Biography
Ann Louise Gittleman is undisputedly The First Lady of Nutrition.
As a nutritional visionary and health pioneer, she has fearlessly stood on the front lines of diet and detox, the environment, and women’s health. Described by Self Magazine as one of the Top Ten Notable Nutritionists in the United States, thousands of nutritionists, health coaches, and practitioners have benefited from her work.
Decades before Keto, Paleo, Carnivore, and Intermittent Fasting diet trends, Ann Louise Gittleman was the very first to proclaim that obesity and diabetes were caused by a lack of the right type of fat and an excess of the wrong kind of carbohydrate. She wrote about this in her first book, the bestselling Beyond Pritikin (1988). She was also the first nutritionist to write about the perils of gluten and discuss the blood type theory in 1997, boldly stating that one diet may not be right for every body in Your Body Knows Best.
She has been a tireless crusader for women by offering natural solutions to menopause and perimenopausal symptoms decades ahead of the curve in her award winning Super Nutrition for Women and her New York Times bestseller Before the Change.
She then revolutionized dieting in the first edition of The Fat Flush Plan—an international best seller—by proclaiming that the liver was the body’s primary fat burning organ (and detoxifier) and the lymphatics were the body’s fat processing system.
In 2010, she led the charge against the hidden hazards of cell phones, ipads, smart meters and WIFI in her groundbreaking Zapped—an issue that is just recently gaining momentum.
She has appeared on 20/20, Dr. Phil, The View, Good Morning America, Extra!, FitTV and The Early Show. In addition, her work has been featured on ABC, CNN, PBS, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CBN, Fox News, and the BBC. She has also appeared on extremely popular infomercials including those hosted by Hugh Downs and Jane Seymour.
She has served as a celebrity ambasador and formula developer for many of the leading companies in the health foods and network marketing industry. Her work has been featured in a myriad of national publications including Time, Newsweek, Glamour, Vogue, InStyle, The Oprah Magazine, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News and The New York Times.
The Early Years
The 1970s
Ann Louise’s passion for health and healing were evident from the beginning. After graduating with an M.S. from Columbia University, she served as the Chief Nutritionist of the Pediatric Clinic at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and later as a bilingual nutritionist for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program at Hill Health Center, a Yale University satellite health clinic in New Haven, Connecticut. She was also affiliated with the first holistic health center in Connecticut, Deepbrook Associates, under the direction of Dr. John Rhinehart and began a decades-long nutritional practice.
The 1980s
She quickly became a role model for thousands of up-and-coming nutrition educators when she became the Nutrition Director of the renowned Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica, California. After leaving the Center, she became the head of the nutrition department for Cookline, Inc., a forerunner of today’s Internet recipe sites which turned the telephone into a living library of recipes, advice, and know-how from some of the world’s finest cooking instructors and nutritionists. In 1987, she became the Nutrition Director of the Human Environmental Bio-Toxic Reduction Center in San Diego, California. For the next ten years, she served as the Director of Nutritional Outreach for the American Academy of Nutrition in Corona Del Mar, California.
The 1990s
Always a believer and staunch supporter of health freedom, in the early 90s she spearheaded a rally in Santa Fe, New Mexico prompted by pending legislation to expand the power of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate dietary supplements. Her “Health Warrior Freedom Rally” caught the attention of US Representative Bill Richardson who became a strong advocate for the passage of the Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act (DSHEA legislation).
The 21st Century
Ann Louise forged new ways of thinking about obesity throughout her career. In 2002, she rocked the diet world in her wildly popular book The Fat Flush Plan (a New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller) which spawned a family of five Fat Flush related books and numerous products. The final book in the Fat Flush series, Fat Flush for Life (2010), was chosen by Time magazine as one of the “top 10 notable new diet books” in 2010.
A spate of A-list movie stars, producers, designers, newscasters, singers, political figures, athaletes, a ballet troupe, and a former Secretary of State have credited Fat Flush for their dramatic weight loss and renewed wellbeing. In 2003, Ann Louise and a weight loss contestant appeared on the popular television show The View, for a month of weigh-ins in which Fat Flush competed with two other diet programs for weight loss results. Consistently, in each segment, the Fat Flush candidate lost the most weight.
Prophetic Words of Wisdom
Over three decades ago, Ann Louise predicted the global “diabesity” epidemic that currently affects up to 1 in 2 Americans and nearly 70-80 percent of some populations worldwide.
