger Williams introduces "cartwheel" diagrams of nutrients (the vitamins, the minerals, the amino acids, fiber and essential fatty acids) in many foods. The length of a wheel spoke depicts the content of that nutrient in that food. The nutrient quality of that food is visualized and foods can be compared for nutrient quality. This site contains a freeware program for Windows 95 that displays these wheels in color on your computer. Many useful additional features and information are incorporated into the program. I recommend that you download this free program and use it. I guarantee that you will be impressed and very authoritatively informed. Enjoy! 
This site at the National Cancer Institute of our National Institutes of Health is likely your best starting place to find quality information about cancer.
In my course I discuss the nutritional problems that can develop because of drug interactions. This site is a quick introduction to the kind of information available for the public. 
In Chemistry of the New Nutrition students learn that our five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) involve transduction of light, sound, force, and chemical energy into electrical energy processed by our brains. Chemical reactions control these transductions. The quality of the chemistry is a function of our genetics and our nutritional state. This site from Howard Hughes Medical Institute is excellent in conveying information about our five senses. Be sure to visit this site! 
The Jean Mayer United States Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University is the best single source you will find on this topic. Jean Mayer played a major role in educating the public on nutrition while at Harvard University and continued this contribution to our nutritional benefit after assuming the Presidency of Tufts University. The quality of life of our aging population is aided greatly by his legacy.
This excellent site is part of HealthWeb sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. Many of the Web sites that I list elsewhere in CHEMFARM are also available through HealthWeb that covers far more medical topics than just nutrition. Much information of interest and value to the citizen is contained there. The easy access to many nutritional publications should be of large value to students of Chemistry of the New Nutrition as well as others.
This weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia is often picked up by the wire services. MMWR is a gold mine of useful information for use in my courses.Students with a concern for public and private health should visit this site weekly.

Science News is a weekly magazine written for the general public who have an interest in science. The Editors survey the science of the world and select current topics for their readers. I highly recommend this as one of your sources. Science News should be present in your local library. This reference is to their internet site which may be searched using their search program. Also, Food and Nutrition articles from past issues are archived and fit nicely into the aims of my Chemistry of New Nutrition course. Much useful nutritional information is in this archive!
Doctor C. Everett Koop is a former Surgeon General of the United States and is extremely interested in improving the health of the U.S. population. He established this Web site for this purpose, went to a public stock option and is now a multi-millionaire. His aim was not wealth but health and this is an outstanding site for useful information for the general public!
This site is most impressive to me because of its design, completeness and authority. It is a collection of redirections to other sites on the Web and these are rated by the operators of the Navigator site. Users of this site will have great confidence that they are not being directed to "junk sites." Tufts University now plays a major role in nutrition education in the World. This is because of Jean Mayer who assumed the Presidency of Tufts and established the nutritional research programs at Tufts that are of special value to the older population. If you visit this site I expect you will return to it many, many times.
This publication Scientific American was established in 1845 by the New England itinerant painter Rufus Porter. Now the monthly articles and television programs play a major role in the scientific literacy of our country. Articles of nutritional interest are published in Scientific American. Students of the New Nutrition should follow these contents and this Web site is a convenient way to do so. This site also contains additional scientific information and sources of value to scientific literacy. 
Recent studies demonstrate many problems, mental and physical, of the elderly result from lack of optimal nutrition. Society must be better informed as to the importance of this fact. Better nutrition for the elderly will decrease a nation's longterm health care costs. This site popped up when I did a Web search on "optimal nutrition" and is very informative. You should also look at the site on aging at National Institutes of of Health.
Students of my nutritional chemistry course may find this non-New England Jesuit university to be an interesting site. 
As professionals develop and publish health/nutritional information the layperson needs easy access to and interpretation of this knowledge. InteliHealth provides this credible information and useful products from the most trusted sources. InteliHealth is a joint venture of Aetna U.S. Healthcare® and Johns Hopkins University and Health System. 
The nutritional educational programs and this web site at Cornell University are first rate.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains this site for the general public. Of particular value is The Interactive Healthy Eating Index (IHEI) which allows the general public to assess rapidly the quality of their diets. I am indebted to one of my students, Geoffrey Weglarz, in our School of Continuing Education for providing this information to me.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has done much ground-breaking research in the effect of nutrition upon the health of the nation. This site is an introduction for my students to some of this research and results. 
Virtual Hospital from University of Iowa Health Care is designed as a "medical reference and health promotion tool for health care providers and patients." The site offers current and authoritative medical information for patients, and professional and pedagogical information for health care providers. This site is kept current and well worth a visit. 
The American Dietetic Association (ADA) maintains this list at their homepage. If you want more information about adequate nutrition this is a good source. 
I use Dr Baker's book "Detoxification and Healing" in my course. Here he expands upon the content of his book and his experimental use of the hormone secretin to treat autism. As we gain better understanding of the chemistry within our bodies there will be more use of chemicals by chemically knowledgeable medical doctors to improve the condition of the human body. BE SURE TO VISIT THIS SITE!
By definition the learning disabled are of at least average intelligence. They comprise about ten percent of the population and have a large spread between their verbal intelligence and performances in tests. Improved nutrition can sometimes improve this test performance. This site is an excellent entrance on the Web to learning disabilities. 
This site is updated weekly and is intended for the masses and not my students. I find it interesting and useful. Dr. Weil is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and a very well-known practitioner of alternative medicine. 
The New York Times offers this excellent site for women. The Annotated Guide that is located there is an excellent source of additional information for women.
As a result of "drive-through" births this problem with newborn's livers is increasing!
By avoiding aspirin this syndrone is diminished and discussed here in The British Medical Journal. 
Yahoo is a commercial site that maintains collections such as this one for nutrition.

