Dukan Diet

The Dukan diet (sometimes called the princess diet), which is very popular in many countries nowadays, has come from France. It was invented by Pierre Dukan, a French nutritionist and medical doctor. It took him about thirty years to popularize his diet and it became widely known only after the publication of the book named “The Dukan Diet”.

How Does It Work?

The Dukan diet is based on Pierre Dukan’s belief that eating protein-rich products can help to lose weight. So his diet is a high protein one. The main enemies of the dieter, according to Dukan, are carbs¹ and fat.

The doctor gives the following reasons to consume more protein and to avoid carbs and fats:

• Proteins are processed longer in the stomach than carbohydrates or fats so they stay there longer thus helping us to feel full.
• Our body works much harder to digest proteins. It means that more calories are burned during this process.
• Carbs have to be limited as they foster fat’s storage.
• Fat should be avoided as it contains very many calories. It reduces appetite and can cause heart disease. In general, if you want to lose your fat you should stop eating it from any other sources.

The Dukan diet consists of four main stages: the attack (fast weight lost), the cruise (getting to the true weight), the consolidation (returning to a harmonious diet), and the definitive stabilization (lifelong maintenance).

What Are the Benefits?

The Dukan diet has many pros:

• It will enable you to lose much weight pretty quickly.
• You do not have to count calories or weigh your food.
• Its prescriptions are very precise and understandable.
• It heartens you to avoid alcohol, fat, salt, sugar, processed and refined foods.
• It is easy to plan your mealtimes, which is very convenient.

Mostly, the Dukan diet is so popular because it helps to lose weight without counting calories.

Are There Any Health Risks?

Of course, if you are ready to actually follow the Dukan diet, you will lose weight. But you will have to eliminate many foods and it can lead to undesirable side effects for lack of some nutrients. A human body needs not only proteins but also many other matters, including healthy fats.

What is more, when a person starts losing kilos rapidly, it puts him/her at risk for kidney problems and nutrient deficiency. Losing over two pounds per week sometimes promotes muscle loss and gallstones².

If you have constipation, dry mouth, bad breath or fatigue, you should skip out on the Dukan diet.

The diet has some other bad points: it is pretty expensive; you cannot follow it if you are a vegetarian; it is not flexible, etc.

What Foods Should Be Eaten?

There is the official list of foods that can be eaten as much as the Dukan dieter wants. You can find it on the website of Pierre Dukan. It includes different kinds of meat and offal, fish, poultry, seafood, dairy products, eggs, vegetable proteins, many vegetables, etc.

What Foods Should Be Avoided?

A Dukan dieter should avoid products containing much fat and carbohydrate. They are potatoes, beans, pasta, cereals, soft drinks, sweets, etc.

What Are Similar Diets?

If you got interested in the Dukan diet but for some reasons it does not suit you, take notice of the ketogenic diet or the Atkins diet. They are similar the Dukan diet.

Dukan Diet Plan

The Dukan diet’s plan consists of four main phases: the attack stage, the cruise stage, the consolidation phase, and the stabilization phase. The first one is the strongest, and the last one introduces your future healthy lifestyle. One should carry out all the stages in succession.

Here is the description of the Dukan diet’s plan:

The Attack Stage

This phase is very brief but it enables to lose from four to seven pounds in three – seven days by giving impetus to metabolism. During this stage dieters can eat all they want of seventy two food rich in protein (lean meat, poultry, soy, fish, eggs, etc). They also must get 1.5l water and 1.5tbsp oat bran daily.

The Cruise Stage

During the cruise phase diet will gradually move to their true weight. They continue eating protein-rich products and add twenty eight specific, recommended vegetables. They are expected to lose about one kilo per week though it depends on personal conditions.

The Consolidation Stage

This stage should help to prevent future weight gain. It prepares dieters for returning to their balanced diets. They can start eating bread, fruit, starchy foods, and cheese. Of course, they should not allow themselves more than several celebratory meals per week.

