Dukan's diet is one of the most popular weight loss methods. Understanding how the diet works, what the "correct" weight is and why eating according to Dukan can be dangerous.
Who is Pierre Ducan
The creator of the popular diet is not a nutritionist, but a therapist. Pierre Ducan was in general practice when an obese patient came to him in 1970. The man admitted that due to weight loss he was willing to give up any food other than meat. The doctor developed a diet based on lean meat, non-starchy vegetables and a minimal amount of fruit. The precondition was the rejection of sugar.
Ducan argued that such a diet was best for natural metabolism: primitive man ate meat, seasonal vegetables, and fruits. Sugar, in our understanding, was inaccessible to him, so he should be abandoned now.
After 30 years of experimentation and observation, Pierre Ducan published the book I Can’t Lose Weight, which became a bestseller in 32 countries. The new method promised the possibility of losing 5 kg in one to two weeks, without restrictions on the amount of food.
Celebrities who openly praised the new method added popularity to Ducan’s design. Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bündchen used a diet to lose weight after pregnancy and childbirth. Welsh singer Catherine Jenkins claims she is in shape feeding on Ducan’s plan.
In 2012, the French Council of Physicians found that a nutritionist had violated ethical principles by turning medicine into a trading company. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was kicked out of the doctor’s registry for advertising and promoting the method.
How the diet works
Dukan's diet means a protein diet with the least carbohydrates and fats. The scheme includes 100 products that can be eaten in any quantity in the first weeks.
This method largely reflects a ketogenic diet and other low-carb meals, where the body regenerates to get energy from fats and proteins. The high protein content in food helps to balance the production of insulin and reduces the production of ghrelin, the hormone of hunger. We get full faster and eat less. However, Dukan's diet limits not only carbohydrates but also fats. The safety and benefits of this approach have not been substantiated by research.
Before you move on to Ducan’s meal plan, you need to calculate your "correct" weight. This can be done using a special calculator. The calculation is based on data on height, maximum and minimum weight, age, body building characteristics. The calculator was developed by Pierre Dukan, so the result should be scientifically checked and consulted with your doctor.
Ducan's diet is divided into four phases:
- Attack.
- Alternation.
- Anchoring.
- Stabilization.
Noticeable weight loss begins as early as the attack phase, which motivates you to continue eating according to the Ducan method. The reason for rapid weight loss is dehydration, because due to lack of carbohydrates the body loses fluid. However, experts do not confirm the long-term effectiveness of the method and the health benefits of diet. Let's understand how the diet works and why it has many contraindications.
Stages of Dukan's diet
The diet consists of four parts, the duration of which depends on the calculated "correct" weight. The first two phases aim to lose weight, and the last ones are aimed at consolidating achievement. Only protein-rich foods are allowed during the attack. Then add starch-free vegetables, a limited amount of fat and extra carbs.
The duration of the attack, modification and reinforcement depends on how many pounds you have to lose to achieve the "correct" weight. The last phase, which must be constantly adhered to, combines the diet in the fixation phase and the weekly protein days in the attack pattern.
1. Attack
The phase lasts from two to seven days. If you need to lose 20 kg or more to achieve the "correct" weight, the phase can take longer. The meal plan includes 68 protein foods and several additional ones:
- meat: beef, veal, game and other game, pork, lean and soy bacon, liver, kidneys, tongue;
- poultry: chicken fillet and liver, turkey, wild duck, quail, lean turkey and chicken sausages;
- fish and seafood: no restrictions, including canned tuna in water;
- vegetarian proteins: seitan - vegetable protein, substitute for wheat gluten meat, vegetarian burgers and soy products, tofu and tempeh;
- eggs: chicken, quail, duck;
- low-fat dairy products: milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta - no more than 1 kg per day.
The daily diet must include 1, 5 tablespoons of oat bran and at least 1, 5 liters of water. You can also add a tablespoon of goji berries, sweeteners, shirataki noodles and an unlimited amount of gelatin.
You need to dedicate 20 minutes of physical activity each day.
2. Alternation
The period of gradually reaching the appropriate weight lasts from one month to one year. The diet from the previous phase is changed every other day with a gentler and extended menu - 32 types of vegetables are added:
- spinach, kale, lettuce and other green vegetables
- Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts;
- peppers;
- mushrooms;
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichokes;
- zucchini;
- tomatoes;
- green beans;
- onion;
- pumpkin and pumpkin spaghetti;
- turnip;
- cucumbers;
- carrots;
- turnip.
Allowed a teaspoon of olive oil for salad dressing or cooking in a pan and two tablespoons of bran. The period of physical activity is 30 minutes.
3. Anchoring
The duration of the phase is determined by ten days for each kilogram lost. The goal is to prevent a return to starting weight. You can mix any of the products from the first two stages, as well as add a limited amount of fats and carbohydrates:
- fruits: berries or chopped melon (100 g), medium-sized apple, orange, pear, peach, nectarine or two kiwis, plums or apricots;
- two slices of whole grain bread a day;
- cheese, 40 g per day;
- starchy foods, 225 g per day: pasta, corn, beans, beans, rice or potatoes
- meat: roast beef, pork or ham once or twice a week.
Twice a week you can have a festive meal: an appetizer, a main course, a glass of wine and dessert. One day a week should be protein (attack pattern). Bran - 2, 5 tbsp, physical activity - 25 minutes.
4. Stabilization
The last step that will help maintain the "correct" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you must follow a few principles:
- products from the solidification phase should be taken as the basis of the diet;
- keep one protein day a week;
- walk at least 20-30 minutes a day;
- drink 1. 5 liters of water and eat at least 30 g of bran a day.
