The power of nutrition
From small-town student to life-changing dietician.
By Sophia Bass | Reporter
(Editor’s Note: Due to privacy concerns, some names and locations in the following story will not be shared.)
Leah Qubty walked into the hospital room to see a man laying uncomfortably in bed, his abdomen swollen and bloated. He had made the long travel to the U.S. from overseas and was beginning to lose hope. He had been in and out of the hospital for nearly a year and believed that the U.S. would be his final resting place — he was going to die here. He had no idea how quickly nutrition could change his life.
“She goes above and beyond for her patients, and now students, because she wants them to do well and be well.” — Becca Rogers, lifelong friend of Qubty
Qubty has a long list of degrees including a bachelor’s degree in biology and dietetics from Concordia College and a Doctorate in clinical nutrition from the University of North Florida. She lived in Minnesota until she was 26 years old. Growing up, her dad was a family practice physician in a rural Minnesota town and her mom was a registered nurse.
“Healthcare was always kind of baked into my life,” Qubty said.
“I always felt this sense of feeling that God gave me certain gifts and there are also unique needs of the world.” — Leah Qubty, RDN and Bethel professor
While spending her undergrad at Concordia, Qubty made it her mission to discover how she could use her unique gifts — such as her love of teaching — to benefit the needs of the world. Something quickly drew her attention: obesity and obesity-related illnesses were on the rise. Qubty wanted to learn more. Her love for science and her curiosity about this “food cultural shift” eventually led her to applied science and health professions.
“I always felt this sense of feeling that God gave me certain gifts and there are also unique needs of the world,” she said.
This sense later brought her to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she met her husband William, a neurologist who now specializes in pediatric neurology and headache medicine in Coon Rapids. There, she completed her clinical training to become a Registered Dietician Nutritionist.
Her husband’s job later took them to San Francisco. At first, the move was hard and Qubty was frustrated, but she later realized that the short-term frustration led to powerful opportunities. Her experience educating patients on nutrition led to her love for teaching. In California, Qubty had the opportunity to teach graduate students at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).
“She sees the good in people and empowers the use of other’s strengths. She is encouraging, compassionate, dedicated, and genuine.” — Leah Jackson, applied health science professor
Eventually Qubty and her husband made their way back to Minnesota where she was able to find a job teaching in Bethel University’s biokinetics program. At Bethel, Qubty has begun to really connect with students. On her birthday this year, April 6, she was welcomed into her office by screaming students, an oversized card and a brightly colored arrangement of flowers.
“I’ve loved working with the undergrad students,” Qubty said. “I’ve also just felt valued and that’s a huge quality of life aspect for me as well.”
She has also built relationships with her colleagues. She can often be found holding small talk with other professors or students in the biokinetics department or cooing over Raven, Professor Leah Jackson’s dog and a frequent visitor to the department. She even keeps assorted treats for Raven in her office.
“She sees the good in people and empowers the use of other’s strengths,” Jackson said. “She is encouraging, compassionate, dedicated, and genuine.”
Her care for her students and colleagues matches the care she has for her patients. She is dedicated to helping them understand the complex impact of nutrition.
“She goes above and beyond for her patients, and now students,” lifelong friend Becca Rogers said, “because she wants them to do well and be well.”
Another one of Qubty’s accomplishments includes her doctoral dissertation. She received her doctorate in clinical nutrition from the University of North Florida. For her dissertation, she worked alongside the University of Ghana giving seminars to nutrition professionals there. Although Qubty spent time face-to-face with professionals in Ghana and intended to continue, she had to compromise when the pandemic hit. But even amidst a global pandemic, she was able to complete her doctoral dissertation across culture, time zone and distance barriers.
With five degrees tagged on her business cards and 15 countries off her bucket list, she’s not done yet. But although she’s looking toward the future, she still carries stories with her that prove just how life-changing nutrition can be. And even now, a particular story about a hopeless man from overseas comes to her mind…
After Qubty spoke to the person in charge of draining the fluid from the patient’s abdomen, she put together that he had fat-transporting lymphatic cells in his abdominal fluid, blocking his ability to absorb many essential vitamins. As part of a team, she was able to alter the patient’s diet by taking him off all dietary fat and instead giving him a medium fat supplement. In one day, all his fat-soluble vitamins were returned to normal levels. Qubty recalls getting a call from the physician asking, “’What did you do?’”
Qubty later remembers a conversation with the patient about sending him home, remembering the man teary-eyed and emotional. At the end of a long medical journey, he was able to fly back overseas to his home country to be with his family.
Leah Qubty Fun Facts:
- She has lived in 3 different states and visited 15 countries.
- She used to play the oboe in college.
- In San Francisco, Qubty was a part of a swimming group that swam in the San Francisco Bay.
- Qubty once lived in an apartment building that had been converted from an old marine hospital.
Glossary:
- Applied Science: in the most general sense, applied science is when known information is developed into more practical, real-life applications.
- Lymphatic cells: also known as lymphocytes, lymphatic cells are white blood cells that help protect the body from bacteria, viruses and other damaged cells.
- Medium fat supplement: a fat source that is more easily broken down in the body than some other fats and are typically given to people who aren’t able to tolerate other fat sources.
- Fat-soluble vitamins: these are a specific category of necessary vitamins that are absorbed by the body through fat. Deficiency in any of these vitamins can cause serious health problems.
- Kwashiorkor: a term credited to Dr. Cicely Williams that is often used to define protein malnutrition.