She was the first to proclaim that obesity was caused by a lack of the right type of fats and excess of the wrong kind of carbohydrates. In her first book Beyond Pritikin (1988, 1996), Ann Louise predicted that the popular fat-free carb-rich dietary model was actually creating weight gain, sugar cravings, food allergies, fatigue, and type 2 diabetes. She was the first nutritionist in the nation to shed the spotlight on essential fatty acids and explain why Americans are over-fat yet undernourished. Beyond Pritikin also uncovered the hidden problem of gluten intolerance—which has grown into a huge health concern today with the publication of many books that connect gluten and modern wheat production with obesity and brain dysfunction.
Her book Your Body Knows Best (1997)—which was spotlighted in Newsweek magazine—was one of the first to discuss the blood type/weight theory and boldly stated that one diet may not be right for every body—an idea that is only now becoming widely accepted.
In Ann Louise’s classic Guess What Came to Dinner? Parasites and Your Health (1993, 2001) she warned of the “uninvited guests” lurking in food, water and daycare centers, and how to prevent, treat and diagnose them. The book gave birth to an entire industry of parasite and colon cleansing programs.
As a tireless crusader for women of the baby-boomer generation, she brought menopause out of the closet and offered natural alternatives to synthetic hormones for menopausal symptoms in Super Nutrition for Menopause (1993, re-released as Hot Times, 2005).
Ann Louise identified peri-menopause as a new stage of life (between PMS and full-fledged menopause) and fully discussed the importance of bio-identical hormones in her New York Times bestseller Before the Change (1998, revised and updated in 2003). Ann Louise appeared on the television show Dr. Phil to discuss the book with Dr. Phil and his wife Robin McGraw. A fan of Ann Louise’s Peri Zappers, Robin said, “I researched and read everything that I could find in the bookstores and on the Internet. I researched doctors daily, and tested everything and found that everything worked for me, was in her book.”
In 2005, Ann Louise appeared on 20/20 which featured her Fast Track Detox Diet, a book that presented the relationship between weight gain and toxins in the environment, a concept which foreshadowed the science behind “obesogens” which is in the forefront today. Her book quickly became a USA Today bestseller and was excerpted in many popular magazines.
Her game-changing book Zapped (HarperOne, 2010), once again illuminated an emerging and critical health risk: the invisible hazards of electropollution. Zapped is a step-by-step manual for fortifying the body, detoxifying the home, and protecting yourself and your family from the invisible hazards of electromagnetic fields (EMFs).
In 2011, the World Health Organization declared radiofrequency electromagnetic fields produced by cell phones, Bluetooth, cordless phones, Smart Meters, baby monitors, and WiFi to be a Class B carcinogen like DDT and asbestos. In addition, in 2012, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine issued a position paper on Electromagnetic and Radiofrequency Field Effect on Human Health which stakes a strong stand that society must acknowledge the biological effects of EMFs, educate the population about wireless technology risks, and develop safer technology.
Media Presence
A savvy and dynamic presenter, Ann Louise has been a keynote speaker for ASEA Global, The National Health Federation, Estee Lauder, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the American Menopause Foundation, AARP, Learning Annex, Hadassah, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Lucent Technologies, Natural Foods Association, Murad International and Unity Temple on the Plaza as well as countless other organizations including Mannatech, Eniva, New Vision International, Erdic International and BeautiControl.
She has served as a celebrity spokesperson and formula developer for many of the leading companies in the health foods and network marketing industry—including Vitamin Shoppe, Balance Bar, Spectrum Oils, Barleans, Himalaya, Carlson, Essential Formulas, Tonalin, BeautiControl, Mannatech and Uni Key Health Systems, and ASEA.
Her work has been featured in a myriad of national publications including Time, Newsweek, Glamour, InStyle, The Oprah Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Ebony, USA Weekend, Parade, O Magazine, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The Huffington Post, Self, Seventeen, Fitness, Cosmopolitan, The Ladies Home Journal, In Touch Weekly, First for Women, Woman’s World, Women’s Day, Men’s Fitness, All You!, New York Post, The Townsend Letter, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The National Enquirer, The Dallas Morning News, New York Magazine, The Washington Post and The Hartford Courant.
Engaging Health
In 2016 Ann Louise was presented with the Humanitarian Award from the Cancer Control Society. She was also invited to sit on the Advisory Boards for the International Institute for Building-Biology & Ecology, the Nutritional Therapy Association, Inc. and Clear Passage, Inc. She is a regular contributor to First for Women and a regular columnist for Women’s World.
Today, she continues to rewrite the rules of nutrition. She appears regularly on internet summits, webinars, and is actively involved with educational videos, her popular blog, and The First Lady of Nutrition Podcast. She recently releasing her latest book, Radical Longevity – The Powerful Plan to Sharpen Your Brain, Strengthen Your Body, and Reverse the Symptoms of Aging.
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