The Ducan diet is one of the most widely advertised weight loss methods. Understanding how the diet works, how much weight is "right", and why eating according to Dukan can be harmful.
Who is Pierre Ducan
The creators of the popular diet are not nutritionists, but therapists. Pierre Dukan 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 food except meat. Doctors create a diet based on lean meats, non-starchy vegetables, and a minimum amount of fruit. The prerequisite is the rejection of sugar.
Ducan argues that such a diet is best for natural metabolism: primitive humans ate meat, seasonal vegetables and fruits. Sugar in our understanding is inaccessible to it and therefore it must 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 promises the ability to lose 5 kg in one to two weeks, without limiting the amount of food.
Celebrities who openly praised the new method added to the popularity of the Ducan design. Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bündchen use diets to lose weight after pregnancy and childbirth. Welsh singer Catherine Jenkins admitted to being fit by consuming the Ducan show.
In 2012, the French Medical Council pointed out that the nutritionist violated ethical principles by making medicine a commercial company. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was removed from the doctor’s register for advertising and promoting the method.
How diet works
The Ducan diet refers to a protein diet with a minimum of carbohydrates and fats. The scheme covers 100 edible products in large quantities in the first weeks.
This method largely reflects ketogenic diets and other low -carbohydrate diet plans, in which the body rebuilds itself to get energy from fats and proteins. The high protein content in food helps balance insulin production 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 moving on to the Ducan meal plan, you need to calculate your "correct" weight. This can be done using a special calculator. Calculations are made based on data on height, maximum and minimum weight, age, structural features of the body. The calculator was developed by Pierre Dukan, so the results should be scientifically verified and consult with your doctor.
The Ducan diet is divided into four phases:
- Attack.
- Replacement.
- Markers.
- Stabilization.
Significant weight loss begins in the attack phase, which prompts you to continue eating according to the Ducan method. The reason for rapid weight loss is dehydration, 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 think about how diet works and why it has so many contraindications.
Ducan diet stage
The diet consists of four parts, the duration of which depends on the "correct" weight calculated. The first two stages are aimed at weight loss, and the last is aimed at consolidating achievement. During an attack, only high -protein foods are allowed. Then include non-starchy vegetables, restricted fats, and extra carbohydrates.
The duration of attack, replacement and reinforcement depends on how many kilos you need to drop to achieve the "correct" weight. The last stage, which must be adhered to on an ongoing basis, combines a fixation phase diet 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 level may be longer. The meal plan includes 68 protein foods and some supplements:
- meat: beef, beef, venison and other game, pork, lean meat and soy, liver, kidney, tongue;
- poultry: chicken and liver, turkey, wild duck, quail, low -fat turkey and chicken sausage;
- fish and seafood: no restrictions, including canned tuna in water;
- vegetarian protein: seitan - vegetable protein, meat substitutes 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 contain 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 gelatin to the unlimited diet.
Every day you need to devote 20 minutes of physical activity.
2. Replacement
The period of gradual weight gain takes from a month to a year. The diet of the previous phase alternates daily with a softer and extended menu - 32 types of vegetables added:
- spinach, kale, lettuce, and other green vegetables
- broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts;
- chili belanga;
- mushrooms;
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichoke;
- zucchini;
- tomato;
- green bean;
- garlic;
- pumpkin and pumpkin spaghetti;
- radish;
- cucumber;
- carrot;
- bit.
Leave one teaspoon of olive oil for salad dressing or cooking in a pan and two tablespoons of bran. The duration of physical activity is 30 minutes.
3. Anchors
The duration of the level is determined at the rate of ten days for each kilogram lost. The goal is to prevent early weight gain. You can mix one of the products from the first two stages, as well as add a limited amount of fat and carbohydrates:
- fruits: chopped berries or melons (100 g), medium-sized apples, oranges, pears, peaches, nectar, or two kiwi, plums or apricots;
- two slices of whole wheat bread a day;
- cheese, 40 g per day;
- starchy foods, 225 g per day: pasta, corn, beans, peas, rice, or potatoes
- meat: roast meat, pork, or ham once or twice a week.
Twice a week you can enjoy festive meals: appetizers, main courses, a glass of wine and desserts. One day a week is necessarily protein (attack pattern). Bran - 2. 5 tbsp, physical activity - 25 minutes.
4. Stabilization
The last step to help maintain the "right" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you need to follow a few principles:
- products from the fixation phase should be taken as the basis of nutrition;
- save one protein a day for 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 a little extra.
Menu for early 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 meal times.
