The Ducan diet is one of the most popular weight loss methods. Understanding how 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 Dukan was in general practice when an obese patient came to see him in 1970. The man admitted that in order to lose weight, he was ready to give up all food except meat. The doctor developed a diet based on lean meat, non-starchy vegetables and a minimal amount of fruit. 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 must be abandoned now.
After 30 years of experimentation and observation, Pierre Ducan has released the book I Can't Lose Weight, which has become a bestseller in 32 countries. The new method promised the ability to lose 5 kg in one to two weeks, without being limited to 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 Ducan's design.
In 2012, the French Council of Physicians reported that the nutritionist had violated ethical principles by making the medical business commercial. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was removed from the register of doctors for advertising and promoting the method.
How the diet works
The Ducan diet involves a protein diet with minimal carbohydrates and fats. The program includes 100 products that can be consumed in any volume in the first weeks.
The method largely reflects the ketogenic diet and other low-carb meals, where the body is rebuilt to get energy from fat and protein. The high protein content of foods helps balance the production of insulin and reduces the production of ghrelin, the hunger hormone. We get full faster and 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 embarking on 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, structural features of the body. The calculator was developed by Pierre Dukan, so the result should be scientifically verified and you should consult your doctor.
The Ducan diet is divided into four phases:
- Attack.
- Switching.
- Anchorage.
- Stabilization.
Significant weight loss begins at the onset of the attack, which motivates you to continue eating according to the Ducan method. The reason for rapid weight loss is dehydration, as due to the 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 understand 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 weight loss and the last ones are aimed at consolidating the achievements. During the attack, only foods high in protein are allowed. Then add non-starchy vegetables, limited fats and extra carbs.
The duration of the attack, the rotation and the reinforcement depends on how many kilos you have to lose in order to achieve the "right" weight. The final step, which must be observed at all times, combines the fasting phase diet and the weekly protein days into one attack pattern.
1. Attack
The phase lasts from two to seven days. If you have to lose 20 pounds or more to achieve the "right" weight, the stage can take longer. The meal plan includes 68 protein foods and some extra:
- meat: beef, beef, meat, other meat, pork, lean and soy bacon, liver, kidney, tongue.
- poultry: chicken fillet and liver, turkey, mallard, quail, low-fat turkey and chicken sausages.
- fish and seafood: no restrictions, including canned tuna in water.
- Vegetarian proteins: seitan - vegetable protein, wheat gluten meat substitute, 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 dietary gelatin.
You should spend 20 minutes of physical activity every day.
2. Alternation
The period of gradual attainment of the right weight lasts from one month to one year. The diet from the previous phase is alternated every other day with a softer and more extensive menu - 32 types of vegetables are added:
- spinach, cabbage, lettuce and other green vegetables
- broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts.
- peppers;
- mushrooms?
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichokes?
- pumpkin;
- tomatoes;
- green beans;
- onion;
- pumpkin and pumpkin spaghetti;
- rape;
- cucumbers;
- carrot;
- beetroot.
A teaspoon of olive oil is allowed 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 set at a rate of ten days for each kilogram lost. The goal is to prevent a return to the original weight. You can mix any of the products from the first two stages, as well as add a limited amount of fats and carbohydrates:
- fruit: berries or melon chopped (100 g), a medium-sized apple, orange, pear, peach, nectarine or two kiwis, plums or apricots.
- two slices of wholemeal bread a day.
- cheese, 40 grams per day.
- starchy foods, 225 grams 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 (attack pattern). Bran - 2, 5 tablespoons, physical activity - 25 minutes.
4. Stabilization
The last step to maintaining the "right" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you should follow several principles:
- products from the fixing phase must be taken as a food base.
- Maintain one day of protein a week.
- walk at least 20-30 minutes a day.
- Drink 1. 5 liters of water and eat at least 30 grams of bran a day.
The last step involves monitoring your diet plan at all times with a list of 100 foods with small additions.
