The Dukan Diet

Dukan Diet or Protal Diet

Founder, Dr Pierre Dukan, is a French nutritionist with over 30 years experience, and he is reported to have celebrities, such as Jennifer Lopez (J-Lo), model Gisele Bundchen and opera singer Katherine Jenkins, claiming to lose weight following his highly successful Dukan Diet, as well as 5 million French women.

The Dukan diet has been widely reported to have been the key to the Duchess of Cambridge's mother, Carole Middleton's, success in slimming down before the Royal Wedding.

This is a high protein plan with an initial no-carb, non-fat diet period, before gradually re-introducing other food groups back into the diet.

There is no calorie counting or food weighing involved.

The 4 stages in the Dukan diet plan

More info: www.thedukandiet.org

How does the Dukan Diet Work?

The initial kick-start stage, when you eat high protein foods, requires more energy from the body during digestion, and so burns off more calories. During the first 2 stages you lose weight, first rapidly then at a slower rate. The next two stages help you sustain your target weight, as you gradually reintroduce food groups back into your eating plan. By keeping one day a week to eating only high-protein foods (for the rest of your life) you are able to keep your weight under control.

What foods does the Dukan Diet suggest?

A day of eating on the initial Attack stage of the Dukan diet could look like this:

Example Dukan Breakfast

• A 0% fat yoghurt or fromage frais, and a boiled egg with 1 slice of turkey or lean ham or
• Scrambled egg with salmon with a cup of unsweetened tea or coffee

Example Dukan Lunch

• Oat bran pancake (1.5 tbsp daily oat bran is allowed) with salmon or fat-free cottage cheese or
• mixed seafood or tinned sardines(in brine)

Example Dukan Dinner

• Grilled fish or
• Chicken breast cooked with lemon juice and paprika

Pros of the Dukan diet

The four stages of the Dukan diet make it easy to follow and some users have reported significant weight loss in the two week induction phase, making it a good option if you need to lose weight fast. Up to 7 lb can be lost in the first 5 days.

The diet moves to a healthier, slower weight-loss stage in phase 2, which is more sustainable.

Treats are allowed, such as two celebration dinners per week during stage 3 ( Consolidation phase), which takes into account real life occasions - like birthdays, xmas, etc. Again this makes the diet more sustainable and more likely to succeed.

Cons of the Dukan diet

The 'protein only' day once a week, in the final Stabilisation stage, is recommended for life!

Rapid weight-loss (as in the initial 2 weeks) is generally not recommended by health experts - the optimum weight-loss is considered to be 2 lb a week.

The initial Attack stage is low in fibre, so there is a risk of constipation. Drinking plenty of water and eating the allowed oatbran can help.

Bad breath and headaches are often reported as a side effect of the diet restrictions. Chewing cardamom pods or parsley can help with the bad breath.

A protein diet high in meat and eggs, as in the initial 2 weeks, can raise your cholesterol. Dukan recommends salt-free and fat-free foods wherever possible to help restrict this side effect.

It is never a good idea to cut out a whole food group, so health-wise the best way to lose weight is to eat a balanced diet, but in lesser quantities.