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The low-carbohydrate diet of Pierre Dukan is a good opportunity not only to lose weight, but also to maintain it in the future within the normal range. The system does not impose restrictions on the amount of food eaten during the day, so the feeling of hunger or guilt for every extra piece will not haunt a person using the Dukan diet for weight loss. However, your daily diet will have to be revised, focusing on protein products.
In addition to the 100 types of products allowed for consumption, oat bran must also be included in the menu during and after the diet. They fully replace one meal, providing a feeling of satiety, help lower blood cholesterol levels and relieve constipation. From bran, you can cook porridge, bake bread, breed them in fat-free kefir.
The Dukan diet involves the complete exclusion from the diet of any fat, oil and mayonnaise. All products are best boiled, baked in the oven, cooked on a grill or a pan with a non-stick coating. Lemon juice is used instead of vegetable oil or mayonnaise for salads.
The Dukan Diet is one of the most popular weight loss methods in the world. It was developed by Dr. Pierre Dukan, a well-known nutritionist from France. A parallel can be drawn between the Dukan diet and the Kremlin diet, since both of them are based on a low consumption of carbohydrate foods. The Dukan diet is a whole nutrition system that is designed for a fairly long period of time.
The weight loss program is divided into 4 stages. Each of them involves compliance with certain requirements and recommendations.
However, there are general rules that must be followed, no matter what stage a person is at:
Water. At least 2 liters of water should enter the body per day.
Walks. Every day you need to spend time outdoors. The walk should last at least a quarter of an hour.
Oat bran. This product should be present on the table daily.
Charger. Physical exercise in the morning is a prerequisite for losing weight.
Benefits of the Pierre Dukan Diet
The main advantage of the Dukan diet is its high efficiency.
However, these are not all the benefits of a weight loss program from a French nutritionist, among them the following factors can also be distinguished:
The menu is dominated by products containing protein. It is necessary for the body to build and strengthen muscles.
The diet does not drive a person into a rigid framework. It is convenient to practice it for working people who do not have the opportunity to eat on a schedule.
The diet does not require a scrupulous calculation of kilocalories.
The menu is quite varied. Every day you can eat delicious dishes and discover new culinary masterpieces. Moreover, it is not at all difficult to cook them, which allows you to apply diet recipes in everyday life.
The diet cannot be called “hungry”. It prohibits the consumption of certain foods, but those that are allowed can be eaten in unlimited quantities.
The diet is relatively safe for human health, so you can stick to it for a long time.
Compliance with the rules of the Dukan diet will allow not only to lose weight, but also to get rid of cellulite, as well as tighten the skin, increase muscle tone.
Cons of the Pierre Dukan Diet
The Pierre Dukan diet has some disadvantages:
The food system cannot be called balanced. Therefore, adherents of the diet are likely to develop a deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals.
Against the background of a lack of nutrients, malfunctions of the digestive and nervous systems are possible.
At the initial stage of losing weight, the state of health may worsen, which will manifest itself in increased fatigue and frequent dizziness.
Lack of fat can cause hormonal imbalance.
The emphasis in the diet is on foods rich in protein. The body, digesting them, produces ketone bodies, which will lead to bad breath. After a person switches to his usual diet, this problem should go away by itself.
The diet cannot be called economical. Protein products for cooking are not cheap. Therefore, having decided to get rid of excess weight according to the Dukan system, it is worth preparing in advance for the upcoming expenses.
The harm of the Ducan diet
The Dukan diet is built on the use of predominantly protein foods. As a result of such errors in nutrition, metabolism is seriously disturbed. It starts to burn not only fat, but also muscles. It should be understood that the human heart is also a muscle.
When the cells of the body receive less carbohydrates, fat is not completely broken down. The result is an accumulation of ketone bodies. If there are too many of them in the body, metabolic acidosis (acetone poisoning) will develop. Therefore, you should not neglect sufficient fluid intake. It is important to drink at least 2 liters of water a day to minimize the risk of acidosis. However, even if this condition is met, no one will guarantee that the kidneys will function as expected. Almost all people who adhered to the Dukan diet indicated the appearance of the smell of acetone from the mouth and pain in the kidney area.
Another disadvantage of the Dukan diet can be called a violation of the conductivity of nerve tissues. It is known that carbohydrates are a source of nutrition for the brain. On the day of pure glucose alone, he needs about 100 g, which equates to 380 kcal. The Dukan diet imposes a strict restriction on carbohydrates.
