The Flavor Point Diet

The Flavor Point Diet: What It Is

The Flavor Point Diet takes a new approach to weight loss. Many diet books are disguised under eye-catching headlines but when it comes down to it, most eliminate foods or food groups, are low in calories, and are packaged to help sell books. Rarely does a new diet theory emerge based on science, and from a well-respected authority.

Yale University nutrition expert and author, David Katz, MD, with his wife Catherine Katz, offer up the Flavor Point Diet, a novel plan based on appetite control and "sensory specific satiety" research. The diet promises delicious food and a breakthrough plan to turn off your hunger and help you lose weight for good.

The Flavor Point Diet is the first weight loss program based on the science of flavors and their impact on appetite. According to the authors, when you eat a meal with multiple flavor categories such as sweet, salty, or savory, the competing flavors stimulate the appetite center of your brain, causing overeating. Limiting the flavor categories in a meal or snack makes it easier for your brain and stomach to reach the "flavor point" where you are satisfied and stop eating.

While Katz admits the Flavor Point Diet may sound a bit gimmicky, its focus on whole foods may suit the dieter who wants to learn about nutritious, healthy eating, and delve into the science of flavor themes, too.

The Flavor Point Diet: What You Can Eat

In order to gain an understanding of flavor point satiety, the Flavor Point Diet includes phases of discipline to help you adapt to a new way of thinking about selecting food.

"The first two phases are educational and necessary to learn how to unjumble and organize flavors," explains Katz. In the first phase, lasting four weeks, dieters eat according to a daily flavor theme.

• Week 1: raisin/currant, pineapple, cranberry, lemon, peach, orange, apple
• Week 2: tomato, carrot, mushroom, onion, pumpkin, spinach, bell pepper
• Week 3: apple, tomato, almond, thyme, walnut, sesame, basil
• Week 4: spinach, orange, mint, lemon, pecan, dill, cranberry

A detailed menu accompanies each flavor-themed day along with recipes and nutrient analysis. For example, on spinach day the menu suggests:

* Breakfast

Spinach and feta breakfast omelet with whole-grain toast

* Snack

Crackers and spinach-yogurt dip, or baby carrots

* Lunch

Spinach and turkey salad

* Dinner

Pasta with spinach marinara sauce

Side green salad

Mixed berries

Alternatives are included if you prefer a substitute for a meal or snack, and dieters are given the option to choose between a menu averaging 1,500 calories, or the 1,300 calorie "weight loss express."

Three weeks into the Flavor Point Diet, dieters are rewarded with the option of a weekly indulgence day of coconut or chocolate. These menus are themed with chocolate or coconut and kept under 1,500 calories for the day.