The Ducan Diet is one of the most advertised weight loss methods. Understand how your diet works, what "proper" weight loss is, and why eating can be dangerous, according to Dukan.
Who is Pierre Ducan
The creator of the popular diet is not a nutritionist, but a therapist. Pierre Dukan was in general practice in 1970 when an obese patient came to see him. The man admitted that he was ready to give up any food except meat in order to lose weight. The doctor developed a diet based on lean meat, starch-free vegetables and a minimum amount of fruit. One condition was to give up sugar.
Ducan argued that such a diet was best for natural metabolism: primitive man ate meat, seasonal vegetables, and fruits. The sugar we understood was inaccessible to him and therefore should be abandoned now.
After 30 years of experience and observations, Pierre Ducan has published his best-selling book, I Can't Lose Weight, in 32 countries. The new method promises the ability to lose 5 kg in a week or two without limiting the amount of food.
Celebrities who openly praised the new method added popularity to Duca's designs. Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bündchen used a diet to lose weight during pregnancy and childbirth. Welsh singer Catherine Jenkins claims to be in shape, fed by Duca's plan.
In 2012, the French Council of Physicians found that the dietitian violated ethical principles by turning the drug into a commercial enterprise. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was removed from the list of doctors for advertising and promoting this method.
How the diet works
The Ducan diet involves a protein diet that contains a minimum of carbohydrates and fat. The scheme includes 100 products that can be eaten in any amount in the first weeks.
The method reflects a ketogenic diet and other low-carbohydrate meal plans that the body has rebuilt to get energy from fats and proteins. The high protein content of food helps to balance insulin production and reduces the production of ghrelin, a hunger hormone. We eat faster and eat less. However, the Ducan diet limits not only carbohydrates but also fats. The safety and benefits of this approach are not supported by research.
You need to calculate your "correct" weight before moving on to a Ducan meal plan. This can be done using a special calculator. The calculation is based on information about 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 consult your doctor.
Duja's diet is divided into four stages:
- Attack.
- Alternativeness.
- Anchor.
- Stabilization.
Significant weight loss begins during the attack phase, which encourages you to continue eating according to the Ducan method. The cause of rapid weight loss is thirst, because the body loses fluid due to lack of carbohydrates. 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 so many contraindications.
Stages of the Ducan diet
The duration of the diet consists of four parts, which depend on the calculated "correct" weight. The first two stages are aimed at losing weight, and the last stages are aimed at consolidating the achievements. Only high-protein foods are allowed during the attack. Then add non-starchy vegetables, limited fats and extra carbohydrates.
The duration of the attack, change and strengthening depends on how many pounds you lose to achieve the "right" weight. The final step, which must be followed continuously, combines the detection phase diet and the weekly protein days in an attack pattern.
1. Attack
The stage lasts from two to seven days. If you need to lose 20 kg or more to reach the "right" weight, the stage can take longer. The meal plan includes 68 protein foods and several supplements:
- meat: beef, veal, venison and other game, pork, lean and soy bacon, liver, kidneys, tongue;
- poultry: chicken fillets and liver, turkey, wild duck, quail, low-fat turkey and chicken sausages;
- fish and seafood: there are no restrictions, including canned tuna in water;
- vegetarian proteins: seitan - a vegetable protein, a meat substitute 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 - not 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 diet gelatin.
You need 20 minutes of physical activity every day.
2. Alternativeness
The time to gradually achieve the right weight is from one month to one year. The diet of the previous stage changes every day with a softer and expanded menu - 32 types of vegetables are added:
- spinach, cabbage, lettuce and other green vegetables
- broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts;
- bell pepper;
- mushrooms;
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichoke;
- pumpkin;
- tomato;
- green beans;
- onion;
- pumpkin and pumpkin spaghetti;
- turnip;
- cucumber;
- carrots;
- is a beet
One tablespoon of olive oil is allowed to dress the salad dressing or pan and cook two tablespoons of bran. The duration of physical activity is 30 minutes.
3. Connection
The duration of the phase is calculated as ten days for each kilogram lost. The goal is to prevent a return to starting weight. You can mix any product from the first two stages, but you can also add a limited amount of fat and carbohydrates:
- fruits: berries or chopped melon (100 g), medium-sized apples, oranges, pears, peaches, nectarines or two kiwis, plums or apricots;
- two slices of whole grain bread a day;
- cheese, 40 g per day;
- starchy foods, 225 g per day: pasta, corn, beans, beans, rice or potatoes
- meat: fried pork, pork or ham once or twice a week.
Twice a week you can eat a holiday meal: appetizing, main course, a glass of wine and dessert. There should be protein one day a week (attack pattern). Dandruff - 2, 5 tablespoons, physical activity - 25 minutes.
4. Stabilization
The last step to help maintain a "proper" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you should follow a few principles:
- products in the fixation stage should be taken as a basis for nutrition;
- keep one protein day 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 is to always follow your meal plan with a list of 100 foods with a small amount of supplements.
Menu for the initial stages
Attack
- Breakfast: bran and cinnamon, coffee or tea, low-fat cottage cheese mixed with water. Skim milk and sweeteners can be added to tea and coffee in any meal.
