What is The Dukan Diet? - A Brief History
The Dukan Diet is quickly gaining notoriety as one of the surest ways to lose weight and keep it off for good. The Dukan Diet's creator, Dr. Peirre Dukan, studied and modified his diet method with his own patients for 25 years before he originally published it in 2000. It has become the number 1 diet in France, and in April of 2011, the book based on the diet was released to North America to much fanfare. It has had extensive publicity since rumors of celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Kate Middleton were using it to lose weight.
How Does it Work?
The Dukan Diet is a diet based on eating mostly protein in the form of lean meats, fish, and low-fat dairy. This causes your body to go into ketosis.
Ketosis means that instead of burning carbohydrates as energy and storing extra energy as fat, your body uses extra fat reserves as energy. Foods that contain high amounts of carbs, such as foods containing sugar, breads, fruits and some vegetables, are not allowed.
Eating mostly protein has the added benefit of reducing hunger and allowing you to eat less. You also are likely retain much more muscle mass than you would on a low-calorie or portion-controlled diet that do include carbohydrates.
As the diet progresses, you are allowed to eat all other foods, starting with vegetables, and then adding in small amounts of fruit and bread, and ending with a regular, well balanced diet.
Is it a Safe Way To Lose Weight?
That depends on who you talk to! Nutritionists hate The Dukan Diet because it doesn't promote a balanced diet, but there are many doctors who support it as a short-term weight loss method.
If you follow the diet correctly and pay special attention to the amount of water you drink, the health risks are minimal. Just remember to return to a healthy and balanced diet after you have achieved your goal - you don't want the weight to come back!
What are the side effects and health risks?
Many people, but not all, feel flu-like or experience headaches when starting. This is due to carbohydrate withdrawal, and usually passes within a few days.
Cravings and strong hunger also appear within the first two or three days, but they too soon pass as the body begins to adjust to the lack of carbs.
If a dieter doesn't drink the recommended amount of water, uric acid can build up in the blood stream, which could lead to kidney problems or cause gout.
Who shouldn't Use The Dukan Diet as a Weight Loss Method?
There are groups of people who could experience adverse effects while on the Dukan Diet, such as people diagnosed with diabetes who are insulin dependent, women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, and people who have kidney conditions.
Regardless of how healthy you are, it always is advisable that you speak with your doctor first and have him or her monitor your progress.
Who is it best for?
It's great for anyone who wants to lose weight, but it works best for those who are overweight or obese. These people will lose weight faster and remain more motivated than those with less weight to lose.
This diet is ideal for those diagnosed with conditions such as Celiac's or wheat allergies, and there is a lacto-ovo version for vegetarians.
It is also a fantastic way to break dieting fatigue or yo-yo dieting. Dieters don't need to portion their meals, count calories or weigh their food. All they need to do is be aware of their hunger levels and eat accordingly from the list of approved foods.
Can I successfully lose weight on The Dukan Diet?
I believe anyone can, as long as they have permission from their doctor to do so. You can read several Dukan Diet blogs out there to see what kind of results real people are achieving, such as Pam, who is recording her Dukan Diet progress on my website.
If you would like to read about someone going through the Dukan Diet from Day 1, visit my website where you can read about Pam's experience and her daily successes and struggles.
Mindie Anderson is the writer and creator of TheDietWatch.com, a website dedicated to informing readers about healthy, realistic weight loss and weight management.
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