Sharp weight loss leads to the fact that the body is devoid of adipose tissue. Fat is necessary for a person, despite all the theses of Pierre Ducane. If there is too little fat in the body, then this threatens with the appearance of health problems. The fact is that fat takes part in water metabolism, it is a component of the cell membrane, it is in the surfactant, which is needed for the normal functioning of the lungs. In general, fat is essential for the proper functioning of the body. Therefore, excessive and too rapid weight loss will necessarily have a negative impact on health. Recent studies have found that a lack of fat in the daily menu increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases by 10 times.
Another significant disadvantage of nutrition according to the Dukan system is that the menu clearly shows a lack of dietary fiber. As a result, chronic constipation develops, bad breath appears, the skin becomes dull and looks pale. Therefore, people on the Dukan diet, it is imperative to consume bran. We must not forget about physical activity, because without it the situation with the chair will only get worse. Moreover, it is worth preparing in advance for the fact that neither doing exercises nor taking oat bran will completely relieve bad breath and constipation.
The Dukan diet can be followed only against the background of absolute health. In the presence of any chronic diseases for weight loss, it is recommended to use less radical programs.
The amount of products containing carbohydrates, you can first try to reduce by 50% and track the reaction of the body. Also, do not forget about hiking, sports or yoga.
Противопоказания
Before you start losing weight on the Dukan program, you need to familiarize yourself with the contraindications that are available for this diet:
You can not follow the Dukan diet for people who suffer from metabolic disorders. A complete rejection of carbohydrates at the first stage of losing weight will certainly lead to a failure of metabolic processes, even if they were previously normal. If there are any problems with metabolic processes, the problems will only get worse. It is strictly forbidden to adhere to the Dukan diet for people with hypothyroidism, pancreatitis, diabetes, etc.
You can not sit on the Dukan diet for people with disorders in the functioning of the kidneys, liver, and digestive organs. The entire gastrointestinal tract will experience tremendous stress when such impressive doses of protein are present in the diet. As a result, exacerbation of hepatitis, gastritis, ulcers, cholecystitis and other chronic diseases is possible. If a person has disorders in the functioning of the gallbladder, or there is a tendency to constipation, then the problem will only worsen against the background of a protein diet.
You can not stick to this weight loss program for those women who have an unstable menstrual cycle. To a greater extent, this is true for young girls. Therefore, the Dukan diet is categorically not recommended for teenagers under 18 years of age. The weight will go away pretty quickly, which can provoke a violation of the menstrual cycle, or the complete disappearance of menstruation. Those women who have a history of hormonal failure will be more prone to fatigue, weakness, and drowsiness. Possible migraine attacks, increased pain in the lower abdomen.
Any diet for pregnant and lactating women is prohibited. It is unacceptable to restrict the supply of nutrients to the unborn child.
You can not practice the Dukan diet for women in the premenopausal period and during menopause. Failure to comply with this recommendation threatens hormonal imbalance, disruption of the endocrine glands.
Cardiovascular diseases are also a contraindication to the use of the Dukan diet. A sharp restriction in the menu of polyunsaturated fatty acids can lead to an exacerbation of heart and vascular diseases.
A carbohydrate deficiency negatively affects the state of the nervous system, so people with an unstable psyche should abandon the diet. Moreover, not only the mood of a person will noticeably worsen, but his mental abilities will also weaken.
1 phase
The first phase of the Dukan diet is called the attack. It is the shortest in time, but this is enough to activate the process of splitting fats. The duration of the attack depends on the amount of extra pounds that you want to get rid of. For example, if the difference between your real and ideal weight is less than 10 kg, then it will take only 3 days, and if you are overweight 10-20 kg, the attack phase will last 3-5 days. To lose weight by 20-30 kg, you must follow all the conditions of the diet for 5-7 days, and over 30 kg – from 7 to 10 days.
An independent increase in the duration of this phase is not recommended, since the body is already experiencing severe stress. In addition, throughout the entire stage, you may be disturbed by a strong thirst, but this is a natural process. To better cleanse the body and replenish fluids, you should drink up to 2 liters of clean, unboiled water daily. There may be an unpleasant taste in the mouth, as well as bad breath, but this will soon pass.
At the first stage, only protein (protein) food is allowed – fish, meat, eggs, fat-free cottage cheese. From the meat assortment, the best option would be beef, veal, rabbit meat. Pork and lamb are not suitable for the diet, as they contain a lot of fat. From seafood, you can use crustaceans and molluscs, there are no restrictions on fish. Poultry meat is also suitable for this phase, with the exception of duck and goose, as well as poultry offal.
From dairy products, give preference to low-fat cottage cheese, kefir, yogurt, milk powder. Add spices, salt and garlic in moderation and to taste. The norm of oat bran at the attack stage is up to 1,5 tablespoons per day. As for physical activity, it is only welcome, walking up to 20 minutes a day is also useful.
