Ann Louise Gittleman is an American nutritionist

Nutritionist

A nutritionist is a person who advises on matters of food and nutrition impacts on health. Different professional terms are used in different countries, employment settings and contexts — some examples include: nutrition scientist, public health nutritionist, dietitian-nutritionist, clinical...

, detox proponent, and author. She is the author of the diet

Diet

Diet, in relation to food, might mean:*Diet , the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group*Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake*Diet food, foods that aid in dieting...

 book The Fat Flush Plan.

Education

Gittleman was born in Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...

. She graduated from Connecticut College

Connecticut College

Connecticut College is a private liberal arts college located in New London, Connecticut.The college was founded in 1911, as Connecticut College for Women, in response to Wesleyan University closing its doors to women...

 in 1971 with a bachelor's degree

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in English. She received teaching and principal certification from Hebrew Union College

Hebrew Union College

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...

 in 1976. In 1977, she graduated with a master's degree

Master's degree

A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 from Teachers College, Columbia University

Teachers College, Columbia University

Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...

. She earned a Certified Nutrition Specialist credential from the American College of Nutrition

American College of Nutrition

The American College of Nutrition is a 501 charitable non-profit organization established to encourage the scientific investigation of nutrition and metabolism...

, a non-profit nutritionist organization, in 1993.

In 2002, Gittleman was awarded a PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in Holistic Nutrition from the non-accredited and controversial Clayton College of Natural Health

Clayton College of Natural Health

The Clayton College of Natural Health was a non-accredited American distance-learning natural health college based in Birmingham, Alabama, offering classes in various forms of alternative medicine. The school was founded in 1980 by Lloyd Clayton Jr. as the American College of Holistic Nutrition...

.

Career

From 1974 to 1976, Gittleman served in private practice as a nutritionist in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. She also conducted nutritional seminars for women’s organizations, community centers, state conventions, and church groups.

After obtaining her Master's from Columbia, she became chief nutritionist for the Pediatric Clinic at the Bellevue Hospital

Bellevue Hospital Center

Bellevue Hospital Center, most often referred to as "Bellevue", was founded on March 31, 1736 and is the oldest public hospital in the United States. Located on First Avenue in the Kips Bay neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, Bellevue is famous from many literary, film and television...

. She later worked as a bilingual WIC

WIC

The abbreviation WIC can mean:*Walta Information Center, a news agency based in Ethiopia.*Dutch West India Company, a former trading cooperation that led to the establishment of some Dutch colonies....

 nutritionist at a Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 satellite clinic, the Hill Health Center in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

, counselling teens and expectant young mothers.

Gittleman has served as nutrition director of the Pritikin Longevity Center

Nathan Pritikin

Nathan Pritikin was an American nutritionist and longevity research pioneer.Pritikin was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Chicago from 1933 to 1935 but did not achieve a degree...

 in Santa Monica, California.

She served as a celebrity spokesperson through the 1990s for companies including BeautiControl, Balance Bar

Balance bar

Balance Bar, sometimes styled as balance bar, is the brand name of a nutritional energy bar based on the 40-30-30 dietary principle, that is, a diet containing 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% dietary fat. The 40-30-30 nutritional philosophy was popularized by Dr. Barry Sears, a biochemist,...

, Vitamin Shoppe, Erdic International, Spectrum Oils, Barleans, and Arkopharma.

In 2002, she released her book The Fat Flush Plan, appearing on numerous television programs to promote it.

She sits on the medical advisory boards of the American Menopause Association, the Health Sciences Institute, Price Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, Your Future Health, and The National Institute of Whole Health.

Criticism

Claims of detoxification's legitimacy and promotion of good health have been questioned by many Western doctors. Gittleman's Fat Flush program was among those called "not only ludicrous but tantamount to fraud" by Dr. Peter Pressman in a New York Times article about detox diets. Judith Stern, Sc.D

Doctor of Science

Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...

