Ann Louise Gittleman, N.D., M.S.
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 Ann Louise Gittleman is one of the most respected and dynamic nutritionists in America today, continually breaking new ground in both traditional and holistic health. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree from Connecticut College, she attained a master’s degree from Columbia University in nutrition education and then went on to receive an N.D. degree (Doctor of Naturopathy). She became a Certified Nutrition Specialist in 1993 from the American College of Nutrition.
For nearly a decade her articles, insights and books have enlightened the public on key nutritional issues.
For the past 25 years I have devoted my life to helping people take back control over their health and well being by uncovering the underlying causes of “dis-ease.” I have always believed, even as a child, that there is a reason for everything—we have just been looking in the wrong places. For example, far too many of us use medication and even natural remedies as band-aids or for dis-ease when in reality the root cause of many symptoms—like essential fatty acid deficiency, parasites, heavy metals, biochemical imbalances, toxic emotions and/or glandular and hormonal dysfunction—remains neglected and therefore untreated. Based upon my philosophy, I have explored and worked within the realms of traditional, clinical nutrition and holistic health.
I have served as the chief dietitian of the Pediatric Clinic at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, bilingual nutritionist for the USDA’s Women, Infants and Children Food Program and as the nutrition director for the Pritikin Longevity Center in California. My appointment as the director of nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center marked my personal nutritional epiphany. I was the first nutritionist in the country to witness the pluses and minuses of the no-to-low fat diet which would predominate our eating patterns for the next 20 years. When I worked with the late Nathan Pritikin, the developer of the world famous low fat, high complex carbohydrate Pritikin Diet for the prevention of heart disease and diabetes, I thought I had discovered the perfect eating program to prevent all disease.
During the first couple of months of a no-to-low fat, high grain diet many individuals felt better, had dramatic decreases in both cholesterol and triglyceride levels and reported major energy boosts. But after three to four months on the fat free, high carb program I began to observe people who developed food intolerances, sugar cravings, mood swings, irritability and fatigue and who were finding it nearly impossible to remain on a diet without fat. Based upon my personal observations and research I learned that not all fats are created equal and that essential fatty acids—the missing link in the no-to-low fat diet model—are perhaps the most important dietary discovery of the century. Flax, fish, nuts, seeds and botanicals like evening primrose oil aid in weight loss, strengthen the cardiovascular, reproductive and central nervous systems, inhibit cancer cell growth and have a direct correlation to ADD, depression, anti-aging and rejuvenation. Thus, Beyond Pritikin, my first book, was born in 1988 and forecast the dangers of the fat free carbohydrate craze from which we are now emerging.
The new millennium not only introduced my book, The Living Beauty Detox Program, but found me in pursuit of new ventures as well. My book, which debuted in January, details how we can eat our way to beauty throughout the seasons using four basic cleansing programs based upon my original Two Week Fat Flush. I will also be intimately involved in the development of a model wellness community tentatively scheduled to be constructed in the Southwest and Northeast to meet the total needs of health-minded individuals. The wellness community will provide total facilities for healthy living—including a “non toxic” golf course and an organic eating facility. I would love to be in charge of quality control with regard to food preparation and menu planning. In addition, I hope to lend my expertise to a state-of-the-art spa (specializing in detoxification) and a health clinic to which individuals from all over the country will have access to the most in-depth and innovative functional medicine testing designed to target underlying causes of disease and take the guesswork and confusion out of which supplements are appropriate for each individual. As I look forward to the next millennium, I guess the circle has become full and round because my “beyond Pritikin” vision will become a reality but this time with flax seed oil and olive oil on every table.
www.annlouise.com
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