The Dukan diet is one of the most advertised methods for weight loss. Understanding how the diet works, what the "right" 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 a general practitioner when an obese patient came to him in 1970. The man admitted that in order to lose weight, he is ready to give up any food except meat. The doctor developed a diet based on lean meat, starchy vegetables and a minimal amount of fruit. A prerequisite is the rejection of sugar.
Ducan argues that such a diet is best for natural metabolism: primitive man ate meat, seasonal vegetables and fruits. Sugar, in our understanding, was inaccessible to him, and must therefore be abandoned now.
After 30 years of experimentation and observation, Pierre Ducan released the book "I Can't Lose Weight", which became a bestseller in 32 countries. The new method promised the opportunity to lose 5 kg in one to two weeks, without limiting the amount of food.
Celebrities who openly praised the new method added popularity to Ducan's design. Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bündchen used the diet to lose weight after pregnancy and childbirth. Welsh singer Catherine Jenkins claims to be in shape, fueled by Ducan's plan.
In 2012, the French Council of Physicians pointed out that the nutritionist had violated ethical principles by turning medicine into a commercial enterprise. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was excluded from the register of doctors for advertising and promoting the method.
How the diet works
Dukan's diet involves a protein diet with a minimum of carbohydrates and fats. The scheme includes 100 products that can be consumed in any volume in the first weeks.
The method largely reflects the ketogenic diet and other low-carbohydrate eating plans, where the body recovers to get energy from fats and proteins. The high protein content of 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, Ducan's diet limits not only carbohydrates but also fats. The safety and benefits of this approach are not supported by research.
Before switching to a Ducan diet 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, structural features of the body. The calculatorwas developed by Pierre Dukan, so the result should be scientifically verified and consult your doctor.
Ducan's diet is divided into four phases:
- Attack.
- Alternation.
- Fastening.
- Stabilization.
Noticeable weight loss begins in the attack phase, which motivates you to continue eating the Ducan method. The reason for rapid weight loss is dehydration, because due to lack of carbohydrates the body loses fluids. However, experts do not confirm the long-term effectiveness of the method and the health benefits of the diet. Let's find out how the diet works and why there are many contraindications.
Stages of the Ducan diet
The diet consists of four parts, the duration of which depends on the calculated "correct" weight. The first two stages are aimed at losing weight, and the last - at consolidating the achievements. Only foods high in protein are allowed during the attack. Then add starchy vegetables, limited fats and extra carbs.
The duration of the attack, the alternation and the reinforcement depends on how many kilograms you have to lose in order to achieve the "right" weight. The last stage, which must be observed constantly, combines the diet of the fixing phase and the weekly protein days in a pattern of attack.
1. Attack
The phase lasts from two to seven days. If you need to lose 20 kg or more to achieve the "right" weight, the stage may take longer. The diet plan includes 68 protein foods and several additional ones:
- meat: beef, veal, venison and other game, pork, lean and soy bacon, liver, kidneys, tongue;
- poultry: chicken fillet and liver, turkey, wild duck, quail, low-fat turkey and chicken sausages;
- fish and seafood: without restrictions, including canned tuna in water;
- vegetarian proteins: seitan - vegetable protein, meat substitute for wheat gluten, 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 should 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 unlimited edible gelatin.
You should spend 20 minutes of physical activity every day.
2. Alternation
The period of gradually achieving the correct weight takes from a month to a year. The diet from the previous phase alternates every other day with a more gentle and extended menu - 32 types of vegetables are added:
- spinach, cabbage, lettuce and other green vegetables
- broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts;
- cambi;
- mushrooms;
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichoke;
- zucchini;
- tomatoes;
- green beans;
- onions;
- pumpkins and pumpkin spaghetti;
- turnips;
- cucumbers;
- carrots;
- beets.
Allowed a teaspoon of olive oil for dressing for salad or cooking in a pan and two tablespoons of bran. The period of physical activity is 30 minutes.
3. Fastening
The duration of the stage is set at ten days for each kilogram lost. The aim is to prevent a return to the initial 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: fruit or chopped melon (100 g), medium-sized apple, orange, pear, peach, nectarine or two kiwis, plum or apricot;
- two slices of wholemeal 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 eat festively: appetizer, main course, glass of wine and dessert. One day a week should be protein (model of attack). Bran - 2, 5 tbsp, physical activity - 25 minutes.
