How To Lose Weight Well Dukan Diet

The Dukan diet contains two phases that aim to help you lose weight and an additional two phases to help you keep it off.Thinkstock

For celebrities, looking a certain way is part of their job. It’s how many actors get roles, and singers often prepare for tours by getting in better shape. Some opt for a diet and exercise plan that produces quick results — not necessarily a lifestyle plan for overall health.

That’s where diets like the Dukan diet come in. Big names who have credited the diet for their weight loss include British royal Kate Middleton and singer-actress Jennifer Lopez. (1)

Dukan Diet: Phases, Plan, Safety, And More

The diet is a low-carb, high-protein weight loss plan, similar to the Atkins diet, that’s split into four phases. It claims to help you lose weight quickly without being hungry.

Pierre Dukan, MD, a French doctor who specializes in weight loss and management, created the Dukan diet in the 1970s after being inspired by a patient with obesity. The man told Dr. Dukan he could give up anything if it would help him lose weight — except for meat.

In 2000, Dukan published The Dukan Diet, a book outlining an eating plan that was based on his experience using it with patients. The book ended up reaching global popularity, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.

What Is The Dukan Diet And Is It Healthy For You?

First, the diet helps you find out what your “true weight” should be. (2) The “true weight” calculation considers your gender, age, weight loss history, and a variety of other factors. This number will then be your goal.

This diet contains four phases that are designed to help you meet your goal weight, according to the Dukan diet website. The length of time each phase lasts is based on your “true weight.”

The first phase kicks the diet off with a heavy amount of lean protein. It can last from one to seven days, depending on how much weight you need to lose. You are allowed to eat only lean animal proteins in unlimited amounts during the whole phase. You’ll also drink 6 to 8 cups of water and eat 1.5 tablespoons (tbsp) of oat bran per day.

Barnes And Noble Dukan Diet: A Detailed Guide To The Dukan Diet For Weight Reduction

The second phase is when you can start adding nonstarchy vegetables to your eating plan. You’ll alternate between one day of only lean protein and one day of lean protein mixed with nonstarchy vegetables, plus you’ll increase to a 2-tbsp serving of oat bran per day. The Cruise phase length is based on a schedule of three days for each pound you want to lose, and in most cases runs anywhere from 1 to 12 months.

After the first two phases have helped you lose weight, the Consolidation phase gradually introduces more food groups again. This phase lasts five days for every pound lost and is designed to prevent rebound weight gain.

You’ll continue eating lean protein and nonstarchy vegetables, along with some carbs and fats, with one day of lean protein only each week. Your oat bran serving stays at 2 tbsp per day.

How To Lose Weight Well

The final phase lasts indefinitely and is meant to help you keep the weight off. It’s very similar to the Consolidation phase, but allows you to be a little looser with the carbs and fats. One day out of the week should still be lean protein only, and each day you’ll have 3 tbsp of oat bran.

Twenty minutes of brisk walking per day is still recommended to maintain weight loss. You’re also encouraged to practice lifestyle fitness habits, like taking the stairs instead of an elevator.

There haven’t been many quality studies on the Dukan Diet, but indirect research suggests high-protein, low-carb diets can be effective for weight loss.

Dukan Diet: The Ultimate Dukan Diet Guide

 that looked at popular diets without calorie targets found the Atkins Diet — which has similarities to the Dukan diet — to be most effective for weight loss among the plans studied. (4)

The Dukan diet does promote weight loss, says Mary Anne Smith, MS, BSN, RN,   customer success manager at Collective Medical in Austin, Texas, but it’s a weight loss that’s hard to maintain. “Whenever you’re cutting out food groups and sticking to protein only, it can get boring and hard to stick to, ” she explains.

Looked at women following the Dukan diet. (5) The women, who were ages 19 to 64, ate large amounts of animal protein per day and lost an average of 33 pounds in 8 to 10 weeks.

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The authors concluded, however, that the weight loss was likely due to a calorie deficit and not macronutrient composition. And because the diet was low in important nutrients, including calcium, iron, potassium, and vitamins A, C, and D, they warned that adopting a high-protein diet may be harmful to health in the long run.

While she doesn’t recommend the diet overall,  Jennifer Fitzgibbon, RDN, CDN, a registered oncology dietitian at Stony Brook Cancer Center in New York, says there are some positive aspects to it: a focus on lower fat proteins, using oat bran to get fiber, limiting alcohol and sugar, and recommending exercise and a lot of water.

The main focus of the Dukan diet is to help people lose weight. It doesn’t offer additional benefits, other than reducing your risk of obesity-related conditions if you can maintain the weight loss.

Dukan Diet: Why To Avoid The

In the eyes of nutrition professionals, this is very much a fad diet. Someone who doesn’t have pre-existing health conditions and wants to lose weight for a special occasion might find the diet helpful.

The diet provides a lot of guidance and strict rules, which can be good if you have trouble regulating your eating patterns. You can buy the book The Dukan Diet: 2 Steps to Lose the Weight, 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever for $16 and follow it on your own, or purchase the online coaching program for $29.95 per month.

The Dukan diet is not recommended for anyone with an existing health condition because it restricts a lot of nutrients. For someone with diabetes, kidney disease, or heart disease, or those who are pregnant or breast-feeding, the risks far outweigh the benefits, says Fitzgibbon.

How To Lose Weight Well: The Dukan Diet Of Only Meat And Oats

There’s too much protein for people with kidney disease or those at risk of kidney stones, not enough fiber for heart disease patients, and the diet makes insulin regulation difficult for people with diabetes.

Furthermore, because the Dukan diet allows you to liberally eat red meat, it may also raise your risk for certain kinds of cancer, like colon cancer, according to Harvard Medical School. (6)

One reason experts caution against certain high-protein diets is because there isn’t enough research on the long-term effects on the body. Most of the current studies focus on short-term results without looking at overall health years later.

Dukan Diet: How To Bake And Still Lose Weight

That’s why it’s important to talk with your healthcare team and dietitian before giving the program a shot. Not only might another plan be more appropriate for your weight loss goals, but due to the stringent guidelines, the Dukan diet may result in health harms.

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