# Theodore B. Van Itallie
**Theodore B. Van Itallie** (1919–2019) was an American physician and clinical researcher in nutrition and metabolism who built much of his career at [St. Luke's Hospital](https://www.edgepedia.org/st-lukes-hospital) in New York and was described as an obesity expert and a leading researcher in metabolic diseases.[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni) He was the author of over 200 publications,[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/) and his research centered on metabolic and nutritional problems in obesity.[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Hackensack, New Jersey, 1919[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/) |
| Died | September 14, 2019, Old Lyme, Connecticut, aged 99[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/) • [1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni) |
| Field | Nutrition, metabolism, and obesity medicine[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919) |
| Chief of Medicine, St. Luke's Hospital | 1957–1975[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919) |
| First NIH-funded obesity research center | Directed it from 1975 to 1988[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni) |
| Signature work | "The Treatment of Pruritus and Hypercholesteremia of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis with Cholestyramine", *New England Journal of Medicine*, 1961[4](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2019.154053) |
| Training | Harvard College; Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; residency at St. Luke's Hospital[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/) |
## Early life, war service and training
Van Itallie was born in [Hackensack, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/hackensack-new-jersey) in 1919 and graduated from [Deerfield Academy](https://www.edgepedia.org/deerfield-academy), Harvard College, and Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/) During the Second World War he served as a lieutenant (j.g.) in the Navy Medical Corps and saw active duty in the Pacific theater.[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/)
He completed his internship and residency at St. Luke's Hospital in New York, then, according to a Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons memorial, accepted a research and teaching position at Harvard Medical School and spent several years at Harvard's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919) • [1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni)
## Career at St. Luke's and Columbia
In 1957 Van Itallie returned to St. Luke's as Chief of Medicine, a position he held from 1957 to 1975.[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919) In that role he worked to bring St. Luke's to full university hospital status as a research center affiliated with Columbia University,[5](https://archives.mssm.edu/aa155-int168) and the hospital became a Columbia University teaching hospital under his leadership.[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni)
In 1975 St. Luke's created the first National Institutes of Health-funded obesity research center under his direction,[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919) and he ran it from 1975 to 1988.[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni) He was the founding director of the New York Obesity Research Center.[6](https://doi.org/10.1089/obe.2006.2.53) By 1975 he was also a professor at Columbia's medical school, associate director of the university's Institute of Human Nutrition, and chairman of the National Academy of Sciences' committee on clinical nutrition;[7](https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1975/01/trouble-losing-weight) he was later recorded as Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.[8](https://doi.org/10.1097/00017285-199307000-00008)
## Representative work
According to an in memoriam account of Van Itallie's life, his 1961 paper in the *New England Journal of Medicine*, "The Treatment of Pruritus and Hypercholesteremia of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis with Cholestyramine" (*NEJM* 1961;265(10):469–474), reported the use of cholestyramine, the first drug developed to lower cholesterol, in treating hypercholesterolemia and primary biliary cirrhosis; the archive record dates this line of research to 1960 and the journal publication to 1961.[3](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919) • [4](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2019.154053) A 1971 *NEJM* paper, "Studies of Food-Intake Regulation in Man" (1971;285(25):1402–1407), examined food-intake regulation in human subjects.[9](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5072338) His 1977 *NEJM* review "Diet and Weight Loss" stated that the constituents contributing appreciably to short-term weight loss are water, fat, protein, and glycogen.[10](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm197711242972106)
## Contributions to obesity research
Van Itallie demonstrated that weight loss is a function of calorie reduction, not changes in the protein or other composition of the diet, and he publicly refuted the "calories don't count" school of weight loss.[2](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/) • [1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni)
A 1976 *Journal of Clinical Investigation* metabolic-ward study measured what weight loss actually consists of. Six obese subjects were studied during three 10-day periods on starvation, an 800-kcal mixed diet, and an 800-kcal ketogenic (low carbohydrate–high fat) diet.[11](https://www.jci.org/articles/view/108519) On the ketogenic diet subjects lost a mean of 466.6 ± 51.3 g/day, versus 277.9 ± 32.1 g/day on the isocaloric mixed diet.[11](https://www.jci.org/articles/view/108519) The composition of the loss differed sharply: on the ketogenic diet it was 61.2% water, 35.0% fat, and 3.8% protein, while on the mixed diet it was 37.1% water, 59.5% fat, and 3.4% protein.[11](https://www.jci.org/articles/view/108519) The study used the energy-nitrogen balance method to quantify the measurable components of weight loss: protein, fat, and water.[11](https://www.jci.org/articles/view/108519)
He also argued that dieting alone is an inadequate approach to weight control and advocated permanent lifestyle modification.[7](https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1975/01/trouble-losing-weight)
## Legacy
Van Itallie died on September 14, 2019, at the age of 99.[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni) His death was recorded in obituaries in the *American Journal of Clinical Nutrition* (published 2019–2020)[13](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31868200/) and in a memorial in *Metabolism* titled "The life and times of Theodore B. Van Itallie (1919–2019)",[4](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2019.154053) as well as by Columbia's medical school.[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni) Later in life he consulted on clinical research with special attention to ketone esters as a therapeutic agent for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.[1](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni)
## References
1. [In memoriam: Theodore Van Itallie – Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University](https://www.vagelos.columbia.edu/about-us/columbia-medicine-magazine/archives/fall-winter-2019/memoriam/alumni)
2. [Theodore VanItallie Obituary – Hartford Courant](https://www.courant.com/obituaries/theodore-b-vanitallie-old-lyme-ct/)
3. [Van Itallie, Theodore B., 1919- – Aufses Jr. Archives, Mount Sinai](https://archives.mssm.edu/van-itallie-theodore-b-1919)
4. [In memoriam: The life and times of Theodore B. Van Itallie (1919–2019) – Metabolism](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2019.154053)
5. [Interview with Theodore Van Itallie, MD by Norma M.T. Braun, MD – Mount Sinai Archives](https://archives.mssm.edu/aa155-int168)
6. [Birth of the New York Obesity Research Center – Obesity Management](https://doi.org/10.1089/obe.2006.2.53)
7. [Trouble Losing Weight? – Ministry Magazine, 1975](https://www.ministrymagazine.org/archive/1975/01/trouble-losing-weight)
8. [Summary of the National Obesity and Weight Control Symposium](https://doi.org/10.1097/00017285-199307000-00008)
9. [Studies of Food-Intake Regulation in Man – PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5072338)
10. [Diet and Weight Loss – New England Journal of Medicine, 1977](https://doi.org/10.1056/nejm197711242972106)
11. [Composition of weight lost during short-term weight reduction – Journal of Clinical Investigation, 1976](https://www.jci.org/articles/view/108519)
12. [Very Low Calorie Diets: Their Efficacy, Safety, and Future – Annals of Internal Medicine, 1983](https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/0003-4819-99-5-675)
13. [Theodore B. Van Itallie, Doctor of Medicine (1919-2019) – American Journal of Clinical Nutrition](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31868200/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Medical and health researchers › Researchers in cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine research › Obesity and metabolic syndrome research*
*Initially written Sep 20, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license