Dukan Diet For Weight Loss – How To Do It

In order to lose weight, most of us have, sometime or the other, tried the option of crash dieting. Crash dieting sounds the best way to reduce weight in a matter of a few days. But in reality, it does more harm than good. Most of the weight we lose while on a crash diet comes back as soon as we get back to our regular eating habits.

The key is to know about the particular diet before actually practicing it. Before trying out any new diet, you should check to see if you actually need it and if it is compatible with your body and needs.

The Dukan Diet plan is a kind of crash diet. It has more short term effects than long lasting ones. However, if you are looking for a quick solution to your weight management problem, you can try this. The diet, however, comes with a disclaimer that 95% of the people who try a new diet put back the weight that was lost.

Do visit the official website for the Dukan Diet, http://www.dukandiet.co.uk before starting off.

The French dietician, Pierre Dukan (1941-) constructed a diet plan that promises a weight loss of 10 pounds, i.e., 4.5 kilos approximately in the first week. While that may sound tempting, it comes with a whole bunch of strict rules. This diet took France by storm and it is the likes of Jennifer Lopez, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, and Gossip Girl star Jessica Szohr are known to be great fans.

The Dukan Diet plan is based on one simple fact. Proteins have strong amino acid bonds. These take more time than any other nutrients to be processed by the body and broken down. Therefore, the body works extra hard (thereby burning a lot of calories) to digest these. This ends up consuming more time and as a result, the stomach feels full for a longer period of time. Thus, you feel hungry less frequently.

The Dukan Diet Menu

The diet is divided into FOUR PHASES.

1. Attack Phase

Here is the easy part. You stay focused on eating a meal of proteins. The official website for the diet instructs eating 68 high-protein foods that will jump-start your diet combined with noticeable weight loss signs. For example, you can have a chicken, fish or any meat minus the fat. So, no fat-filled burgers or bacon are allowed here. You can have good cottage cheese, yogurt and beverages like tea or coffee without sugar. You may add an artificial sweetener if you absolutely, cannot do with the sweetness or skimmed milk. The high-protein diet allows oat bran, hard boiled eggs, omelet, ham slices with 5% fat. But it is only for those who are strong enough to control their urge to indulge. http://www.dukandiet.co.uk gives a precise solution as to how to structure your diet plan and the time required for achieving the desired results. The time for your Attack Phase depends on your Current Weight and your True Weight.

2. Cruise Phase

To the high-protein diet, you add 32 vegetables which allow you to reach your True Weight. The vegetables allowed in your meals are cabbage, carrot, cucumber, eggplant (brinjal), onions, leeks, shallots, zucchini, and tomatoes, to name a few. You may achieve this phase by alternating between pure protein diet days and protein and vegetable diet days.

3. Consolidation Phase

Here comes the tricky part. Maintaining such a strict routine in your eating habits, especially if you aren’t used to it, can lead to a big risk of rebound. And this is where it gets difficult for most people. Therefore, the Dukan Diet’s third phase is designed to prevent rebound actions. It allows moderate elasticity to your diet. You can add fruits to your diet (excluding bananas, grapes, figs and cherries.) Each day you are allowed to add two slices of whole wheat bread to your diet with a low-fat spread and 40 grams of cheese (except goat’s, blue, brie, camembert cheese). For carbs, you may want to have brown rice and potatoes cooked with the skin. Never have potatoes in the form of chips. Next, you may revert to the pure protein meals that you were having from the Attack Phase, but make sure to follow this on the same day for the rest of the weeks.

4. Stabilization Phase

Over the last phases, you have developed a particular pattern of eating. Along with these, Dr. Dukan instructs three “non-negotiable” rules. These are that you have three tablespoons of oat bran every day, do 20 minutes of walking and taking stairs each day and have a Pure-Protein Thursday (or the day you choose).

 Side Effects Of Dukan Diet

Many doctors have slammed this diet because of its side effects. Most of the side effects occur in the initial phase.

• Constipation

Constipation is a major side effect of this diet. This is mainly because in the initial stage the person eats just lean protein and a little amount of carbohydrate, which is not sufficient.

• Bad Breath

The people who follow this diet suffer from bad breath. The body undergoes ketosis using its own fat for energy as there is a very low consumption of carbohydrate. Though it is a good indicator that the diet is working, it can be embarrassing to talk to someone standing or sitting close to you. The high protein consumption leads to acetone production that has a distinct smell and prolongs bad breath.

• Gout

Gout is a major side effect of the Dukan diet. The uric acid level in the body increases in this low carbohydrate and high protein diet. The uric acid crystals can create acute pain in the leg joints.

• Kidney Problem

Many physicians fear potential damages to the kidney when the person is on this diet. It might create various kidney-related diseases and lead to kidney failure.

• Deficiency of Nutrition

The Dukan diet being restrictive can lead to a severe deficiency of vitamins and minerals. It might result in electrolyte imbalance during the first phase of the diet. This can lead to conditions like constipation and diarrhea. It can also lead to antioxidant deficiency. The body requires antioxidant for its proper functioning. This may cause diseases like premature aging, cancer, cataracts and heart conditions.

• Carbohydrate Withdrawal Symptoms

Many on the Dukan diet suffer from carbohydrate withdrawal symptoms like flu, fever, nausea, mood swings, irritability, headache, loss of concentration, etc. These are restricted mainly to the first phase of the diet. You may also experience fatigue and loss of energy during the initial weight loss phase of this diet.

• Weight Gain

It has been observed that once you are back to your normal diet, you can regain much of the weight lost during the Dukan diet.

So this was what the Dukan diet is all about. If you think this can work for you, get right on to it. But do consult your nutritionist before you begin. It is advisable to weigh the pros and cons of any diet plan before following it. Do be judicious about your choices to stay healthy and fit. All the best and tell us if it helped you.

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