5. EATING DISORDERS

To add to an excellent article on Eating Disorders in the November 7, 1996 issue of our student newspaper The Mirror I have selected the following introductory references from a very long list for students of my courses and others. I am particularly interested in having folks appreciate the greater value of family therapy over other therapies in dealing with these eating problems. If you seek more information from the Internet you may go to a simple search engine such as HotBot and run your own search. Other Search Engines have more capability and you should experiment to find what works best for you. 

6. MEDICAL ADVICE

Many sources of medical information are available on the Internet. Some of the sources have authority; others must be taken with a grain of salt. Combining two other sayings: "you get what you pay for so let the buyer beware!"

The site here for which I have the highest regard is Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and I list it first. This arm of the Federal government, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is commonly referred to as CDC. Prevention was added only recently to the title. We have learned that the best way to control disease and limit medical costs is to prevent disease. That is what Chemistry of the New Nutrition is all about. CDC is part of the larger National Institutes of Health and you might want to also take a peek at their Internet site.

my favorite: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
a medical organization American Medical Association
New England Journal of Medicine: NEJM
Journal of the American Medical Association: JAMA
Annals of Internal Medicine (full text!):AIM
other medical journals: A list from Yahoo
a reputable cancer site:University of Pennsylvania
From the Federal Department of Health and Human Services: Healthfinder A FIVE STAR SITE!
food, drug and cosmetic information: Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
an excellent commercial searchable source: Medscape (under the leadership of Dr. George Lundberg)
an HIV/AIDS site: JAMA HIV/AIDS Information Center
A well-known clinic:Mayo Clinic
Crohn's Disease and Colitis:Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America
a commercial site: Tripod
a self-help site:Selfcare
a University site: Columbia's "Go Ask Alice"
an allergy site: National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases
a travel site: Travel Health Online
an alternative medicine site: Andrew Weil, M.D.
the opposers of alternative medicine: Quackwatch
a repetitive injury site: Typing Injury Archive
a diabetic site: Diabetes in Children
a virtual hospital: Virtual Hospital
a library: The National Library of Medicine
over 9 million searchable references: MEDLINE

