The Dukan diet has been getting a lot of press lately with A-list stars such as Jennifer Lopez, Giselle Bundchen and most recently Victoria Beckham reportedly following it to lose their post pregnancy pounds. But what is it? How does it work and is it safe?
French doctor Pierre Dukan is responsible for creating the diet over 10 years ago as a treatment protocol for his obese patients.
It is essentially a four-phase, high protein, high fibre, low calorie diet and has certain similarities to the Atkins diet in its extreme nature and in the results patients expect to see. Apparently dieters can lose as much as 1-2 pounds per day during the initial “Attack” phase.
How does it work?
Phase 1, the "Attack" phase, is quite simple: Eat all you want of lean protein, along with 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran and 1.5 litres of water daily. That’s it. Dieters can choose from 72 lean or low-fat meats (excluding pork and lamb), fish, poultry, eggs, soya and non-fat dairy.
This is followed by the "Cruise" phase, which allows unlimited amounts of 28 non-starchy vegetables every other day along with a core diet of unlimited lean/low-fat protein and two tablespoons of oat bran.
Carrots, peas, sweetcorn and potatoes are not on this list of vegetables but appear in the next phase.
Phase 3, "Consolidation," allows unlimited protein (including pork and lamb) and vegetables every day, along with one piece of low-sugar fruit, two slices of granary bread, and one portion of hard cheese. Dieters can also have 1-2 servings of starchy foods and 1-2 "celebration" meals
Phase 4, "Stabilisation," is the maintenance portion of the plan. Which includes rules such as one day a week, follow an all-protein diet as in Phase 1, eat three tablespoons of oat bran a day and walk for 20 minutes daily and never take elevators or escalators.
So is this the answer and should we all just follow this to achieve great results?
Well, in short, NO!
Any diet that encourages the body to deplete its glycogen stores will have a negative affect on the body; the book warns dieters they may suffer from bad breath, constipation, dry mouth and fatigue, all indications of ketosis which is a dangerous and potentially life-threatening state that stresses the liver.
As a health and fitness professional I feel it is my responsibility to bring about lasting change, to look at creating optimal health through safe and effective exercise and nutrition.
All the evidence out there points to the fact that diets simply don’t work. Anything that is so restrictive in its nature to cause such drastic weight loss can not be good for your body.
My first issue is the difference between weight loss and fat loss. You can head to the toilet and lose a few pounds of “weight”; you can reduce your water intake for a day or two and have the same effect. The truth is you need a long term healthy approach to diet and an effective exercise programme to bring about lasting change to your body composition and fat levels.
Burning 3,500 calories will result in a 1 pound of fat weight loss. Now that is going to be a seriously tough training session for a pretty small amount of progression. That’s why any fat loss based exercise programme MUST contain a supervised nutritional element.
You can’t out-train a bad diet!
Unfortunately for us Health and Fitness Professional the glossy magazines out there absolutely love to report on the eating and exercise habits of “celebrities”. If Posh Spice is doing it then it must be amazing!
Why are women so obsessed with what she does?!
The simple fact is that she has been in good shape her whole life. It’s up for debate as to whether she has been healthy for that time!
All of the women you see in magazines have never been seriously out of shape. 90% of the photo’s you see of them have been air brushed and most of them have probably had an eating disorder or two over the years and yet we still aspire to be like them?!!
The simple truth is the quick fix approach will produce quick fix results that produce rapid “weight” loss but rarely result in long-term success as the restrictive nature is extremely difficult for dieters to adhere to.
Our advice is to work with a professional who can not only provide exact exercise and nutritional advice tailored to your individual needs but also provide the accountability to enable you to stick to this programme.
For information on our training and nutritional programmes contact us at the studio: david@aayou.co.uk
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