, RD

Dietitian

Dietitians supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of dietitians are to provide medical nutritional intervention, and to obtain, safely prepare, serve and advise on...

, has called the Fat Flush Plan "pseudoscience" that promises everything, but is "a fantasy".

Gittleman's recent book Zapped has been met with skepticism by mainstream reviewers for incorporating non-scientific and pseudo-scientific concepts to assert the danger of electromagnetic fields, as well as presenting evidence in a biased manner.

She regularly employs the title of "Dr. Ann Louise Gittleman" in reference to her PhD in nutrition earned from the unaccredited Clayton College (she lacks the professional qualifications to be considered a medical doctor

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

).

Books

New York Times Bestselling Author of over 30 books on all areas of health and nutrition including diet, detox, cleansing and parasites, women's health, men's health, menopause, beauty, and environmental health.

• Gittleman, A.L. (2010). Zapped. HarperOne. ISBN 978-0061864278.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2010). Fat Flush for Life. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0738213667. Top 10 Notable New Diet Books of 2010 by Time Magazine
• Gittleman, A.L. (2008). The Gut Flush Plan. Avery. ISBN 978-1615568123.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2008). Get the Sugar Out (Revised and Updated). Crown. ISBN 978-0307394859.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2005). The Fast Track Detox Diet. Morgan Road Books/Doubleday Broadway. ISBN 978-0767920469.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2005). Hot Times (Revised and Updated). Avery. ISBN 1583332146.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2005). The Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet. Morgan Road Books/Doubleday Broadway. ISBN 978-0739320204.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2004). The Fat Flush Foods. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071440684.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2004). Super Nutrition for Women (Revised and Updated). Bantam. ISBN 978-0553382501.
• Gittleman, A.L. and Greggains, J. (2004). The Fat Flush Fitness Plan. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0071423125.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2003). Before the Change (Revised and Updated). HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0060560874. New York Times Bestseller
• Gittleman, A.L. (2003). The Complete Fat Flush Program. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0077104139.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2003). The Fat Flush Cookbook. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071433679.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2003). The Fat Flush Journal and Shopping Guide. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071414975.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2002). The Fat Flush Plan. McGraw-Hill. ISBN The Fat Flush Plan (2002) ISBN 978-0071383837.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2001). Ann Louise Gittleman’s Guide to the 40/30/30 Phenomenon. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0658016598.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2001). Guess What Came To Dinner? Parasites and Your Health (Revised and Updated). Avery. ISBN 978-1583330968.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2001). Eat Fat, Lose Weight Cookbook. Keats. ISBN 978-0658012204.
• Gittleman, A.L. (2000). The Living Beauty Detox Program. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0062516282.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1999). Why Am I Always So Tired?. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0062515940.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1999). Super Nutrition for Men. Avery. ISBN 978-0895299543.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1999). How to Stay Young and Healthy in a Toxic World. Keats. ISBN 978-0879839079.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1999). Eat Fat, Lose Weight. Keats. ISBN 978-0879839666.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1999). Overcoming Parasites. Avery. ISBN 978-0895299833.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1998). Super Nutrition for Menopause. Avery. ISBN 0895298775.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1998). Beyond Probiotics. Keats. ISBN 978-0879839772.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1998). The 40/30/30 Phenomenon. Keats. ISBN 978-0879838492.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1998). Before the Change. HarperSanFrancisco. ISBN 978-0060560874.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1997). Your Body Knows Best. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0671875916
• Gittleman, A.L. (1996). Get the Salt Out. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0517886540.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1996). Get the Sugar Out. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0517886533.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1996). Beyond Pritikin (Revised and Updated). Bantam. ISBN 978-0553574005.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1993). Guess What Came To Dinner? Parasites and Your Health. Avery. ISBN 978-0895295705.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1991). Super Nutrition for Women. Avery. ISBN 978-0553353280.
• Gittleman, A.L. (1988). Beyond Pritikin. Bantam. ISBN 978-0553275124.