In his new book, The Flavor Point Diet: The Delicious, Breakthrough Plan to Turn Off Your Hunger and Lose the Weight For Good (Rodale Press, 2005, $24.95, hardcover), author David L. Katz, MD, MPH says that when the brain's appetite center registers full, people will naturally stop eating.  If so, then why do most people tend to overeat?  According to Katz, the typical American diet includes too wide a selection of flavors at each meal, confusing the brain, and delaying it's sensors from registering "full."

Dr. Katz is co-founder and director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center.  He is also a medical correspondent for ABC News, a nutrition columnist for Oprah's O Magazine, and a syndicated columnist in heath & nutrition for The New York Times.  Dr. Katz has been recognized as a leading authority on nutrition, weight control and chronic disease prevention,  He co-authored The Flavor Point Diet with his wife, Catherine S. Katz, PhD, a neuroscientist, a well-known researcher into sensory specific satiety.  In addition, her expert culinary talents have led her to contribute to O Magazine, Women's Health & Fitness, Child Magazine and several books.

Since the recipes in Katz's diet plan promote choosing and eating healthy foods, drinking plenty of water and moving as much as possible during the course of one's day, it would undoubtedly encourage weight loss.  Research into sensory specific satiety appears to support the book's theory, but the conclusions drawn have not been broadly accepted as fact. This diet is not a simple one to follow. Having to rigidly adhere to its recommended flavor themes, the time and expense of shopping for the (wide!) variety of groceries required and the large chunk of time required in food prep may quickly lead to diet program burnout.  Working people may find it difficult and undesirable to devote the amount of time required.  Bottom line is it may not be an easy regimen to stick with on a long-term basis.