The Flavor Point Diet
The Delicious, Breakthrough Plan to Turn Off Your Hunger and Lose the Weight for Good
by Dr. David L. Katz, M.D., MDH

Reviewed by Veronica Marian

According to Dr. David L. Katz, conflicting food flavors like salty and sweet (think fries and soda) in the same meal make the body think it is hungry longer. He suggests that by organizing meals into flavor themes, you reach the “Flavor Point,” the moment when your body feels satisfied, faster. This way, you eat less and lose weight without feeling hungry.

For the first four weeks of the diet, meals are based on one flavor throughout the whole day. For example, “Lemon Day” calls for lemon-poppy muffins for breakfast, fat-free lemon yogurt as a snack, followed by lemon tabbouleh salad at lunch and lemon-flavored tilapia, asparagus with grated lemon peel and tossed green salad with lemon juice for dinner. You’re even allowed dessert: one cup of blueberries with lemon peel. Other flavor themes include “Bell Pepper,” “Cranberry,” “Carrot” and “Onion.”

The next two weeks give you more flavor freedom—instead of every meal of the day having the same flavor theme, each meal has its own. This is said to harmonize your appetite so that you don’t feel monotonous in your diet, but still feel satisfied faster than if you were to mix flavors in one meal.

After the initial six weeks, for which The Flavor Point Diet provides easy and quick recipes that even the most inexperienced chef could probably master, (and some that allow for indulgences like strawberries dipped in dark chocolate) it is your turn to maintain the regimen on your own. Dr. Katz leaves you with plenty of ideas for quick, healthy and flavor-coordinated meals. Moreover, he promises that weight will come off and stay off, since the body is no longer tricked into binge eating by a fête of flavors competing for your taste buds’ attention.

(Published: 02/22/06)