The British Nutrition Foundation has given its verdict on the famous Dukan diet. Dr Elisabeth Weichselbaum of the British Nutrition Foundation suggests that cutting out a whole food group from your diet - in this case, starch and carbohydrates - is never a good idea.
She explains: "If you restrict yourself for a week, you may not really risk your health, but for a longer period of time you will miss out on important nutrients."
Instead, she suggests that the best way of losing weight is through continued eating of a balanced diet... sensibly!
She adds that high-protein diets do lead to weight loss. She advises that cutting out carbohydrates for a short period to kick-start a diet is acceptable.
"But in the long term, if you have anything that's too restrictive you will risk your health."
Diets that are higher in carbohydrates and lower in protein are "generally associated with lower risk", Dr Weichselbaum says. "High-protein" can mean "high-fat", she points out, if people eat fatty meats.
And if "high-protein" means "low-fibre", constipation is very likely to be the result. Check out the four case histories to see what other types of side effects of Dukan you can expect.
Showing posts with label dukan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dukan. Show all posts
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Saturday, 18 June 2011
Dukan Diet: How does it work?
With Slimming World, we have our Extra Easy, Green and Red days. While I’m sticking with Extra Easy for as long as it works for me, I have a feeling that I’ll need to include some green and red days at some point. Red days would be similar to my Atkins past... but with all of that fat and my high cholesterol, I’m not too sure whether I want to go back to this. So, the question is – what are the benefits of the Dukan diet and will it help my health... or hinder it?
Celebs linked to the Dukan diet
Are there any who aren’t? The Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), Jennifer Lopez (J. Lo), supermodel Gisele Bundchen and opera singer Katherine Jenkins are all said to have shed the pounds following the Dukan method.
What’s Dukan all about?
Well, it’s apparently not a diet. It’s a lifestyle (read: diet). Essentially, its devotees don’t have to count calories through the regime’s four phases.
The Attack Phase 1 lasts between 2 and 7 days and these are perhaps the toughest. It’s no carb and non-fat, so you’re eating is limited (to say the least). So, what can you eat during Attack Phase? You may only eat lean meats, fish, eggs and non-fat dairy products (are there any??). Water plays a really important role in this stage and participants are told to eat a tablespoon of oat bran to keep hunger (and constipation!) at bay.
During the Cruise Phase 2 you can introduce unlimited vegetables (albeit a limited list of them) every other day. Dukan outline what you can eat during the Cruise Phase on their website, but the list of 28 new foods includes avocados, lentils, potatoes, etc. This phase continues until you reach your goal weight.
After this you are in the Consolidation Phase 3. Dukan allow you to eat much more. You can slowly re-introduce some of the high carb foods (e.g. breads and pastas), butter and oils. Alcohol is allowed every now and again. You’re expected to stay in this phase for 5 days for every pound of weight you lost in the attack and cruise stages. So – if you lost 100lbs (as I need to – and then some) – you’d need to remain in consolidation for roughly 18 months!
The final stage is neverending... the Stabilisation phase. You’re allowed to eat anything you want... for 6 days a week. On the 7th day you’re expected to go back to protein only. It is this protein day which is credited with staving off any future weight gains.
Pros and Cons of Dukan
It has to be that rapid weight loss. While that’s significant, it’s also a real con! Ask any doctor what they recommend and they’ll say your weight loss should be no more than 2lbs per week for a sustainable loss. Rapid losses often result in rapid gains or – worst still – bags of loose skin. Tightening up loose skin after weight loss is nigh on impossible without a surgical procedure. While there are steps you can take to tighten up loose skin naturally, it’s better to prevent it from happening at the beginning.
The protein-only nature of the Dukan diet can lead to constipation and bad breath... Talk about how to lose friends and alienate people. Stinky breath and bloated flatulence is never a good look!
There’s a real lack of vegetables and nutrients. While this wouldn’t be such a problem in those achieving short-term weight losses, I reckon it would take me at least 12 months to complete the Attack and Cruise phases.
Conclusion?
