Losing weight by controlling flavor variety

A major cause of overeating is eating too many flavors all at once, triggering the hypothalamus in the brain to ask for more food, according to David Katz, MD, of the Prevention Research Center and the Rudd Food Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University.

This is the premise of his new book, "The Flavor Point Diet" (Rodale Press), based on a phenomenon he said is well studied, but is well known only to appetite researchers--sensory specific satiety.

"We stay hungry longer the more diverse the flavors in a meal or snack," said Katz, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale School of Medicine. "If flavors are thoughtfully distributed, we fill up on fewer calories. This explains why, for instance, people can eat a holiday meal to the point of feeling unpleasantly full, yet still have room for dessert. No, that's not because you have a 'hollow leg!' It's because of sensory specific satiety; the hypothalamus is hard-wired to respond to flavors."

Another problem, Katz said, is that the food industry appears to spike processed food with superfluous flavors such as sugar in salty food and salt in sweet food. Often, the consumer cannot even detect these additions because they are accustomed to eating processed foods, and one flavor masks another. For instance, some breakfast cereals have nearly as much salt as potato chips and many types of crackers, sauces, salad dressings and other foods are loaded with sugar. This may not register on your tongue, but it does influence the hypothalamus, where the result is more appetite.

Losing weight by controlling flavor variety