Ian K. Smith (born July 15, 1969) is an American physician, author and television host best known for hosting The Doctors. In 2007, he launched the 50 Million Pound Challenge, a national weight loss initiative sponsored by CVS Pharmacy and State Farm.
He has also made appearances on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club series, The View, and as a correspondent for NBC News. He is also the host of HealthWatch with Dr. Ian Smith, a daily news feature.[1] Smith has authored a number of books related to health and weight loss, as well as three crime novels.
In April 2007, Smith launched the 50 Million Pound Challenge in partnership with State Farm Insurance.[5] The challenge was a national health initiative encouraging awareness of fitness and the risks of obesity. The Challenge was a free campaign supported by national civic and health organizations with the purpose of reducing the impact of high blood pressure, cardiac disease and obesity in the United States.[6]
The 50 Million Pounds website developed a partnership with CVS Pharmacy. In partnership with CVS, the 50 Million Pound Challenge participated in a series of free community health events in urban communities in the United States, with a particular focus on improving health outcomes in the African-American community.[7] CVS will hosted over 250 "To Your Health" fairs in cities such as Atlanta, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, providing health risk assessments and screenings for common chronic health issues including diabetes, blood pressure, high cholesterol and Osteoporosis.[8] The fairs included celebrity guests such as Biz Markie, Steve Harvey, Patti LaBelle and Yolanda Adams.[9]
Smith has written a dozen books including The Fat Smash Diet, a 90-day diet program that focuses on "smashing" bad eating and exercise habits and establishing new healthy ones. His book Happy was released in April 2010.[10] His book The Truth About Men was released in April 2012, Shred: The Revolutionary Diet was released in December 2012, and Super Shred: The Big Results Diet was published in December 2013. In 2015, Smith published The Shred Diet Cookbook and The Shred Power Cleanse.
Smith later began writing fiction novels, starting with The Blackbird Chronicles in 2005, about a murdered Dartmouth professor. Smith later wrote The Ancient Nine (2018) and The Unspoken (2020),[2] with the latter being the first in a planned series about Ashe Cayne, a black police officer who refuses to participate in police corruption.[12] Smith has said that The Unspoken was inspired by the real life murder of Laquan McDonald.[13]
Smith co-hosted season six of the health talk show The Doctors in 2014-2015. From 2020 to 2021, he was brought back as the sole host, although he left in a dispute over racial discrimination in at the company.[14]
Ian Smith married health executive Tristé Noelle Lieteau on May 29, 2005.[16] In 2018, the couple sold their townhome in the South Loop and moved to a mansion in Kenwood, Chicago.[17]
