The Ducan diet is one of the most advertised weight loss methods. Understanding how the diet works, what the "correct" 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 a general practitioner 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 minimal fruit. A prerequisite was the refusal of sugar.
Ducan argued that such a diet is best for the natural metabolism: primitive man ate seasonal meat, vegetables and fruits. The sugar in our understanding was inaccessible to him and therefore he should be given up 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 promised the possibility of losing 5 kg in one to two weeks, without limiting itself 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 off Ducan's plan.
In 2012, the French Council of Physicians reported that the nutritionist had violated ethical principles by turning medicine into a commercial enterprise. In 2014, Pierre Ducan was struck off the register of physicians 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 during the first few weeks.
The method largely mirrors the ketogenic diet and other low-carb meal plans, where the body rebuilds itself for energy from fat and protein. The high protein content of foods helps balance insulin production and reduces production of the hunger hormone ghrelin. We get fuller quickly 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 switching to 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 characteristics of the body. The calculator was developed by Pierre Dukan, so the result should be scientifically verified and consult your doctor.
Ducan's diet is divided into four phases:
- Attack.
- Alternation.
- Anchoring.
- Stabilization.
Noticeable weight loss begins already in the attack phase, which motivates you to continue eating according to the Ducan method. The reason for rapid weight loss is dehydration because due to lack of carbohydrates the body loses fluid. However, experts do not confirm the long-term effectiveness of the method and the health benefits of the diet. Let's see how the diet works and why it has many contraindications.
The 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 aim to lose weight and the last to consolidate the gains. During the attack, only foods rich in protein are allowed. Then add non-starchy vegetables, limited fat, and extra carbohydrates.
The duration of the attack, the alternation and the reinforcement depends on the number of kilograms that it is necessary to lose to reach the "correct" weight. The last step, which must be observed at all times, combines the diet of the fixation phase and the weekly protein days in an attack regimen.
1. Attack
The phase lasts from two to seven days. If you need to lose 20 kg or more to reach the "correct" weight, the step may take longer. The meal plan includes 68 protein foods and a few more:
- meats: beef, veal, venison and other game, pork, lean and soy bacon, liver, kidneys, tongue;
- poultry: chicken fillet and liver, turkey, wild duck, quail, lean turkey and chicken sausages;
- fish and seafood: no restrictions, including canned tuna in water;
- vegetarian proteins: seitan - vegetable protein, meat substitute made from wheat gluten, vegetarian burgers and products made from soybeans, tofu and tempeh;
- eggs: chicken, quail, duck;
- low-fat dairy products: milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta - no more than 1 kg per day.
Daily diet should include 1. 5 tablespoon of oat bran and at least 1. 5 liters of water. You can also add a tablespoon of goji berries, sweeteners, shirataki noodles and edible gelatin at will.
Every day, you need to devote 20 minutes to physical activity.
2. Alternation
The period of gradual attainment of the correct weight takes from a month to a year. The diet of the previous phase alternates every other day with a sweeter and more extensive menu - 32 types of vegetables are added:
- spinach, kale, lettuce and other green vegetables
- broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts;
- peppers;
- mushrooms;
- celery;
- asparagus;
- artichokes;
- zucchini;
- tomatoes;
- green beans;
- onion;
- pumpkin and pumpkin spaghetti;
- turnip;
- cucumbers;
- carrot;
- beet.
Allowed one teaspoon of olive oil for 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 determined at the rate of ten days for each kilogram lost. The goal is to avoid a return to the starting weight. You can mix any of the products from the first two steps, as well as add a limited amount of fat and carbohydrates:
- fruits: berries or chopped melon (100 g), one medium-sized apple, orange, pear, peach, nectarine, or two kiwi, plum or apricot;
- 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: roast beef, pork or ham once or twice a week.
Twice a week you can have a festive meal: starter, 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 in helping to maintain the "correct" weight. There are no strict dietary restrictions, but you should follow several principles:
- the products of the fixing phase should be taken as a basis of nutrition;
- keep one protein day per week;
- walk at least 20-30 minutes a day;
- drink 1. 5 liters of water and eat at least 30 g of bran per day.
The last step is to follow your meal plan at all times with a list of 100 foods with small additions.
Menu for initial steps
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 any meal.
- Lunch: pan-fried chicken breast, broth shirataki noodles, diet gelatin, iced tea.
- Dinner: steak and shrimp, diet gelatin, coffee or tea, water.
Alternation
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs from three eggs, sliced tomatoes, coffee, water.
