Health guru Gillian 'not a doc'

TV nutritionist Gillian McKeith has agreed to drop the title 'Dr' from her company's advertising following a complaint to the industry watchdog.

Gillian is best known for presenting the C4 show You Are What You Eat, currently in its fourth series, in which she helps to motivate people to lose weight and change their lifestyle.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received a complaint, challenging whether Gillian was a qualified and accredited doctor and therefore entitled to use such a title.

The star, who has made a fortune with book and health food spin-offs from her programme, argues she does have the right to call herself a doctor after completing a distance learning PhD in holistic nutrition from the American Holistic College of Nutrition.

But it's understood that the basis of the complaint to the ASA was that the title was likely to mislead the public because the college hadn't been accredited by a recognised educational authority when she took the course.

After the ASA came to the provisional conclusion that the title was indeed likely to mislead the public, Gillian agreed not to call herself a doctor with McKeith Research saying that it would stop using the title in advertising.