Dukan Diet – Does It Work Or Is It A Scam?
At a time when the once popular high-protein diet trends appear to have died down in favor of whole grains and balanced meals, the Dukan Diet is gaining steam. Essentially, the French form of the Atkins Diet with modifications, the Dukan Diet is a reportedly what princess-to-be Kate Middleton is pursuing before her wedding.
The French are at it again with a book called The Dukan Diet, telling the rest of the world how to be as thin as they are. The book has sold 10 million copies worldwide, but didn’t really make an impression on North America until Carole Middleton — whose daughter Kate is set to wed Prince William on April 29 — told a British news reporter in October that she was using it to trim weight.
Kate Middleton, Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bündchen
mentioned details of the diet, driving interest in The Dukan Diet book, with the subtitle The Real Reason the French Remain Thin. The royal wedding is single two weeks away and Middleton is reportedly pursuing the high-protein, low-fat Dukan Diet to remain in shape.
Dukan is gratified
by the attention his diet has been getting in the media as a result of its association to the royal family. His diet is based on the assumption that big eaters can’t ration their food, and people who want to lose weight need a fast-acting diet that brings instantaneous results that are fast enough to support them maintain motivation.
It’s efficient, it’s simple, there’s no hunger, it’s a low-frustration diet, says Dukan. His diet is much like the Atkins diet in a myriad of ways, except Dukan dieters don’t have to calculate carbohydrates.
For the first 10 days, depending on how much weight they want to lose, Dukan dieters can eat as much lean protein as they want, but nothing else. Dukan calls this the Attack Stage. Atkins allows fat during the first stage of dieting. Dukan dieters can single eat lean protein that is cooked, grilled preferably excluding butter or oil.
They must as well drink 1.5 litres of water, assimilate 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran and walk 20 minutes each day. This is followed by what Dukan calls the Cruise Phase, which adds non-starchy vegetables to the blend every second day. Potatoes, corn, peas, beans, lentils, avocados and grains stay forbidden. Once dieters arrive at what Dukan calls their True Weight, which is based on factors including age, height and heredity, the Consolidation Phase starts.
One serving of fruit per day is added to the blend, and two slices of whole grain bread, one serving of cheese a day and two servings of starchy foods, such as pasta. Dieters have got to sustain to eat single lean protein one day a week. In the Permanent Stabilization Phase, dieters can eat what they want for six days out of seven, but Thursday is a day of lean proteins single — for life. Dukan said he arbitrarily chose Thursday because unless a defined day is chosen, people tend to forget to do it.
To maintain the weight loss, dieters have got to as well assimilate three tablespoons of oat bran a day and swear off elevators and escalators.
Dukan dismisses his recent critics
All diets are off-balance, he points out. That’s how you drop weight. Any nutrient deficiencies caused by the diet would be temporary, he says. Health Canada has no defined position on the Dukan diet, but it recommends contacting a health care experienced or a dietitian before starting any special diet. Denis Collier, a registered dietitian with a practice in Toronto, says eating a balanced diet from all the main food groups and getting a lot of train are the keys to losing weight. “It’s recycled stuff,” he says of Dukan’s recipe for weight loss, pointing out that Atkins made a similar splash with a similar emphasis on proteins.
People contemplating a diet constantly want to know how much weight they will drop and how long it will take, says Dr. Arya Sharma, obesity chair at the University of Alberta and director of the Canadian Obesity Network. The question to ask is What are the chances of me keeping the weight off if I enter your program, he says.
Diets single address symptoms, says Sharma. The real issue could be emotionally eating, or simply time management. A working mom may not have time to buy fresh produce and spend 40 minutes each night cooking. Other people can’t afford to buy fresh foods and rely on fast food because it is inexpensive.
A diet that for the most part bans fruit and supports large quantities of meat, it seems to work but is it healthy, we’re not sure. What’s your take on the Dukan diet? We’d like to know.
FYI, the diet did not perform as advertised in the “attack” phase. I strictly adhered to the diet and dropped 2 lbs in the first 7 days (beginning weight 239.4). 2 lbs in 7 days is, of course, not bad but nothing like promised. Its more likely that this loss is attributable to the total decrease in calories consumed (one can only eat so much protein). More specifically not drinking any beer. 2 lbs simply does not justify the lack of energy the diet results in. As with everything in life, if it seems to good to believe, it probably is.