The last step involves constantly monitoring your meal with a list of 100 foods with small additives.
Start-up menu
Attack
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, coffee or tea, water. Skimmed milk and sweeteners can be added to tea and coffee at any meal.
- Lunch: chicken breast in a pan, shirataki noodles in soup, diet gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, diet gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Alternation
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs with three eggs, slices of tomato, coffee, water.
- Lunch: Fried chicken and salad with French topping, Greek yogurt from bran, iced tea.
- Dinner: roasted salmon fillet, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, diet gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Anchoring
- Breakfast: omelette of three eggs with cheese (40 g) and spinach, coffee, water.
- Lunch: a portion of turkey with two slices of wholemeal bread, 80 g of cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, iced tea.
- Dinner: pork in a pan and grilled zucchini, small apple, decaffeinated coffee, water.
The effectiveness of Dukan's diet
No diet alone gives a long-lasting weight loss effect, and eating can be unhealthy. After temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state and sometimes recover more strongly than before a change in diet. A safe and effective way to achieve the desired weight and maintain health and good physical shape is with the help of experts to choose the right lifestyle and diet that can realistically be observed regularly
. . .There are many scientific publications that focus on the effectiveness of a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates. However, there are several qualified studies according to the Ducan method.
In 2015, data were collected in Poland on 50 women aged 19 to 64 who followed the Ducan meal plan and consumed about 1, 000 calories per day, including 100 g of protein. Study participants lost 15 kg in 8-10 weeks.
In January, SADNews & World Report, one of the top three U. S. weeklies on economics, politics, and health, published a ranking with 23 experts. Ducan's diet was last on the list, gaining 1. 9 points out of 5. Experts rated the diet's effectiveness at 2. 5, and health benefits at 2. According to doctors, there is no evidence that weight loss according to the Ducan method can be long-term and safe, whilethe list of products is unreasonably limited, and the rules of the diet too complex. One expert openly called the diet "idiotic. "
The diet is effective in the first few weeks. There is no scientific research to support sustainable weight loss, and the long-term health effects of diet have not been studied.
Too bad Dukan's child
The diet is probably suitable for healthy people older than 18 years. The method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, breastfeeding.
The diet has all the disadvantages of a low-carb diet, as well as several specific side effects, as many healthy foods are excluded from the meal plan.
Fast weight loss
The main disadvantage of Dukan's diet, according to British nutritionists, is that it can be harmful to health:
- Initial weight loss results from dehydration;
- The diet is not balanced, so you need to take extra vitamins;
- Keep in mind the daily amount of water and the required portion of oat bran to ensure a minimum of fiber.
Risk of disease
Due to the lack of vitamins and useful trace elements, the diet can cause:
- osteoporosis;
- problems with the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract;
- cardiovascular disease;
- hormonal disorders;
- nervous system disorders.
"Ketogripp"
When changing the diet, a painful condition is possible, characteristic of the initial phase of a diet with a large amount of protein. The reason for feeling bad is a change in metabolism, because the body regenerates itself to get energy from fats and proteins. Fatigue, increased hunger and thirst, problems with attention and sleep, mood swings, headaches, indigestion and tachycardia attacks can be felt for several days.
Scientists speculate that avoiding this diet could lead to future health problems. And because the diet is limited, most people eventually stop eating according to plan - they are bored and embarrassed to stick to a list of 100 foods and the rules of their rotation.
Dukan's diet is probably suitable for most healthy people, but it has serious contraindications. Such a diet can cause diseases of the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems, as well as hormonal disorders.
Key facts about Dukan's diet:
Per
- Ducan's method helps to lose weight fast;
- in the first two weeks you cannot count calories and eat permitted foods almost without restriction;
- a large amount of protein suppresses hunger and helps to eat less;
- the diet provides for mandatory physical activity.
Against
- rapid weight loss occurs due to dehydration of the body;
- the list of foods is limited, so the body does not receive the necessary nutrients. During protein days there are no vegetables in the diet, in the following stages the amount of carbohydrates is limited;
- the content of dietary fiber is below the daily norm - 5 g instead of the recommended 25–38 g;
- there is no scientific evidence that such a diet leads to sustainable weight loss;
- there are no data on the long-term health effects of diet.
Doctor's comment
"Dukan's diet is one of the most famous ways to lose weight. This diet was also tried by most patients who come to me for consultations.
A reasonable question arises: then why do they need the professional help of a nutritionist? The answer is simple: most of those who have lost weight have returned to their previous eating habits, which means their original weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the other side of most diets that people resort to in search of slimness. And Dukan's diet is no exception.
But this is not the most important argument why I would not recommend resorting to this diet.
The main disadvantage of this type of diet is the lack of essential macro and micronutrients for a long time. Lack of vitamins and minerals can be compensated by special biologically active complexes, but this does not replace the natural intake of natural macro and microelements. Such deficiencies lead to a decrease in immunity, deterioration of the work of all organs and systems in the body.
Dukan's diet increases the load on the excretory system, liver, so it is categorically contraindicated for people with chronic renal and hepatic insufficiency, for pregnant and lactating women, for those with impaired protein metabolism, gout, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis. And during the exacerbation of chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
Dukan's diet is a serious stress for the body, the potential harm from it far outweighs the benefits, and the result is very unstable in the long run.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, have proper physical activity and follow your sleep and drinking regimen. The desired result will not wait long, and your health will be fine. "