The 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness

This year in the world of fitness, health, and happiness, local food is at the forefront, TV doctors are ever-popular, everybody’s got a lifecoach, and the Governator is back. There are thousands of people working every day to revolutionize the way people think about health and wellness. When trying to determine the most powerful innovators in this space, we looked at several factors: social reach, the trends they’ve set, the products they’ve created, research they've contributed to, media coverage, and professional certifications and degrees they've attained (among a few other things). After many discussions (and way too much math), here are the 100 people we determined to be the most influential figures in fitness, health, and happiness this year. Wondering what last year's list looked like? Take a gander here. 1. Dr. Mehmet Oz, America's Doctor Though he’s no wizard, Dr. Oz certainly is pretty magical. Since 2009, Oz has hosted his Emmy Award-winning show and amassed a huge fan following. Before that, he was the leading health expert on Oprah for more than five seasons. Though he’s conjured up some debate over his legitimacy and ties to controversial weight-loss and health products, Dr. Oz has influenced millions of viewers, readers of his magazine columns and bestselling books, and the medical community at large (Oz has published on topics ranging from cardiac surgery, to complementary medicine, to health care policy, among others). Oh, and in his free time, he performs heart surgeries. His next venture? A brand new lifestyle magazine due out early next year.