Menu for the initial stages
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 pan, shirataki noodles in broth, diet gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, diet gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Switching
- Breakfast: omelette from three eggs, tomato slices, coffee, water.
- Lunch: Fried chicken and salad with French dressing, Greek bran yogurt, iced tea.
- Dinner: roasted salmon fillet, broccoli and cauliflower steamed, diet gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Anchorage
- Breakfast: an omelette of three eggs with cheese (40 gr. ) And spinach, coffee, water.
- Lunch: a portion of turkey with two slices of wholemeal bread, 80 grams of cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, iced tea.
- Dinner: grilled pork and zucchini, a 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 a temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state and sometimes recover more intensely than before the change in diet. A safe and effective way to achieve the desired weight and maintain good health and fitness is with the help of experts to choose a proper lifestyle and diet that can be realistically observed on a regular basis.
. . .There are many scientific publications that focus on the effectiveness of a high protein and low carb diet. However, there are few specialized studies using the Ducan method.
In 2015, data were collected from 50 women aged 19-64 in Poland who followed the Ducan meal program and consumed about 1, 000 calories a day, including 100 g of protein. Study participants lost 15 pounds in 8-10 weeks.
In January, the US News & World Report, one of the top three US weekly magazines on economics, politics and health, published a nutrition ranking of 23 experts. The Ducan diet came last on the list, taking 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 indication that the lossweight according to the Ducan method can be long-term and safe, while the list of products is unreasonably limited and the diet rules are very complicated. One expert openly called the diet "stupid. "
The diet is effective in the first weeks. There is no scientific research to support continued weight loss and the long-term health effects of diet have not been studied.
The harm of the Ducan diet
The diet is probably suitable for healthy people over 18 years old. The method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, lactation.
The diet has all the negatives of a low carb diet, as well as some specific side effects, as many healthy foods are excluded from the meal plan.
Rapid weight loss
The main disadvantage of the Ducan diet, according to British nutritionists, 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.
- Consider the daily amount of water and the required portion of oat bran to ensure minimal fiber.
Risk of disease
Due to the lack of vitamins and beneficial trace elements, diet can cause:
- osteoporosis;
- problems with the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract.
- diseases of the heart and blood vessels.
- hormonal disorders.
- disorders of the nervous system.
"Ketogrip"
When changing the diet, a painful condition is possible, which is characteristic of the initial stage of a diet with a large amount of protein. The reason for malaise is a change in metabolism, as the body rebuilds itself to receive energy from fats and proteins. Fatigue, increased hunger and thirst, attention and sleep problems, mood swings, headaches, indigestion and tachycardia 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 get bored and feel uncomfortable sticking to a list of 100 foods and the rules for switching.
The Ducan 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.
Basic facts about the Ducan diet:
Per
- Ducan method helps in rapid weight loss.
- for the first two weeks, you can not count calories and eat permitted foods with almost no restrictions.
- A large amount of protein alleviates hunger and helps us eat less.
- 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 the protein days, there are no vegetables in the diet, in the later stages the amount of carbohydrates is limited.
- the fiber content 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
"The Ducan diet is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. And this diet was tried in 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 that to their original weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the other side of most diets that people resort to in order to lose weight. And the Ducan diet is no exception.
But this is not the most important argument for which 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. 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 micronutrients. Such conditions of deficiency lead to a decrease in immunity, deterioration of the function of all organs and systems of the body.
Dukan's diet increases the load on the excretory system, the liver, so it is categorically contraindicated for people with chronic kidney and liver failure, for pregnant and lactating women, for people with protein metabolism disorders, gout, urolithiasis and urolithiasis. And also in the outbreak of chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
The Ducan diet is a serious stress for the body, the potential harm from it far outweighs the benefit and the result is very unstable in the long run.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, have adequate physical activity and monitor your sleep and drink. The desired result will not be long in coming and your health will be in order ".