- Lunch: Fried chicken and salad with French dressing, Greek bran yogurt, iced tea.
- Dinner: baked salmon fillet, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, diet gelatin, decaffeinated coffee or tea, water.
Anchoring
- Breakfast: a three-egg omelet with cheese (40 g) and spinach, coffee, water.
- Lunch: a serving of turkey with two slices of whole grain bread, 80 g of cottage cheese mixed with bran and cinnamon, iced tea.
- Dinner: pan-fried pork and grilled 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 temporary weight loss, people return to their previous state, and sometimes they recover more strongly than before the diet change. A safe and effective way to achieve the desired weight and maintain health and fitness is, with the help of specialists, to choose a suitable lifestyle and diet that can realistically be observed on a daily basis. regular basis.
. . .There are many scientific publications that focus on the effectiveness of high protein and low carbohydrate diets. However, there are few studies qualified according to the Ducan method.
In 2015, data from 50 women aged 19-64 was compiled in Poland who were following the Ducan meal plan and consuming around 1000 calories per day, including 100g of protein. Study participants lost 15 kg in 8 to 10 weeks.
In January, the U. S. News & World Report, one of the top three U. S. weeklies on economics, politics, and health, released a diet ranking of 23 experts. Ducan's diet came last on the list, receiving 1. 9 out of 5 points. Experts rated the diet's effectiveness at 2. 5 and the health benefits at 2. Doctors say there is no evidence thatlosing weight according to the Ducan method can be long term and safe, when the list of products is unreasonably limited and the dietary rules are too complex. One expert openly called the regime a "dumb".
The diet is effective in the first few weeks. There is no scientific research to support sustained weight loss, and the long term health effects of diet have not been studied.
The misdeeds of the Ducan regime
The diet is likely to be suitable for healthy people over 18 years of age. The method is not recommended for chronic gastrointestinal diseases, metabolic disorders, hormonal disorders, pregnancy, lactation.
The diet has all of the downsides of low-carb diets, as well as a few 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:
- The initial weight loss occurs through dehydration;
- The diet is not balanced, so you need to take additional vitamins;
- Keep in mind the daily amount of water and the required serving of oat bran to ensure minimum fiber.
Risk of illness
Due to the lack of beneficial vitamins and trace elements, the diet can cause:
- osteoporosis;
- problems with the digestive system and the gastrointestinal tract;
- diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
- hormonal disorders;
- nervous system disorders.
"Ketogripp"
When changing the diet, a painful condition is possible, characteristic of the initial stage of high-protein diets. The reason for the discomfort is a change in metabolism as the body rebuilds itself to receive energy from fat and protein. Fatigue, increased hunger and thirst, disturbances in attention and sleep, mood swings, headaches, indigestion and tachycardia can be felt for several days.
Scientists believe avoiding this diet could lead to future health problems. And because the diet is limited, most people end up stopping eating according to the plan - they get bored and feel uncomfortable sticking to a 100 food list and the rules of their rotation. .
The Ducan diet is probably 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 figures of the Ducan diet:
By
- the Ducan method helps to lose weight quickly;
- in the first two weeks you cannot count calories and eat permitted foods with almost no restrictions;
- a high amount of protein reduces hunger and helps to eat less;
- the plan provides for compulsory physical activity.
Vs
- 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 following stages the amount of carbohydrates is limited;
- the content of dietary fiber is below the daily norm - 5 g instead of the recommended 25-38 g;
- there is no scientific evidence that such nutrition leads to lasting 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 best-known ways to lose weight. And this diet has been tried on time by most of the patients who come to see me.
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, that is, to their original weight within a few years. Unfortunately, this is the flip side of most diets that people use to lose weight. And the Ducan diet is no exception.
But this is not the most important argument because of which I would 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. The lack of vitamins and minerals can be compensated by special biologically active complexes, but this does not replace the natural supply of natural macro- and microelements. Such deficiency conditions lead to a decrease in immunity, a deterioration in the work of all organs and systems of the body.
Dukan's diet increases the load on the excretory system, the liver, therefore it is categorically contraindicated for people with chronic kidney and liver failure, for pregnant and lactating women, for those with impaired protein metabolism, gout, urolithiasis and gallstones. And also when exacerbating chronic diseases - gastritis, ulcers, pancreatitis, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis.
The Ducan diet is a great stressor on the body, the potential damage far outweighs the benefits, and the result is very unstable in the long run.
Follow the principles of optimal nutrition, get adequate physical activity, and watch your sleep and diet. The desired result will not be long in coming and your health will be there. "