- Lunch: chicken breast in a pan, shirataki noodles in broth, diet gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, diet gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Replacement
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs from three eggs, tomato slices, coffee, water.
- Lunch: Fried chicken and salad with French gravy, Greek bran yogurt, iced tea.
- Dinner: grilled salmon fillets, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, diet gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Markers
- Breakfast: three -egg omelet with cheese (40 g) and spinach, coffee, water.
- Lunch: turkey dish with two slices of whole wheat bread, 80 g of cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, iced tea.
- Dinner: pork in a pan and roasted zucchini, small apples, decaffeinated coffee, water.
The effectiveness of the Ducan diet
There is no diet alone that has long -term weight loss effects, and diet can be unhealthy. After temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state, and sometimes they recover stronger than before the dietary change. A safe and effective way to achieve the desired weight and maintain good health and physical shape is with the help of experts to choose an appropriate 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, low -carbohydrate diet. However, there are few qualified studies according to the Ducan method.
In 2015, data from 50 women aged 19-64 were collected in Poland who followed the Ducan meal plan and consumed about 1, 000 calories a day, including 100 g of protein. Study participants lost 15 kg in 8-10 weeks.
In January U. S. News & World Report, one of the U. S. ’s three -week weekly on economics, politics and health, published a dietary ranking of 23 experts. The Ducan diet entered the last list, getting 1. 9 points out of 5. Experts rated the effectiveness of the diet at 2. 5 and health benefits at 2. According to doctors, there is no evidence that losing weight according to the Ducan method can be long -term and safe, while the listunlimited products, and dietary rules are too complicated. One expert openly called the diet "stupid. "
The diet is effective in the first few weeks. There are no scientific studies to support sustained weight loss, and the long -term health effects of diet have not been studied.
The disadvantages of the Ducan diet
This diet may be suitable for healthy people over 18 years of age. This method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, lactation.
This diet has all the shortcomings of a low -carbohydrate diet, as well as some specific side effects, as many healthy foods are not included in 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:
- Early weight loss occurs through dehydration;
- The diet is unbalanced, so you need to take vitamin supplements;
- Keep in mind the daily amount of water and servings of oat bran needed to keep fiber to a minimum.
Risk of disease
Due to the lack of beneficial vitamins and trace elements, diet can provoke:
- osteoporosis;
- problems with the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract;
- heart and blood vessel disease;
- hormonal disorders;
- nervous system disorders.
"Ketogripp"
When changing diets, painful conditions are possible, which are characteristic of the early stages of a diet with large amounts of protein. The reason for feeling unwell is a change in metabolism, as the body rebuilds itself 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 speculate that avoiding this diet could cause health problems in the future. And because his diet was limited, most people eventually stopped eating according to plan - they felt bored and uncomfortable following his list of 100 foods and rotation rules.
The Ducan diet may be 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’t count calories and eat allowed foods without restrictions;
- large amounts of protein suppress hunger and help eat less;
- diet provides mandatory physical activity.
Against
- rapid weight loss occurs due to dehydration of the body;
- the food list is limited, so the body does not get the nutrients it needs. During protein days, there are no vegetables in the diet, at a later stage the amount of carbohydrates is limited;
- dietary fiber content below the daily norm - 5 g instead of the recommended 25-38 g;
- there is no scientific evidence that such a diet leads to sustained weight loss;
- there are no data on the effects of diet on long -term health.
Doctor's comment
"The Ducan diet is one of the most well -known ways to lose weight. And this diet was tried in time by most of the patients who came to me for consultation.
A reasonable question arises: why, why do they need the professional help of a nutritionist? The answer is simple: the majority of those who lose weight return to their previous eating habits, which means, regain weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of most diets that people use to gain weight loss. And the Ducan diet is no exception.
But this is not the most important argument because I do not recommend choosing this diet.
The main disadvantage of this type of diet is the lack of important macro and micro nutrients in the long run. Lack of vitamins and minerals can be compensated by biologically active complexes, but this does not replace the natural intake of natural micro and micro elements. Such deficient conditions cause decreased immunity, deterioration of the work of all organs and systems of the body.
Dukan diet increases the burden on the excretory system, liver, therefore categorized as contraindicated for people with chronic renal and hepatic insufficiency, for pregnant and lactating women, for those with disorders of protein metabolism, gout, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis. And also during the exacerbation of chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
The Ducan diet is a serious stressor for the body, the possible dangers from it outweigh the benefits, and the results are very unstable in the long run.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, do adequate physical activity, and watch how you sleep and drink. The desired results will not be long in coming, and your health will be in order. "