Catching up with dr. katz: America's favorite nutrition expert, David Katz, MD, shares some inspiration and healthy tips.(FAVORITE THINGS)(Interview)

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If you've recently picked up a newspaper or magazine, chances are good you've read something by David Katz, MD. This nationally renowned authority on nutrition and weight control contributes a monthly column to O, The Oprah Magazine, a weekly health column to The New York Times syndicate, a daily blog to Prevention magazine; and is a medical consultant for ABC News. He also finds time to serve as professor of public health at Yale, and as director of the Yale Griffin Prevention Research Center. To date, he has authored more than 100 scientific articles and 11 books, including the popular The Flavor Point Diet. If you're tired of counting calories, this diet just might be for you.

Can you provide a brief description of the Flavor Point concept?

It works by limiting an excess variety of flavors at any one time. Everyone knows that at the end of a big holiday meal, when we're too full to eat another bite, we still have room for dessert. This has to do with how the appetite center in our brain is hardwired. Simply put, the more flavor variety there is in a meal or snack (e.g., sweet, salty, savory, etc.), the more calories it takes to feel full. If you simplify meals and snacks so there are fewer flavors mixed in at one time, the fewer calories it takes to feel full. If you can feel full on fewer calories, you can lose weight and control your weight without being hungry. And since the meal plan is designed for optimal nutrition and to be delicious, it's ideal for families.

Why is exercise an integral part of weight management?

Exercise is crucial to weight maintenance because the more muscular and fit your body, the more calories it burns each day at rest. Exercise, in other words, raises basal metabolic rate. And exercise is simply essential for overall health and vitality.

Describe your ABC for Fitness program.