4. Stabilization
The last step in helping maintain the "right" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you should follow a few principles:
- the products of the fixation phase must be taken as the basis of nutrition;
- maintain 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 following your meal plan at all times with a list of 100 foods with small supplements.
Menu for the initial stages
Attack
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, coffee or tea, water. Skim milk and sweeteners can be added to tea and coffee at every meal.
- Lunch: chicken breast in a pan, shirataki noodles in broth, dietary gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, dietary gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Alternation
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs of three eggs, tomato slices, coffee, water.
- Lunch: Fried chicken and salad with French dressing, Greek bran yogurt, iced tea.
- Dinner: roasted salmon fillet, stewed broccoli and cauliflower, dietary gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Fastening
- 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: grilled pork and zucchini, small apple, decaffeinated coffee, water.
Effectiveness of the Ducan diet
No diet alone provides a long-term weight loss effect and the diet can be unhealthy. After temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state and sometimes recover more strongly than before the 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 specialists to choose an appropriate lifestyle and diet that can actually be followed regularly.
. . .There are many scientific publications that focus on the effectiveness of high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. However, there are few qualified studies using the Ducan method.
In 2015, data were collected in Poland from 50 women aged 19-64 who follow Dukan's diet plan and consume about 1, 000 calories a day, including 100 g of protein. The participants in the study lost 15 kg in 8-10 weeks.
In January, USANews & World Report, one of the top three US weekly magazines in economics, politics and healthcare, published a diet ranking of 23 experts. Ducan's diet was last on the list, receiving 1. 9 points out of 5. Experts rated the effectiveness of the diet at 2. 5, and the health benefits at 2. According to doctors, there is no evidence that weight loss by the Ducan method can belong-term and safe, while the list of products is unreasonably limited and the dietary rules are too complicated. One expert openly called the diet "idiotic. "
The diet is effective in the first few weeks. There is no research to support lasting weight loss, and the long-term health effects of diet have not been studied.
The harm of Ducan's diet
It is assumed that the diet is suitable for healthy people over 18 years. The method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, lactation.
The diet has all the disadvantages of low-carb diets, as well as several specific side effects, as many healthy foods are excluded from the diet plan.
Rapid weight loss
The main disadvantage of the Ducan diet, according to British nutrition experts, is that it can be harmful to health:
- Initial weight loss occurs through 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 microelements, the diet can provoke:
- osteoporosis;
- problems with the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract;
- heart and blood vessel diseases;
- hormonal disorders;
- nervous system disorders.
Ketogrip
When changing the diet, a painful condition is possible, which is typical for the initial stage of diets with a large amount of protein. The cause of malaise is a change in metabolism as the body recovers to receive 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 suggest 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 get bored and feel uncomfortable sticking to a list of 100 foods and the rules for their rotation.
Ducan's diet is thought to be suitable for most healthy people, but there are serious contraindications. Such a diet can provoke diseases of the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems, as well as hormonal disorders.
Basic facts about Dukan's diet:
Per
- Ducan's method helps to lose weight fast;
- during the first two weeks you can not count calories and eat permitted foods almost without restrictions;
- a large amount of protein dulls hunger and helps to eat less;
- the diet provides mandatory physical activity.
Against
- rapid weight loss due to dehydration of the body;
- the list of foods is limited so that the body does not get the necessary nutrients. During the protein days there are no vegetables in the diet, in the next 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
"Ducan's diet is one of the most famous ways to lose weight. And this diet was tested in a timely manner by most patients who come to me for a consultation.
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 return to their previous eating habits, which means to their initial weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of most diets that people resort to in search of slimness. And Ducan's diet is no exception.
But this is not the most important argument, which is why I would not recommend resorting to this diet.
The main disadvantage of this type of diet is the lack of basic macro-and micronutrients for a long time. The 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 deficient conditions lead to a decrease in immunity, deterioration of all organs and systems of the body.
Ducan's diet increases the load on the urinary system, liver, which is why it is strongly contraindicated for people with chronic kidney and liver failure, for pregnant and lactating women, for those with impaired protein metabolism, gout, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis. And also in exacerbation of chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcer, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
Ducan's diet is a serious stress for the body, the potential harm far outweighs the benefits, and the result is very unstable in the long run.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, have adequate physical activity and monitor sleep and drinking. The desired result will not be late and your health will be fine. "