The one thing I won’t give up, when dieting, is flavor. I recently read a diet book that claimed emphasizing food flavor could result in weight loss. “The Flavor Point Diet” was written by Dr. David L. Katz, Director of the Yale Prevention Research Center, with his wife, Catherine S. Katz, PhD. The diet has three phases. In the first phase, daily meals follow a specific flavor theme, such as: apple, lemon, spinach, or onion. According to the book, consuming a repeated flavor, like lemon, in each meal will tell your brain that you’re full. When you reach the second phase of the diet, you don’t have to consume the same flavor for the whole day. Each meal and snack may have its own theme flavor. By the time you reach phase three, the claim is that you’ll be able to plan your own meals and control your appetite by concentrating on the flavor.
When I come across diets that I’ve never heard of, I don’t question whether they will work. I do wonder if it will be another passing fad or temporary solution. After reading the book, I wanted to know if there really was scientific basis for his concept of flavor themed meals. I learned that certain flavors we regularly smell and consume trigger signals in the hypothalamus. The signals are registered and then additional signals are sent out. These signals affect your decision to eat more or eat less. (This is a simplified explanation.) Ultimately, the decision to eat less results in weight loss.
Dr. Alan Hirsch, founder and neurological director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, and his colleagues conducted a study using flavor crystals. In the study, the participants’ meals were enhanced with two different flavor crystals every month for half a year. At the end, 92 out of 108 of them had lost an average of 5.6 pounds per month. This study parallels what Dr. Katz calls “sensory-specific satiety.” In other words, you’ll stop eating and feel full when the flavors you consume are limited. If there are too many flavors, you’ll keep eating because you haven’t received the signal that you’re full. According to Dr. Katz, you can expect to lose nine to sixteen pounds, in six weeks, on his diet plan.
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