Nutritionist says Fat Flush a lifestyle, not just a fad
Your Voice / Post Falls 
By: Hope Brumbach
January 2, 2008

POST FALLS- There is the woman in her 80s who stopped having arthritic pains. The woman who lost 80 pounds and looks like a celebrity. There are the stories of migraine headaches going away, canker sores disappearing and cellulite reducing.

They’re what keep Ann Louise Gittleman, bestselling author and self-proclaimed “First Lady of Nutrition,” on her quest to flush fat.

“This is what makes your world go round, hearing these stories,” said Gittleman at her home overlooking the Spokane River in Post Falls. “They’re absolutely my extended family. It’s gratifying.”

Gittleman, who has authored more than two dozen diet and nutrition books since 1988s, isn’t slowing down. She’s won a fervent following of Fat Flushers since her bestselling “Fat Flush Plan” book came out in 2001. It’s printed in 14 languages, and she now has a Fat Flush journal, cookbook and nutritional supplements distributed by Hayden Lake’s UNI KEY.

She’s stumped for the diet plan on ABC’s “The View.” She writes a monthly nutrition column for “First” women’s magazine. And she’s hosting her sixth annual “cruise to lose” this winter in the Caribbean.

Gittleman also is gearing up for her next book and the expansion of her diet and nutrition plans. At 58, Gittleman said she has more energy than ever before. “I feel like a butterfly breaking out of a cocoon,” said Gittleman, looking trim in jeans and a sea green button-up sweater. “I’m ready for a transformation, and quite frankly, I don’t know where that is going.”

Best known for her “Fat Flush Plan,” Gittleman now is working on flushing the gut. The focus of her latest book, due in April, is building up immunity from within the body, flushing out toxins and parasites and “being aware of the toxic times in which we live,” Gittleman said.

In the coming year, Gittleman said she also plans to adjust her marketing approach. She has spent most of her time traveling and promoting her books. She now plans to participate in an infomercial, explore options of filming TV or Internet shows from her home, teach local classes, and test the waters for developing a food line. She’s also revising another of her popular book, “Get the Sugar Out.” We’re still in the saddle, as they say, “said Gittleman, who has degrees in nutrition, nutrition education and holistic nutrition. She believes she’s tapped into principles that are enduring, that “won’t come and go with the diet fads,” Gittleman said.

In her three-step < Flush>, followers must first stick to a strict, two-week detoxification regimen, eating 1,200 calories a day, flushing toxins out of the liver and preparing the body to burn fat. The next step increases the number of calories, and the final maintenance stage allows additional food choices and calories. The plan calls for essential oils, such as flaxseed, and fat burning spices, such as cayenne. Fat flushers drink diluted unsweetened cranberry juice through out the day. The low-carbohydrate diet emphasizes good fats.

“People are so much more conscious of what’s going on in their bodies,” she said. But Gittleman said she’s not a calorie-counter, carb-counter or even fat gram-counter. It’s a lifestyle, she said.

“You have to be practical,” Gittleman said. “These are principles you can use every day, even if you’re a breastfeeding mother, you need our fish oil even if you are an athlete, you need the right type of carbohydrates.”