Stove - Blog The Dukan Diet

The Dukan diet is a popular weight-loss plan that was created by French physician Dr. Pierre Dukan in 2000. The diet has a few different phases, each claiming to help you reach your weight-loss goals. In this article, we’ll cover the basics of the diet and discuss if it really is all it promises to be and is it just a fad diet?

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The Structure of the Diet

The Dukan diet consists of four phases: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation, and Stabilization. Each phase requires you to eat certain foods and follow certain guidelines.

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Attack Phase – During this phase you will be eating high-protein, low-fat foods such as lean meats, fish, poultry, eggs, and non-fat dairy products. You will also be allowed to eat some vegetables like spinach and broccoli but no fruit or starchy carbohydrates like rice or potatoes. This phase typically lasts for around five days but may be longer depending on how much weight you want to lose.
Cruise Phase – During this phase you will add more vegetables into your diet but still focus primarily on high-protein foods. This phase will last until you reach your goal weight or until you are within 10% of it.
Consolidation Phase – In this phase you will begin adding starchy carbohydrates back into your diet along with some other food groups such as fruits and cheeses while still focusing on protein-rich foods as your primary source of nutrition. This phase is meant to help transition your body back into a more normal eating pattern while helping maintain your weight loss progress so far. Typically this phase lasts between three days and two weeks depending on how much weight you have lost up until this point.
Stabilisation Phase – In this final stage you are meant to establish new habits that will help keep your body at its current weight level for an extended period of time without having to follow strict dietary rules or food restrictions. This involves incorporating additional healthy habits such as regular exercise and drinking plenty of water every day in addition to continuing with sensible eating choices from all food groups including proteins, fats, carbs, fruits, vegetables etc..

Is the Dukan Diet a fad diet?

What is a fad diet? According to the British dietetic association a fad diet is anything that promises a rapid, quick and easy way to lose weight whilst often excluding certain food groups or having a restrictive element. They are often not evidence based.

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Analysing the Pros and Cons of the Dukan Diet as A dietitian I can assess the following:

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Pros: The diet does eventually promote a balanced diet and exercise which focuses on nutrient dense foods that are in line with current healthy eating guidelines, however this is only once you've had several weeks of unbalanced restriction and you need to ensure you do re-introduce carbohydrate.

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Con: It May Be Difficult to Stick to

One of the main disadvantages of the Dukan Diet is that it may be difficult to stick to in the long term. This is because the diet requires you to give up many foods that you may enjoy, such as carbohydrates and sugars. Additionally, the diet can be quite restrictive, which may make it hard to stick to in the long term.

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Con: You May Experience Side Effects

Another downside of the Dukan Diet is that you may experience some side effects, such as bad breath, constipation, and fatigue. These side effects are usually mild and will go away once you adjust to the diet.

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Con: It May Not Be Healthy in the Long Term

While the Dukan Diet can help you lose weight in the short term, it is not necessarily healthy in the long term. This is because the diet is very high in protein and low in nutrients like vitamins and minerals. As a result, you may be at risk for developing health problems if you follow the diet for an extended period of time. Additionally any time you restrict carbohydrate your body will lose weight but will regain that weight once the baseline level of carb is reintroduced and sometimes even more.

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Conclusion

The Dukan diet is a popular weight loss plan which consists of four phases designed to help people lose unwanted pounds and improve their overall health.Each stage requires different types of foods while still focusing mainly on high-protein options in order to achieve best results. No diet, however, can claim to make you lose weight for certain. It may lead to initial rapid weight loss but once carbohydrate is re-introduced again in the stabilisation phase and general healthy eating guidelines are not adhered to long term, the likely result will be the regain of weight. If you want to lose weight focus on a diet that still encompasses all the food groups and advocates slow, steady weight loss.

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