The Stabilization Stage

It is the maintenance phase of the Dukan diet. It seems to be very easy but it is also the most important because most people following a diet finally regain the lost weight. Now dieters can eat almost everything, but they have to follow these rules:

• Once a week they must make a protein day.
• Every day they must eat oat.
• Every day they must have a 20 min walk. 

According to Dr. Dukan, if they do it, they will never regain their kilos. 

Dukan Diet Success Stories

Jennifer D.

When doctors said Jennifer that she had hypothyroid, her weight was almost 240 lbs. She believed the disease was the reason of the overweight and began to take medication. Buy three months later, her weight increased up to more than 250 lbs. Several days later it was 255 lbs. The doctor said that she was one of those people that just could not lose weight, but Jennifer decided to prove that he was wrong.

First, she tried a fasting diet but it was too difficult for her to follow it. Jennifer went to another doctor and he said the same as the first one. Meanwhile, her weight went up to 274 lbs, then to 282 lbs.

One day Jennifer read about the Dukan diet in an article and decided to go on it. It took her seven months to lose 99 lbs. Now she advises everybody who wants to lose weight never to allow other people to derail his/her success. Jennifer has proved that the Dukan diet really works and she is not going to quit it. 

Kim C.

In 2008, Kim weighed 387 pounds. Of course, she felt helpless and hopeless. She tried to stint herself in eating and spent time in a gym, but she was not able to lose more than thirty pounds. In 2011, she came across an article about the Dukan diet. Kim took an interest in it but for some reasons she did not went on the diet then. Some months later she bought a book about the Dukan diet and decided to try it. 

The calculator of the true weight told her that her aim was 250 pounds. Kim started losing weight from the first days of being on the Dukan diet and reached her true weight in April, 2012. Now she is in the consolidation phase and is going to be on the Dukan diet for the rest of her life. 

Her piece of advice to the Dukan dieter is that losing weight is a lifelong trip and the Dukan diet should be the map in this journey. 

Matthew K.

When Matthew made a decision to go on the Dukan diet, his weight was over 350 pounds. If fact, he did not care much about how obese he was, but he wanted to support his friend Constance Dupont who hated being fat. 

Following the diet, Matthew has lost more than 115 pounds and he is still losing weight. What is more, he no longer has high cholesterol and feels much better. He attends a gym regularly and is fond of weight lifting. 

Matthew recommends all Dukan dieters to enjoy the foods that they can eat and assures them that it is possible to live a happy life being on the Dukan diet.

By the way, Constance Dupont’s progress is also very impressive. 

Stephanie S.

In 2011, Stephanie was 43 years old and her weight was almost 340 pounds. Her colleagues told Stephanie about their success with the Dukan diet and encouraged her to read the book about the diet. At first, she thought that she was not ready to follow a diet, but she agreed to read the book. 

In September, Stephanie went on the Dukan diet. Her weight started falling off almost immediately. Every day she attended a gym doing cardio exercises for half an hour. One year later, when Stephanie told her success story, she was down about 125 pounds and was still following her cruise stage. 

The Dukan diet made her life happy again and allowed her feeling and looking much better. Stephanie encourages all Dukan dieters to keep going because she knows that it works.

Sandi B.

In 2011, Sandi and her friend Lucy were in a bookshop in Abu Dhabi and Sandi wanted to find some book about an effective diet. Lucy advised her to purchase the Dukan diet book. Sandi bought it, put it in the luggage and forgot about it. Later she realized that she has to go on a diet and found the book. She read it during the flight to London and decided to follow the diet.

When Sandi went on the Dukan diet, she weighed over 250 pounds. According to the true weight calculator of Dr. Dukan, her true weight was 165 pounds. During several months she was able to lose over 90 pounds. After that, she bought thirteen books about the Dukan diet and presented them to her friends. 

Sandi insists that everyone who wants to go on the Dukan diet should read the book first and follow the instructions to the letter. She assures that if you do it you will succeed.

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1. Carbs are foods containing much carbohydrate. They are pasta, potatoes, bread, etc.
2. Gallstones are hard crystalline masses which are formed in the bile or gall bladder from cholesterol, calcium salts, and bile pigments. They can cause blockage of bile duct and severe pain.