The Ducan Diet is one of the most advertised weight loss methods. Understanding how the diet works, what is the "correct" weight 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 Dukan was in general practice when an obese patient came to see him in 1970. The man admitted that for the sake of losing weight, he is ready to give up any food except meat. The doctor developed a diet based on lean meat, non-starchy vegetables, and a minimum amount of fruit. A prerequisite was the refusal of sugar.
Ducan argued 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 therefore it should 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 ability to lose 5 kg in one to two weeks, without limiting yourself in the amount of food.
Celebrities who openly praised the new method added popularity to Ducan's designs. Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bündchen used the diet to lose weight after pregnancy and childbirth. Welsh singer Catherine Jenkins claims to be in shape by feeding on Ducan's plan.
In 2012, the French Council of Physicians indicated that the nutritionist violated ethical principles by making medicine a commercial enterprise. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was expelled from the register of doctors for advertising and promoting the method.
How the diet works
The Ducan diet implies a protein diet with a minimum of carbohydrates and fats. The scheme includes 100 products that can be eaten in any volume in the first weeks.
The method largely mirrors the ketogenic diet and other low-carb meal plans, where the body is rebuilding itself to get energy from fat and protein. The high protein content of food helps balance the production of insulin and reduces the production of ghrelin, the hormone of hunger. We are satiated more quickly and we eat less. However, the Ducan diet restricts not only carbohydrates but also fats. The safety and benefits of this approach are not supported by research.
Before you switch to a Ducan 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, and structural features of the body. The calculator was 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.
- Anchoring.
- Stabilization.
Noticeable weight loss begins already in the attack phase, which motivates you to continue eating according to the Ducan method. The reason for the rapid weight loss is dehydration, as due to the lack of carbohydrates, the body loses fluid. However, experts do not confirm the long-term effectiveness of the method and the health benefits of the diet. Let's figure out how the diet works and why it has 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 final ones are aimed at consolidating the achievements. During the attack, only high protein foods are allowed. Then add non-starchy vegetables, limited fat, and extra carbohydrates.
The duration of the attack, alternation and reinforcement depends on how many kilos you need to lose in order to achieve the "correct" weight. The final stage, which must be adhered to constantly, combines the diet of the fixing phase and weekly protein days in an 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 stage may take longer. The meal plan includes 68 protein foods and a few 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: no restrictions, including canned tuna in water;
- vegetarian proteins: seitan - vegetable protein, meat substitute made from 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 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 unlimited dietary gelatin.
Every day you need to devote 20 minutes of physical activity.
2. Alternation
The period of gradual achievement of 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, kale, lettuce, and other green vegetables
- broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts;
- bell peppers;
- mushrooms;
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichokes;
- zucchini;
- tomatoes;
- green beans;
- onion;
- pumpkin and pumpkin spaghetti;
- turnip;
- cucumbers;
- carrot;
- beet.
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 stage is determined at the rate of ten days for each lost kilogram. The goal is to prevent a return to the 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 kiwi, plum or apricot;
- 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: appetizer, main course, glass of wine and dessert. One day a week should be protein (food according to the attack pattern). Bran - 2. 5 tablespoons, physical activity - 25 minutes.
4. Stabilization
The final step to help maintain the "correct" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you need to follow several principles:
- products from the fixing phase should be taken as the basis of nutrition;
- 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 following your meal plan on a 100-food list with little extras.
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 any meal.
- Lunch: chicken breast in a pan, shirataki noodles in broth, diet gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, diet gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Alternation
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs from three eggs, tomato slices, coffee, water.
- Lunch: Fried chicken and salad with French dressing, Greek bran yogurt, iced tea.
- Dinner: baked salmon fillet, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, diet gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Anchoring
- Breakfast: an omelet of three eggs with cheese (40 g) and spinach, coffee, water.
- Lunch: a serving of turkey with two slices of whole grain bread, 80 g of cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, iced tea.
- Dinner: pork in a pan and grilled zucchini, a small apple, decaffeinated coffee, water.
