After attending school in Gollnow and Stettin, completing his abitur in autumn 1911, he studied medicine in Leipzig, Freiburg, Berlin and Kiel.
[1] In 1935 he was appointed as Professor of Hygiene and Bacteriology at the University of Rostock and was also Director of the Provincial Health Office (German: Landesgesundheitsamt).
[3] The book includes the statement "The difficulties in the hygienic area has so far been that adequate legislation, for instance the elimination of inferior (people) from reproduction, has failed in the past."
)[4] His support for the Nazi laws is also confirmed by his statement "Eine höhere und edlere Form der Humanität ist erst durch die nationalsozialistische Gesetzgebung in Deutschland eingeführt durch die Sterilisationsgesetze“[5] (Translation: "A higher and nobler form of humanity is introduced by the Nazi legislation in Germany by the sterilization laws") In 1942, Kollath published his most important book, Die Ordnung unserer Nahrung.
Because of the order of the president of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern for cleansing the administration on 30 August 1945, Kollath was dismissed because of his party affiliation.
Kollath was certified by the SED that he was "only a nominal member of the Nazi Party", and that he had applied for admission to the KPD in December 1945.
From 1952 to 1956, he carried out studies on animals at the University of Munich to prove his hypotheses on mesotrophy by inadequate diet.
[14] In 1953, he wrote about probiotics as being in contrast to harmful antibiotics,[15] and defined 'Probiotika' as being "active substances that are essential for a healthy development of life".
[14] Kollath's work on nutrition was recognised in the 1950s and 1960s by the Internationale Gesellschaft für Nahrungs- und Vitalstoff-Forschung (IVG), the World Union for Protection of Life, and the Arbeitskreis Gesundheitskunde, which was established in 1964, and also people practising alternative medicine.
The 17th edition of his book "Die Ordnung unserer Nahrung" was published in 2005, and is regarded as a basis for whole food nutrition.
The Werner and Elisabeth Kollath Foundation, based in Bad Soden, is dedicated to the promotion of holistic scientific nutritional and health research.