Visionary health expert and New York Times award winning author of over 30 books, Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS, has always been a trendsetter. Continually breaking new ground in traditional and holistic health, she is internationally recognized as a pioneer in dietary, environmental, and women's health issues. Known as "The First Lady of Nutrition" among her millions of followers worldwide, Ann Louise has always been ahead of her time.

Her background reflects an international blend of both conventional and alternative education. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Connecticut College in 1971, Ann Louise attended the Hayim Greenberg Teacher's College in Jerusalem, Israel where she obtained a teaching certification in 1972. She later went on to receive a Principal and Teaching Certificate from Hebrew Union College in New York in 1976. That same year, she received a Dietetic Technician Certification from the New York Institute of Dietetics in New York City. One year later, in 1977, she earned a master's degree in nutrition education from Teacher's College, Columbia University.

In 1993, she became a Certified Nutrition Specialist from the Certification Board for Nutrition Specialists affiliated with the American College of Nutrition. In 2002, Clayton College of Natural Health awarded her a doctorate in holistic nutrition and Gittleman served as an adjunct professor. Clayton College was accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners and the American Naturopathic Medical Accreditation Board. With more than 25,000 students and graduates, Ann Louise Gittleman lent her name, expertise, and credibility to the College in hopes of educating the future leaders of natural health.

Her career is highlighted with numerous achievements. Ann Louise was awarded the American Medical Writers Association award for excellence in 1992 for her book Super Nutrition for Women. In 1993, Self magazine named Ann Louise one of the top ten knowledgeable nutritionists in the country. From 1994 – 2000, millions of listeners from over 5,000 radio stations nationwide and women's magazine readers recognized her name and face as the Rejuvex Woman.

In 2000, her Fat Flush Diet became known as the "Internet Miracle Diet" when it appeared on iVillage, the leading destination for women online. Fat Flush quickly became one of the top four diet boards on the iVillage Diet & Fitness channel where it was reported to receive nearly 5 million hits a month.

From 2003 – 2009, Gittleman led seven Fat Flush cruises known as the annual Cruise to Lose. Participants traveled to the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, and Alaska while attending fitness, diet, and wellness classes…and losing weight!

Her popular Fat Flush detox diet plan was exclusively licensed to the five-star GREENHOUSE SPA in Arlington, Texas from 2004-2008. Since 2003, Gittleman has been one of the most popular columnists for First magazine with her monthly Nutrition Worries Solved Column.

The Early Years

The 1970s

Ann Louise's passion for health and healing were evident from the beginning. After graduating from Columbia University, Ann Louise served as the Director of the Pediatric Clinic at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and later as a bi-lingual nutritionist for the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program at Hill Health Center, Yale a 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.

The 1980s

She quickly became a leader and 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 in 1980. 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 has forged new ways of thinking about obesity throughout her career. In 2002, she revolutionized weight loss in her 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 Fat Flush phenomenon became so widespread that popular movies picked up on the theme. Fat Flush was mentioned in "Mean Girls" and "The Last Holiday." The most recent 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.

Many A-list movie stars, producers, political figures, 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 two 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 problems of gluten-intolerance and celiac disease—which have grown into major food issues today.

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 accepted in 2012.

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 also 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" that is coming to the forefront today. Her book quickly became a USA Today bestseller and was excerpted in many popular magazines.

Her latest book, the controversial Zapped (HarperOne, 2010), once again illuminates 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).

While conservative reviewers have called Zapped "biased" and "pseudo-scientific," 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. The group is an international association of physicians and professionals.

Media Presence

A savvy and dynamic presenter, Ann Louise has been a keynote speaker for Estee Lauder, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the American Menopause Foundation, AARP, Learning Annex, Hadassah, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Lucent Technologies, Murad International and countless other organizations.

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. In 2007, she appeared on extremely popular infomercial, World's Greatest Treasury of Health Secrets hosted by Hugh Downs.

She has served as a celebrity spokesperson and formula developer for many of the largest companies in the health foods and network marketing industry—including Vitamin Shoppe, Balance Bar, Spectrum Oils, Barleans, Himalaya, Carlson, Essential Formulas, Tonalin, BeautiControl, and Mannatech.

Her work has been featured in a myriad of national publications including Time, Newsweek, Glamour, In Style, Good Housekeeping, Ebony, USA Weekend, Parade, O Magazine, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Self, Seventeen, Fitness, Cosmopolitan, The Ladies Home Journal, In Touch Weekly, First for Women, Woman's World, 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 and The Hartford Courant.