Diet Programs in The Flavor Point Diet by Dr. David Katz - Book Report/Review Example

The Flavor Point Diet by Dr. David Katz The Diet industry is stuffed with gimmicks, pills, books, food programs, pseudo-celebrities and most certainly sensational claims. Each new diet program makes new and fantastic claims about how one can eat what they want, never exercise and still manage to lose weight if they follow one program they have designed, or read about one secret they have discovered, or swallow one pill that they have developed. For most individuals who struggle to manage their weight, it is often a debilitating and demoralizing experience to be constantly disappointed by diet after diet. On first blush, Dr. Katzs program also seems to make some fairly outrageous claims, namely, that by merely harmonizing the flavors of foods one eats one can make significant changes in their body mass and lose significant weight. Most current diet programs and pills focus on manipulating the amount and duration of calorie intake and macronutrient levels. This is one of the first diets to address the role of the tastes and flavors of the foods we consume in order to lose stubborn fat. In order to address the claims that Katz makes this paper will discuss his qualifications, the basic science that he utilizes to provide evidence for his claims, and the nature of his project generally speaking. Dr. David Katz is an associate professor of public health and director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. He is also an associate director of nutrition science at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. His credentials also include being a Medical Contributor for ABC News. His collaborator on this work is his wife Catherine Katz who has a PhD in neuroscience. Clearly, with the sort of credentials that Dr. Katz says it is likely he presents the data he has intelligently and coherently; however, it is of course entirely possible with his prodigious background and knowledge that those interpretations while on the surface sound, are not as completely effective as one might be led to believe. Besides the obvious fact that he is indeed try to sell a program, even the most brilliant and thorough of scientists to do not always agree, thus even if he was presenting the science in the most direct and frank way possible; it is always possible that there will be some issues with his conclusions. Nevertheless, even if we are concerned about those issues, it is very likely that the program itself will be nutritionally sound, and will not be medically endangering to the health and safety of its followers. The scientific claims themselves are rather astounding. Essentially, he suggests that because of the diversity of flavors we experience in the daily consumption of food, people overeat because our brains appetite triggers are activated by various flavors. Thus if we moderate the number of flavors that we consume on a daily basis, the fewer calories we will need to ingest in order to feel satiated. This mechanism is known as sensory-specific satiety (Katz 3). This mechanism implies that by limiting and organizing ones food intake based on flavor themes rather than macronutrient levels or calories, one can reduce their appetite and feel more full earlier on, i.e. reaching the Flavor Point. This point is different for different people, but the method in which one can reach this point is the same. Biochemically, the consumption of various flavors, salty, sweet and savory, triggers the hypothalamus to produce a hunger-promoting hormone known as neuropeptide Y (Katz 5). The more flavors involved in any one meal, the more the hypothalamus is triggered and the more calories one must consume in that meal to meet the satiety point. According to Dr. Katz, this science has been established since the 1970s, ever since the first studies were begun to examine the phenomenon of obesity. Despite the ubiquity of the scientific data available, no other program has utilized this fact directly in its formulation or design. He is eager to mention that flavor is not the only characteristic of food that can be manipulated to manage or exacerbate appetite. Volume is also a significant determining factor in regulating appetite hormones. Foods high in volume, naturally fill the stomach cavity more quickly thus reducing the production of another hormone important in hunger promotion, ghrelin (Katz 24). When someone is hungry, ghrelin levels stay high until the walls of the stomach start to stretch; therefore, volumetrically significant foods will more quickly lead to the point of satiety. The important issue in this therefore is to eat foods that are rather high in volume and as low in calories as possible to maximize this effect. Unprocessed foods, foods with high water content all exhibit this low caloric density, which is ideal for inhibiting hunger pangs. This in combination with a thematically flavored diet can lead to surprising weight losses. There are a number of causes that are contributing to the rise of obesity in United States. One of those factors in undoubtedly is the increased reliance on fast-food and processed foods. The problems with fast-foods are multiform and well documented in the media. Documentaries like Supersize Me and books like Fast-Food Nation, all highlight the deleterious effects of consuming such food. Dr. Katz adds another reason why such foods are so problematic. Fast-foods and processed foods are packed with multiple and sometimes clashing flavors. Though they may not be directly perceptible by the tongue, they are detected by the brain, and it responds accordingly. The addition of sugars in salty foods, the addition of sodium in sugary foods and the omnipresence of fat in most fast-food meals leads to biochemical havoc with our hypothalamus and the overproduction of various hunger promoting hormones. The program which is delineated in the second part of the book, lays out three phases each of which are designed to manage the number of flavors that are consumed in each day. The first phase consists of harmonizing all your meals to a specific flavor in a particular day. Thus, there is a raisin day, in which all your meals will contain among other things raisins. This will be followed by a lemon day, a cranberry day and a pineapple day. As one becomes familiar with the flavor point principles the second phase involves an expansion of the types of flavors one can utilize in a meal, and though these flavors share some common element, they are mixed in such a way as not to seem monotonous, or so Dr. Katz claims. The final phase is a transition to the permanent flavor-management techniques that will become a permanent part of ones diet. In order to provide substantiation for the claims that are made in the book, he subjects 20 participants to follow a 12-week version of his program and he documents his results throughout the book. He also cites multiple sources that corroborate the role of sensory-specific satiety in the regulation of hunger promoting hormones. On average, the 20 participants in his study lost an average of 16 pounds over the 12-week period. Though it is not entirely clear how scientific the study was or what the rate of recidivism after the conclusion of the diet, the results are self-evident. One possible issue with such a diet is that if were taken to an extreme, i.e. eating the exact same things every day, this would result in a severe nutritional balance. While Dr. Katz does not condone such behavior, and expressly warns against it he does suggest, "No, you dont need to eat the same food over and over again-although that tactic certainly would work" (Katz 3) This kind of tacit endorsement of such a program is somewhat unusual. Nevertheless, Dr. Katzs aim with such a publication is to sell an idea, and a program, while providing just enough science and helpful information as his professional obligations demand. The diets aim as an overall goal is to provide a diet that does not seem like one is dieting. That is, by suggesting that one can adjust flavors eventually leading to a reduction in calories, rather than practice some form of asceticism and strictly reduce calories-the stigma and annoyance of watching what one eats is lessened. This strategy is appealing to those who have struggled to maintain the rigors of certain diet programs. Dr. Katz is no doubt well aware of this and his presentation of this program as such is well taken. However, any program that is designed to help you lose weight does require discipline; this diet fundamentally is no different. The point of the diet is ultimately calorie reduction, whether it comes by hook or by crook, expending more calories than one consumes on a daily basis remains a metabolic consistency. The aims of this program are too mask the eventual goal of calorie reduction, through a possibly interesting mechanism of the human body. Indeed, if the flavor point is a reachable goal, and one does not feel like they are strictly dieting, then the program is successful. However, such a diet is not easy and requires discipline nonetheless. Many of the recipes call for specific ingredients and in specific amounts, and like any other diet require organization, planning and willpower. Finally, many of the suggestions and guidelines that Dr. Katz suggests are more or less common sense, avoiding processed foods, eating a healthy combination of high-volume calorically light meals that do not include unnecessary ingredients or flavorings. It has been a general trend among diet programs in recent years to reference the eating habits of our ancestors; Atkins, the "Jesus diet" and others suggest that since our forbearers were less obese than we were, their eating habits were likely more conducive to a healthy lifestyle. The recent science has seemed generally to confirm this, though whether this fact is the cause of or the result from such a belief is another interesting question altogether. Bibliography Katz, David. The Flavor Point Diet. New York: Rodale, 2005. Read More