Family & Consumer Sciences

Michael Liebman
Professor
liebman@uwyo.edu
Office Number: (307)-766-5597
Fax Number: (307)-766-5686 

Positions and Education:

Professor, University of Wyoming, 1994-present

Associate Professor, University of Wyoming 1986-1994

Assistant and Associate Professor, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, 1980-1985

Ph.D. Human Nutrition - Virginia Tech, 1980
M.S. Human Nutrition - Virginia Tech, 1977
B.S. Plant Science - University of New Hampshire, 1974

Instruction: Sports Nutrition and Metabolism (FCSC 3145), Advanced Nutrition (FCSC 4145/5145), Nutrition and Weight Control (FCSC 4147), Nutritional Aspects of Proteins and Amino Acids (FCSC 5140), Carbohydrate and Ethanol Metabolism (FCSC 5141)

Research Interests:

Current research interests are two-fold: (1) Food oxalate content and bioavailability and (2) Strategies to increase effectiveness of health-centered obesity prevention and intervention programs.

Oxalate is consumed in normal human diets as a component of nuts, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.  The calcium salt of oxalic acid is sparingly soluble in biologic fluids at physiological pH, and human tissues cannot degrade significant amounts of oxalate.  Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) is one of the most common of all clinical disorders with a prevalence typically ranging from 1 - 15 % in the general population.  Kidney stones are three times more common in men than in women with the peak age of occurrence between 30 - 50 years.  About 80 % of all stones are composed of calcium oxalate, alone or with a nucleus of calcium phosphate. Increased urinary oxalate is a risk factor for oxalate-containing kidney stones.  Research directed by Dr. Liebman demonstrated that oxalate absorption and urinary excretion are markedly reduced when oxalate consumption is accompanied by the ingestion of calcium.  It appears that calcium binds with and ties up oxalate primarily in the small intestine, which is the major site of oxalate absorption.  Consuming calcium-rich foods with high oxalate-containing meals is likely to decrease the risk of kidney stones in individuals predisposed to this disorder.  Current research in this area focuses on the effect of oxalate solubility in foods on oxalate absorption and urinary excretion.

Dr. Liebman is one of the investigators for the Wellness IN (WIN) the Rockies project, a community-based health-improvement project in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming that meshed research with extension and outreach.  Overall goals were to enhance the well-being of individuals by improving their attitudes and behaviors related to food, physical activity, and body image; and to help build communities’ capacities to foster and sustain these changes.  The overall philosophy behind this project is that while people have responsibility for their own health, communities must be willing to create environments that foster good health and provide healthy options.  This project has recently moved to the data analysis and publication stage and Dr. Liebman is playing a key role in the analysis of the quantitative results.

Recent Publications:

Tang M, Larson-Meyer, E, Liebman M. Effect of cinnamon and turmeric on urinary oxalate excretion, plasma lipids and plasma glucose in healthy subjects. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2008 (in press).

Liebman M, Murphy S. Low oxalate bioavailability from black tea. Nutr. Research 2007;27:273-278.

Liebman M, Pelican S, Moore SA, Holmes B, Wardlaw MK, Melcher LM, Raidl M, Wheeler B, Haynes GW.  Dietary intake-, eating behavior-, and physical activity-related determinants of high body mass index in the 2003 Wellness IN the Rockies cross-sectional study. Nutr. Research. 2006;26:111-117.

Liebman M. Promoting healthy weight: Lessons learned from WIN the Rockies and other key studies. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 2005;37(suppl 2):S95-S100.

Chai W, Liebman M. Oxalate content of legumes, nuts, and grain-based flours. J. Food Comp. Anal.  2005;18:723-729.

Massey LK, Liebman M, Kynast-Gales SA. Ascorbate-induced increases in human oxaluria and kidney stone risk. J. Nutr. 2005;135:1673-1677.

Chai W, Liebman M. Effect of different cooking methods on vegetable oxalate content. J. Ag. Food Chem. 2005;53:3027-3030.

Office Address:     

Department of Family and Consumer Sciences
Dept. 3354
1000 E. University Ave.
Laramie, WY 82071