- Dinner: chicken breast in a pan, shirataki noodles in broth, diet gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, diet gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Alternativeness
- Breakfast: three boiled eggs, tomato slices, coffee, water.
- Lunch: fried chicken and salad with French sauce, Greek wholemeal yogurt, iced tea.
- Dinner: baked salmon fillets, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, diet gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Anchor
- Breakfast: an omelet with cheese (40 g) and three eggs with spinach, coffee, water.
- Lunch: two slices of wholemeal bread, 80 grams of bran and turkey mixed with cinnamon, iced tea.
- Dinner: pork and roasted pumpkin in a pan, a small apple, decaffeinated coffee, water.
The effectiveness of the Ducan diet
Just about any diet does not have a long-term weight loss effect, and the diet can not be healthy. After a temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state and sometimes recover more strongly from a change in diet. A reliable and effective way to achieve the desired weight, maintain your health and good physical shape is to choose a suitable lifestyle and diet that can be observed regularly and realistically.
. . .There are many scientific publications that focus on the effectiveness of high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. However, there is a small number of specialized studies according to the Ducan method.
In 2015, data were collected from 50 women aged 19-64 who followed the Ducan meal plan in Poland and consumed about 1, 000 calories per day, including 100 g of protein. The participants lost 15 kg in 8-10 weeks.
In January, News & World Report, one of the first three weeks of the US economy, politics and health, published a diet ranking of 23 professionals. Ducan's diet took the last place in the list, taking 1, 9 points out of 5 points. Experts rated the effectiveness of the diet as 2, 5, and the health benefits as 2. According to doctors, there is no evidence that weight loss according to the Ducan method can be long-term and safe, although the list of products is unreasonably limited, and dietary rules are very complicated. One expert openly called the diet "stupid. "
The diet is effective in the first weeks. There is no scientific research supporting sustained weight loss, and the long-term health effects of diet have not been studied.
Disadvantages of the Ducan diet
The diet is probably suitable for healthy people over 18 years of age. The method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic diseases, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, breastfeeding.
The diet, in addition to all the disadvantages of low-carbohydrate diets, has a number of specific side effects, as many healthy foods are excluded from the meal plan.
Rapid weight loss
According to British nutritionists, the main disadvantage of the Ducan diet is that it can be harmful to health:
- Initial weight loss occurs as a result of dehydration;
- The diet is not balanced, so you need to take extra vitamins;
- Remember the daily amount of water and the amount of oat bran needed to ensure minimum fiber.
Disease risk
Due to the lack of vitamins and beneficial trace elements in the diet can be caused by:
- osteoporosis;
- problems of the digestive system and gastrointestinal tract;
- cardiovascular diseases;
- hormonal disorders;
- disorders of the nervous system.
"Ketogripp"
When changing your diet, a painful situation is possible, which is characteristic of the initial phase of diets high in protein. The reason you feel bad is a change in metabolism, because the body rebuilds itself to get energy from fats and proteins. Fatigue, increased hunger and thirst, attention and sleep problems, mood swings, headaches, indigestion and tachycardia attacks can be felt within a few days.
Scientists believe that staying away from this diet can lead to health problems in the future. Because the diet is limited, most people eventually stop eating according to plan - they get tired and anxious about following the 100 food list and their rotation rules.
The Ducan diet is probably suitable for most healthy people, but it has serious contraindications. Such a diet can lead to diseases of the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems, as well as hormonal disorders.
Basic information about Ducan diet:
Per
- Ducan method helps to lose weight quickly;
- you cannot count calories in the first two weeks and can eat allowed foods with almost no restrictions;
- large amounts of protein reduce hunger and help you eat less;
- The diet provides mandatory physical activity.
Against
- rapid weight loss due to dehydration;
- The list of foods is limited, so the body does not receive the necessary nutrients. There are no vegetables in the diet on protein days, and the amount of carbohydrates in the later stages is limited;
- dietary fiber is below the daily norm - 5 g instead of the recommended 25-38 g;
- there is no scientific evidence that such a diet causes persistent weight loss;
- There is no information on the health effects of long-term diet.
Doctor's opinion
"The Ducan Diet is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. And this diet has been tried in time by many of the patients who come to me for consultation.
A reasonable question arises: then why do they need the professional help of a nutritionist? The answer is simple: most people who lose weight return to their previous eating habits, that is, return to their original weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of the diets that people follow for delicacy. And the Ducan diet is no exception.
However, this is not the most important argument, so I do not recommend resorting to this diet.
The main disadvantage of this type of nutrition is the lack of essential macro and micronutrients for a long time. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be compensated by specific biologically active complexes, but this does not replace the natural intake of natural macro and micronutrients. Such deficiencies lead to a decrease in immunity and deterioration of all organs and systems of the body.
Dukan diet increases the load on the excretory system, liver, so it is strictly contraindicated for people with chronic renal and hepatic insufficiency, pregnant and lactating women, those with protein metabolism, gout, urolithiasis and cholelithiasis. Also in the exacerbation of chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
The Ducan diet is a serious stress for the body, the potential harm far outweighs the benefits, and the result is very unstable in the long run.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, get enough physical activity, follow your sleep and drinking regimen. The result you want will not be long and your health will improve. "