Effectiveness of the Ducan diet
No diet alone provides a long-term weight loss effect, and diet can be unhealthy. After a temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state, and sometimes they 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 a suitable lifestyle and diet that can be realistically observed on a regular basis
. . .There are many scientific publications that focus on the efficacy of high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. However, there are few qualified studies according to the Ducan method.
In 2015, Poland summarized data from 50 women aged 19-64 who followed the Ducan meal plan and consumed about 1, 000 calories per day, including 100 g of protein. The study participants lost 15 kg in 8-10 weeks.
In January the U. S. News & World Report, one of the top three US weeklies on economics, politics and health, has published a diet ranking of 23 experts. Ducan's diet came in last on the list, receiving 1. 9 points out of 5. Experts rated the diet's effectiveness at 2. 5 points and the health benefits at 2 points. According to doctors, there is no evidence that losing weight according to the Ducan method can be long-term and safe, while the list of products is unreasonably limited, and dietary rules are 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 sustained weight loss, and the long-term health effects of diet have not been studied.
The harm of the Ducan diet
The diet is presumably suitable for healthy people over 18 years of age. The method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, breastfeeding.
The diet has all the downsides of low-carb diets, as well as a few specific side effects, since many healthy foods are excluded from the meal plan.
Rapid weight loss
The main disadvantage of the Ducan diet, according to British nutritional 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 additional vitamins;
- Keep in mind the daily amount of water and the required serving of oat bran to ensure a minimum of fiber.
Disease risk
Due to the lack of vitamins and beneficial trace elements, the diet can provoke:
- osteoporosis;
- problems with the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract;
- diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
- hormonal disorders;
- disorders of the nervous system.
"Ketogripp"
When changing the diet, a painful condition is possible, which is characteristic of the initial stage of diets with a large amount of protein. The reason for feeling unwell is a change in metabolism, as the body is rebuilding itself to receive energy from fats and protein. Fatigue, increased hunger and thirst, problems with attention and sleep, mood swings, headaches, indigestion and tachycardia may be felt for several days.
Scientists speculate that avoiding this diet could lead to future health problems. And since the diet is limited, most people eventually stop eating according to the plan - they get bored and uncomfortable sticking to a list of 100 foods and the rules for their rotation.
The Ducan diet is supposedly suitable for most healthy people, but has serious contraindications. Such a diet can provoke diseases of the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems, as well as hormonal disorders.
Key facts about the Ducan diet:
Per
- the Ducan method helps to lose weight quickly;
- in the first two weeks, you can not count calories and eat permitted foods with almost no restrictions;
- a large amount of protein dulls hunger and helps to eat less;
- the diet provides for compulsory 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, at the next stages the amount of carbohydrates is limited;
- the dietary fiber content is below the daily norm - 5 g instead of the recommended 25–38 g;
- there is no scientific evidence that such nutrition leads to sustainable weight loss;
- there is no data on the effects of diet on health in the long term.
Doctor's comment
"The Ducan Diet is one of the most famous ways to lose weight. And this diet was tried in due time by most of the patients who come to me for consultation.
A reasonable question arises: why, then, do they need the professional help of a nutritionist-nutritionist? The answer is simple: the majority of those who lost weight returned to their previous eating habits, which means, to their original weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the flip side of most diets that people resort to in pursuit of slimness. And the Ducan diet is no exception.
But this is not the most important argument because of which I would not recommend resorting to this diet.
The main harm of this type of nutrition is the lack of essential macro- and micronutrients for a long time. The lack of vitamins and minerals can be compensated for by special biologically active complexes, but this does not replace the natural intake of natural macro- and microelements. Such deficiency conditions lead to a decrease in immunity, a deterioration in the work of all organs and systems of the body.
Dukan's diet increases the load on the excretory system, the liver, therefore it is categorically contraindicated for people with chronic renal and hepatic insufficiency, for pregnant and lactating women, for those who have impaired protein metabolism, gout, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis. And also during exacerbation of chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
Dukan's diet is a serious stress for the body, the potential harm from it greatly outweighs the benefits, and the result is very unstable in the long term.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, have adequate physical activity, and monitor your sleep and drinking regime. The desired result will not be long in coming, and your health will be in order. "