Obesity is gaining momentum in the U.S. and it is now holding second place as one of the leading causes of preventable death. According to the American Obesity Association, about 127 million adults are overweight, 60 million are obese, and nine million are severely obese. Many people are trying all sorts of diets to combat their own weight issues, some successfully, some not so much. Ready to try something new? Well, a hot-off-the-presses diet could be the long-term answer you’ve been seeking. A recently published book, The Flavor Point Diet, suggests that focusing each day’s meals on a specific food will help you drop those extra pounds. Based on extensive research, the author, Dr. David Katz, has created a diet that could make you feel full with less food by focusing on the idea of “sensory-specific satiety.”
The standard North American diet is rife with variety — we have so many different kinds of foods to choose from. However, a variety of flavors in a meal actually keeps you from reaching your satiation point — that feeling of fullness that stops you from munching down on more food than you should. Basically, when you have the opportunity to taste different foods, you are more likely to overeat, thus consuming too many calories in the process. This underscores the danger of buffet restaurants, for example.
If you limit your meal to one specific food — say, brown rice — you tire sooner of the taste sensation you’re receiving and therefore you feel fuller faster. This is what Dr. Katz refers to as the “Flavor Point” (a.k.a. sensory- specific satiety). Although it may sound a little strange, this phenomenon is backed up by several studies — and now Dr. Katz has found a way to incorporate it into a healthy weight loss regime.
The Flavor Point Diet is based on flavor themes, first having you consume food based on daily flavor themes, then meal-specific themes. The final phase of the diet is supposed to become your new way of living, ultimately giving you the tools for individual food-flavor management.
Now, don’t fret; it’s not as boring as the brown rice example I gave above. One example of Dr. Katz’s theme days is “Cranberry Day.” On this day, you could eat cranberry-banana muffins for breakfast, a salad with cranberries for lunch, cranberry and onion turkey cutlets for dinner, and cranberry-vanilla soft ice cream for dessert. Sounds delectable to me!
The Flavor Point Diet seems to work on two principles: 1) organizing your meals with themes and 2) teaching you to eat simpler foods with minimal processing. Dr. Katz also recommends that you engage in regular exercise as well.
It’s important to note that this is not a crash diet; it’s meant to become a way of life. In a test group, the average weight lost during 12 weeks on Dr. Katz’s diet was 16.7 pounds. You don’t lose a ton of weight all at once, but you could lose a healthy amount of extra pounds, take inches off your waist, and lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels over an extended period of time.
While experts are unsure whether it’s the Flavor Point theory or just the move to a healthier lifestyle that makes this new diet work, it does seem to be a safe alternative to some of the other fads out there.
According to Dr. Katz, the Flavor Point Diet makes it possible for you to lose weight without feeling that gnawing feeling of hunger. The best part of this diet is that you do not need to give up anything — you can still eat your favorite foods — unlike with some of those popular carb diets.
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Tags: Diets, exercise, obesity
