Gillian McKeith
Gillian McKeith (born Perth, Scotland in 1959) is a nutritionist, author, and television presenter. She has written a number of books, including You Are What You Eat, Dr Gillian McKeith's Living Food for Health and The Miracle Superfood: Wild Blue-Green Algae. Her television work includes Channel 4's You Are What You Eat, Granada Television's Dr Gillian McKeith's Feel Fab Forever and a number of slots on shows such as ITV's This Morning and BBC1's Good Morning. She recently helped Scottish heavy-weight singer, Michelle McManus lose seven stone (44kg).
Her general philosophy is based on advice to exercise more, and to reduce processed and high-calorie foods in favour of organic fruits and vegetables. She is a proponent of colonic irrigation and of her proprietary 'living food' supplements, said to aid digestion by providing enzymes. She also claims that yeast is harmful and that the colours of foods are significant.
The factual basis of many of her medical procedures (for instance, diagnosis of nutritional deficiency by stool and tongue inspection) and biological statements (such as the claim that eating chlorophyll will oxygenate the blood) has been strongly disputed as inaccurate or untrue. Critics have included John Garrow, Emeritus Professor of Human Nutrition, University of London; GP and journalist Dr Ben Goldacre (in The Guardian's Bad Science column); Edzard Ernst, University of Exeter professor of complementary medicine; and Amanda Wynne of the British Dietetic Association (in The Sun). See Quackery.
Education
McKeith originally attended Edinburgh University and studied a degree in languages and business. Later she moved to America, where she worked in marketing and international business. McKeith originally claimed, both on her website and in her book Dr Gillian McKeith's Living Food for Health, to have a PhD from the American College of Nutrition (by implication, the Florida-based institution of that name). This claim has since been amended to say that she received a Master's degree and PhD from the American Holistic College of Nutrition, Alabama - now the Clayton College of Natural Health - which offers non-accredited correspondence courses: that is, ones not recognised by the US Secretary of Education for the purpose of educational grants.
McKeith also purports to be a certified member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants (AANC), although this body is not official and does not perform any stringent professional checks (as Ben Goldacre proved by registering his dead cat for $60. [1]).
Research
McKeith claims to have conducted a number of studies. She has studied effects of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae on childhood learning disabilities and behavioural problems (Nebraska, USA; and El Salvador school system) and studied effects of stressors on ageing and immunity with Dr Robert Pollack (MD), Temple University Medical School (Philadelphia, USA). However, these do not appear on Medline, which indicates that in all likelihood these studies have not been subjected to peer review.
Books
- Miracle Superfood: Wild Blue-Green Algae (1996)
- Ten Steps to Perfect Health for New Mothers (2002)
- Living Food for Health (2004)
- You Are What You Eat (2004)
- You Are What You Eat Cookbook (2005)
- Dr Gillian McKeith's Ultimate Health Plan: The Diet Programme That Will Keep You Slim for Life (forthcoming)