7. DIET AND NUTRITION AS ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

The Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) is in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 1992 OAM published the report "Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons." New Nutrition is part of Alternative Medicine. Click here to get to an adaption of Diet and Nutrition contained in that report.The file is over 200Kb and for some the loading time may be long. Also available in Alternative Medicine is the OAM Searchable Database from NIH. To be fair, there are many medical professionals who truly believe that Alternative Medicine is quackery. To view their side of the argument visit their quack site and make up your own mind. These views are opposites. I believe that, depending upon the topic as it affects you, you will find yourself bending towards either alternative or traditional medicine. Both will be more or less true. The degree of truth will depend upon the topic as it affects you. A site that you might find useful in comparing conventional and alternative medicine is Commonweal.

 The more you know about The Chemistry of New Nutrition the better you can judge whether quackery is present or whether accusation of the purported quackery is itself quackery! For example, take a look at a herbal medicine site HerbMed that provides scientific and general information on the biochemical action of herbs. Is HerbMed quackery or science?

8. LITERATURE REFERENCES

This is a list of references that should be of interest to my students in the Chemistry of the New Nutrition. They are for the most part in chronological order with the most recent first. Note access is free but you may have to register at some sites.
 
  This paper from the medical literature presents the necessity of nutritional supplements in the practice of medicine. 
Physicians now realize that blood pressure can be influenced by controlling the potassium level of our bodies. This is really Chemistry of the New Nutrition where the nutrient potassium could replace prescription drugs. This paper from the medical journal Archives of Internal Medicine is "...A Contemporary Review by the National Council on Potassium in Clinical Practice." 
This paper is an excellent review/introduction to the subject. 
This paper in the New England Journal of Medicine brings the reader up to date on this terrible health problem affefting millions of citizens. 
This paper available through Medscape is an excellent summary of this vitamin B3 deficiency disease. 
This paper available through Medscape is a nice summary of the topic. 
This genetic defect of iron metabolism affects about 1/200 in some populations . This paper from the British Medical Journal is a nice summary of where we are in understanding and treatment. 
A report from The New England Journal of Medicine, May 11, 2000. 
A report from The New England Journal of Medicine, April 20, 2000. 
A review from Clinical Cornerstone by Lee S. Simon, MD, Director of Graduate Medical Education, Division of Rheumatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 
A medical update of a very common medical problem. 
A nice medical review of the various physiologic, societal, and psychological factors contributing to the obesity epidemic. 
A standard textbook in the teaching of medicine is Harrison's "Principles of Internal Medicine." This reference is provided by the publisher and is from the year 2000 edition. The full title is Revised Classification and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Diabetes Mellitus by J. Larry Jameson. I highly recommend your reading it to appreciate the possible danger of fasting glucose concentrations above 110 mg/100 mL of blood serum. We used to think that 140 mg/100 mL was the danger signal but newly available data lowered this to 126 mg/100mL of blood serum! Further, we now know that subjects with fasting glucose between values of 110 and 126 are at increased risk for the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease! Read this article and if you do not know what your fasting glucose value is find out immediately and protect your health!
A standard textbook in the teaching of medicine is Harrison's "Principles of Internal Medicine." This reference is provided by the publisher and is from the year 2000 edition. The article is by Peter W. F. Wilson. I highly recommend your reading this article to appreciate the possible value of the vitamins B6 (pyridoxime), B12, and folic acid in delimiting cardiovascular disease.
Merck & Co., Inc. has just placed online the home edition of their celebrated medical reference text. This is a publication from Merck geared for the layperson and contains vital information about diseases, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. 
Results From the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 
This paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association is A Systematic Quality Assessment and Meta-analysis that shows the positive value of these supplements in treating osteoarthritis. 
I welcome any E-mail that helps me to improve the value of these pages to you. Thank you.

Dr. John C. MacDonald
Professor of Chemistry
Fairfield University
Fairfield CT 06430

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John MacDonald,
Professor of Chemistry
Fairfield University
Fairfield CT 06430
203-254-4000, x2123
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