For now I'm going to stick to Extra Easy where the diet is easy going, my outlook's positive and my diet is varied. As someone who suffered kidney infections as a result of Atkins, I'm not 100% certain that I want (or need) to go back to a diet like Dukan.
Celebs linked to the Dukan diet
Are there any who aren’t? The Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton), Jennifer Lopez (J. Lo), supermodel Gisele Bundchen and opera singer Katherine Jenkins are all said to have shed the pounds following the Dukan method.
What’s Dukan all about?
Well, it’s apparently not a diet. It’s a lifestyle (read: diet). Essentially, its devotees don’t have to count calories through the regime’s four phases.
The Attack Phase 1 lasts between 2 and 7 days and these are perhaps the toughest. It’s no carb and non-fat, so you’re eating is limited (to say the least). So, what can you eat during Attack Phase? You may only eat lean meats, fish, eggs and non-fat dairy products (are there any??). Water plays a really important role in this stage and participants are told to eat a tablespoon of oat bran to keep hunger (and constipation!) at bay.
During the Cruise Phase 2 you can introduce unlimited vegetables (albeit a limited list of them) every other day. Dukan outline what you can eat during the Cruise Phase on their website, but the list of 28 new foods includes avocados, lentils, potatoes, etc. This phase continues until you reach your goal weight.
After this you are in the Consolidation Phase 3. Dukan allow you to eat much more. You can slowly re-introduce some of the high carb foods (e.g. breads and pastas), butter and oils. Alcohol is allowed every now and again. You’re expected to stay in this phase for 5 days for every pound of weight you lost in the attack and cruise stages. So – if you lost 100lbs (as I need to – and then some) – you’d need to remain in consolidation for roughly 18 months!
The final stage is neverending... the Stabilisation phase. You’re allowed to eat anything you want... for 6 days a week. On the 7th day you’re expected to go back to protein only. It is this protein day which is credited with staving off any future weight gains.
Pros and Cons of Dukan
It has to be that rapid weight loss. While that’s significant, it’s also a real con! Ask any doctor what they recommend and they’ll say your weight loss should be no more than 2lbs per week for a sustainable loss. Rapid losses often result in rapid gains or – worst still – bags of loose skin. Tightening up loose skin after weight loss is nigh on impossible without a surgical procedure. While there are steps you can take to tighten up loose skin naturally, it’s better to prevent it from happening at the beginning.
The protein-only nature of the Dukan diet can lead to constipation and bad breath... Talk about how to lose friends and alienate people. Stinky breath and bloated flatulence is never a good look!
There’s a real lack of vegetables and nutrients. While this wouldn’t be such a problem in those achieving short-term weight losses, I reckon it would take me at least 12 months to complete the Attack and Cruise phases.
Conclusion?
For now I'm going to stick to Extra Easy where the diet is easy going, my outlook's positive and my diet is varied. As someone who suffered kidney infections as a result of Atkins, I'm not 100% certain that I want (or need) to go back to a diet like Dukan.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Does Dukan work? Expert says: Dukan diet "not a sustainable option"
Fancing giving your diet the royal treatment? Well, sources are reporting that Kate Middleton's rail thin wedding day appearance was down to following the French diet plan. The Dukan Diet's been big in celebrity circles for some time with celebs like Jennifer Lopez rumoured to be following the high protein, low-fat plan.
But should you?
"The Dukan Diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and is not a sustainable option in the long term," says accredited practising dietitian Jemma O'Hanlon.
"Whenever I hear of someone going on a diet, I always ask them whether they think they will be able to stick to this diet for the rest of their life. If the answer is no, then I ask them why they would choose to commence a restrictive diet that they can't maintain.
"The Dukan diet is an example of one of these. It may not appear as restrictive as other diets, such as the Atkins or the lemon detox diet, as over time it allows you to have more choice about what you can eat. But in the end the outcome is likely to be the same.
"The Dukan diet starts you off on a very restrictive eating plan. The first phase, the Attack Phase, requires you to consume only lean meats, fish, eggs and low-fat dairy.
