The Dukan Diet claims to be the perfect diet for people who want to lose weight quickly without the hassle of calorie counting, weighing food, and determining exact serving portions. The diet promises to keep weight off for good.
Diet Summary
This is a high protein, low calorie diet created by a French doctor, Dr. Pierre Dukan. He believes that when starting a diet, quick results are the key to fueling weight loss motivation. The diet is divided into four phases.
The Attack Phase: The goal of this is dramatic weight loss, to the tune of 4 -10 pounds in seven days or less. This is an extreme low carb phase in which dieters eat an unlimited number of lean protein supplemented by 1 ½ tablespoons of oat bran. Some of the lean proteins allowed during this phase are fish, shellfish, eggs, tofu, skinless poultry, seitan, and nonfat dairy.
The Cruise Phase: During this phase, dieters alternate protein only days with days of protein and non-starchy vegetables until they reach their “goal” weight. During this phase weight loss is bit slower. Dieters can expect to lose between around two pounds per week.
The Consolidation Phase: After the goal weight is reached, dieters enter the maintenance phase. The first goal of this phase is prevent rebound weight gain. The duration of this phase is five days for every pound lost. So if you lost 20 pounds in the previous phase, your consolidation phase will last for 100 days. During this phase unlimited amounts of protein and non-starchy vegetables are permitted. You can also add fresh fruit, whole-wheat, and cheese into your diet. Also two weekly servings of a starch such as pasta, beans, and potatoes are permitted. Finally in this phase, one day per week dieters are to revert to the eating regimen of the Attack phase.
The Permanent Stabilization Phase: The goal of the final phase of the diet is to facilitate lifelong weight maintenance. Once dieters have reached this point, they can follow any eating regimen they desire as long as they follow these three rules:
• Eat a pure protein only diet at least one day per week
• Always take the stairs instead of escalators or elevators
• Eat a tablespoon of oat bran daily
Libifit has rated this diet based on convenience, fullness, variety, nutrient value, cost.
Convenience: The Dukan Diet is very convenient. It does not require any specialized shakes or supplements. Nor does it require any special organic foods or grass feed proteins. You can go to any local grocery store and pick up the required food.
Fullness: The Dukan Diet allows for unlimited amounts of lean protein. Protein is very filling and without any caloric or quantity restrictions on protein, you shouldn’t feel much hunger on this diet.
Variety: Because of the emphasis on animal protein, this diet does not offer a good deal of variety. It would not be suitable for those following a vegan or vegetarian diet. Also, because the first phase is very restrictive and only allows for lean proteins, and the second phase only allows for lean proteins and non-starchy vegetables, the dieter is left with a small variety of foods to select from. This in some cases can be demotivating.
Nutrient Value: The Dukan Diet bans entire food groups within certain phases of the diet without any supplementation, namely grains and fruits. This could cause nutritional deficiencies.
Cost: This diet is not very costly. The first seven days of eating only lean protein could be potentially be costly; however, the diet does allow for fish and this requirement could be met with cans of tuna or sardines. This doesn’t sound very appealing; however, if you want extreme weight loss, you have to pay an extreme price. That price is not always money!
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If you are interested in learning more about the Dukan Diet, purchase Dr. Dukan’s book here
Till next time…
Melinda