Nutrition: Good for your Health and Good for the Economy

Dr. David York
College of Science
Department of Biology

About Dr. David York

You are what you eat and most of us eat more than we should. Our abundant food supply and increasingly inactive lifestyles have led to an unprecedented obesity epidemic in the United States that’s fueling spiraling rates of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. The resultant human and healthcare costs are taking a heavy toll on our quality of life. Utah State University USTAR researchers David York and Michael Lefevre tackled the subject of nutrition head-on during USU’s Sunrise Session research breakfast Friday, Jan. 25, from 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Salt Lake City’s Little America Hotel.

York and Lefevre, both recruited to USU as part of the Utah Science, Technology and Research initiative, are members of USU’s new Center for Advanced Nutrition. Scientists at the center pursue molecular and genetic approaches to explore how our bodies recognize and respond to nutrients. The group also investigates “functional foods,” that is, foods and nutritional supplements with health-promoting properties.