2 phase
The second phase of the Dukan diet is the cruise. It differs from the attack in that all kinds of vegetables are introduced into the menu and protein days alternate with protein-vegetable days. Eating vegetables, as Pierre Dukan recommends, is best done every other day, since this is a safer option for the body than 2 days after 2 or 3 days after 3. This stage of weight loss is longer in terms of time – from two months to six months, but By the end, your weight will be ideal.
Allowed to eat tomatoes and cucumbers, radishes, green beans, any kind of cabbage, greens, zucchini, pumpkin and more. The exception is vegetables that contain a lot of starch or oil in their composition, first of all, these are potatoes, olives, legumes (except for green beans). It is also better to limit beets and carrots, as they contain a lot of sugar. All vegetables can be consumed fresh, boiled, stewed and baked, fried foods are not welcome.
The amount of oat bran at the cruise stage increases to 2 tablespoons per day, the water remains at the same dosage – up to 2 liters. If you often suffer from constipation, then reduce the intake of bran to 1 tablespoon. As for walking, here their duration increases to 30 minutes a day. If you strictly follow all the recommendations of Pierre Dukan, then the result will not be long in coming, and you will soon be able to impress everyone around you with your ideal figure.
3 phase
The third phase of the Dukan diet is called “consolidation” or “fixing”. During it, the result obtained is fixed, and the duration of the phase depends on the number of kilograms dropped in the previous stages. For each kilogram gone, 10 days are allotted in time, which means that if, for example, you got rid of 10 kg, then the consolidation phase will last for you 100 days.
The range of allowed products at this stage is significantly expanding, and the diet is supplemented with whole grain bread (up to 100 g per day), fruits (up to 200 g per day), except for bananas, grapes and cherries, which contain a large amount of sugar. Now several times a week you can afford lamb meat or pork, hard cheeses of different fat content.
So far, starchy foods – corn, rice, pasta, potatoes and others – are only allowed in the form of 2 servings per week, but a real feast is provided, i.e. inclusion in the menu of any dish (even the most high-calorie) twice a week, in one of the morning or lunch meals. However, such holidays should not go in a row, it is better to alternate them at regular intervals. Once a week, for example, on Wednesday, it is desirable to consume only protein foods (proteins).
4 phase
The fourth phase is called “stabilization”, and its duration depends on your desire (even for a lifetime). During this period, when strict adherence to the diet is no longer necessary, oat bran is still consumed daily, but already in the amount of 3 tablespoons, water – up to 1,5 liters per day. An active lifestyle and playing sports will make it much easier for you to maintain your weight at the proper level.
What results can be achieved?
The Dukan diet, most likely, can be attributed not to diets, but to nutrition systems, especially since it can be observed from several months to six months (or even a lifetime). And for such a long period of time, the body has time to get used to a new diet, i.e. metabolism is normalized. The most important advantage of this diet is that the lost kilograms do not come back. Even with the transition to a normal diet, a person’s weight does not increase. You just need to follow 4 simple rules that we introduced you to earlier.
The practical results of the Dukan diet are confirmed by clinical practice. Data on the stabilization of the achieved weight were grouped taking into account two time intervals: the first – 6-12 months after the diet, the second – 18-24 months. As clinical observations have shown, weight stabilization in the period from 6 to 12 months was successful in 84% of cases, from 18 months to 2 years – in 62% of cases. This once again confirms the high efficiency of the system, because even after two years, most people’s weight remained at the level reached during the diet.
Reviews about the Dukan diet
As in any other cases, you can read both positive and negative reviews about the Pierre Dukan diet. For example, the Daily Mail newspaper reports that the British Dietetic Association called the Dukan system the least effective among diets, moreover, it has no scientific justification.
Doctors cite the fact that the absence of cereals in the diet can lead to a lack of B vitamins, in patients who are unaware of their kidney problems, the disease may worsen, and a lack of fiber will exacerbate the problem of constipation. Supporting this diet they consider crazy.
However, there are other opinions as well. For example, they say that Catherine Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, followed this diet before her wedding and successfully lost two sizes. We all remember how good she was then. This example shows that the Dukan diet really works.
Like any other nutritional system, only healthy people can use the Dukan diet without fear. And if you do not know your real state of health, then before using it, be sure to consult your doctor.
Nutritionist on the Dukan diet (Andrey Nikiforov), video:
00:47 — Dukan business and brand
02:30 – allowed foods on the Dukan diet
03:41 – lunch on the Dukan diet
04:00 – Dukan diet phase
04:54 – afternoon tea on the Dukan diet
06:18 – stabilization phase on the Dukan diet
07:14 – Dukan Diet, expert opinion of a nutritionist