Meet Judit: Cancer researcher, triathlete, and ND Champion

Dr. Judit Zubovits admits that she learned almost nothing about nutrition in medical school. "Nutrition is poorly taught (if at all) in medical schools," she says. "I have had to teach myself virtually everything I know about nutrition and Nutrition Data has been an invaluable resource, both in managing my own nutrition as well as staying on top of the latest developments."

Judit first got interested in nutrition when she began running marathons and triathlons. "I did extensive research into optimum nutrition for athletic performance and recovery," she says.  "When I started having serious injuries, including stress fractures in my pelvis, it was discovered that I have a condition called idiopathic calciuria, which means that for no good reason, I lose a lot of calcium in my urine." 

"One way to control the calcium loss is to restrict sodium...which becomes tricky when you're training for endurance sports! Since this diagnosis, I've switched to short-distance training, while I sort this out and develop a routine that works."

"I've learned a lot about low-sodium diets (sigh). Gone is the convenience of opening a can of cooked beans or buying frozen pizza.  Nutrition Data's Nutrient Search tool and the Total Consumption report have been great tools for me in controlling my sodium intake."

"I also found analyzing my diet to be an important part of my weight loss efforts. Even though I trained for a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.6 mile run, I still carried around 15-20 extra pounds! But then, as a friend of mine says, you can out-eat any exercise!"

"I tried Weight Watchers and I found the point system overly simplified. It wasn't until I started tracking my intake on NutritionData.com that I began to get a handle on the details. For example, I was STUNNED to discover how low my protein and fat intake was. There are so many low-fat products on the market that it is actually pretty easy to take in much lower than the recommended amount of fat per day. [Those low-fat products can be extremely high in sodium, too! --Monica] And when you take out the fat, it seems that some of the protein goes with it. So, I found that my diet was something like 75% carbohydrate, 20% protein, and 5% fat. Not good!"

"I've completely overhauled my diet, paying attention to the amount and quality of proteins and cutting back on carbohydrates, and I've succesfully lost more than 15 pounds."

"In my 'regular' life, I'm an oncologic pathologist. I very much believe that the answer to health and well-being, including avoiding cancer and cardiovascular diesease, lies in lifestyle, with nutrition being a huge part of that. It's not that I don't trust the research work that I myself do, but I don't think we will ever replace with drugs and treatments what we lose through sub-optimal eating and lifstyle. So, while I left medical school with pretty much zero education in nutrition, these days it is one of the most important sciences I follow."

"This is where Nutrition Data.com comes in! I use it amost every day. It provides great information, opened my eyes to many topics that I had not explored, and brings the latest research on topics of interest to me. I love the tools, especially the Nutrient Search Tool and the Caloric Ratio Pyramid), the recipes, and, most of all, the blogs."

"There are lot of websites that will track your calories, but in terms of detailed analysis, useful tools, and accurate, reliable, and interesting information, I am constantly recommending Nutrition Data to my patients and colleagues. I'm honored to be an ND Champion!"

Our thanks to Dr. Judit Zubovits for sharing her story with us! We are honored by her enthusiasm about our site and delighted to have played a supportive role in her successes. 

If you'd like to be profiled as one of our ND Champions, we'd like to hear your story! You don't need to be an elite athlete. Anyone who has used Nutrition Data to make positive changes in their health and lifestyle can be an ND Champion. Click here for details.