"Basically this sends your body into a state called ketosis, where your body starts breaking down its lean muscle mass to use as energy. This is because it is starved of carbohydrates that would usually supply the body this fuel. You are guaranteed to see immediate weight loss because your body is forced to break down muscle. Fluid losses also result in order to flush the ketones out of your system, and these losses will also show a reduction on the scales.
"I would not recommend the Dukan diet. Going on any diet means changing your normal eating habits to something that is unfamiliar and unnatural."
Those last few words are those to live by!! As soon as I hear the words 'you can't have...', you should really think twice about whether this eating regime is in your body's best interests.
And if you're still tempted by the lure of Dukan - consider this:
A survey of nearly 5000 ''Dukanians'', as they have been nicknamed, found that 80 per cent regained the weight they lost within three years, and experts who analysed the results of the survey claimed it was a ''public health risk''.
But should you?
"The Dukan Diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet and is not a sustainable option in the long term," says accredited practising dietitian Jemma O'Hanlon.
"Whenever I hear of someone going on a diet, I always ask them whether they think they will be able to stick to this diet for the rest of their life. If the answer is no, then I ask them why they would choose to commence a restrictive diet that they can't maintain.
"The Dukan diet is an example of one of these. It may not appear as restrictive as other diets, such as the Atkins or the lemon detox diet, as over time it allows you to have more choice about what you can eat. But in the end the outcome is likely to be the same.
"The Dukan diet starts you off on a very restrictive eating plan. The first phase, the Attack Phase, requires you to consume only lean meats, fish, eggs and low-fat dairy.
"Basically this sends your body into a state called ketosis, where your body starts breaking down its lean muscle mass to use as energy. This is because it is starved of carbohydrates that would usually supply the body this fuel. You are guaranteed to see immediate weight loss because your body is forced to break down muscle. Fluid losses also result in order to flush the ketones out of your system, and these losses will also show a reduction on the scales.
"I would not recommend the Dukan diet. Going on any diet means changing your normal eating habits to something that is unfamiliar and unnatural."
Those last few words are those to live by!! As soon as I hear the words 'you can't have...', you should really think twice about whether this eating regime is in your body's best interests.
And if you're still tempted by the lure of Dukan - consider this:
A survey of nearly 5000 ''Dukanians'', as they have been nicknamed, found that 80 per cent regained the weight they lost within three years, and experts who analysed the results of the survey claimed it was a ''public health risk''.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Dukan diet: Does it work?
The founder of the high-protein and oatbran Dukan diet is in the French courts, suing a rival who claims that the low-carb diet is dangerous.
As an Atkins diet grad, I'm interested to see how this pans out. As tempting as the Dukan diet is, I've resisted anything which follows that low carb/high protein approach. If a diet limits your fruit or your veg I tend to get concerned!
After all, I have seen - first hand - what a high protein diet can do to your body... Yes, it left me a whopping 8 stone lighter in a space of just 10 months, but it also caused my kidneys to start shutting down.
Need more reasons? The most relevant one nowadays must be the cost of it all. Keeping myself in protein (steaks, chicken, bacon, etc) cost a fortune! Yes, there are eggs and cheese - but their cost at that quantity - is too high for many incomes to bear.
So... does it work? In short yes. Any diet - if you follow it - will work. But does it keep the weight off in the long term? Dukan claims that following Dukan for just one day a week, following a walking regime and consistently choosing stairs over elevators or escalators will sustain your weight loss... no matter what you eat on the other 6 days of the week. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Well, some haven't found this to be the case.
As an Atkins diet grad, I'm interested to see how this pans out. As tempting as the Dukan diet is, I've resisted anything which follows that low carb/high protein approach. If a diet limits your fruit or your veg I tend to get concerned!
After all, I have seen - first hand - what a high protein diet can do to your body... Yes, it left me a whopping 8 stone lighter in a space of just 10 months, but it also caused my kidneys to start shutting down.
Need more reasons? The most relevant one nowadays must be the cost of it all. Keeping myself in protein (steaks, chicken, bacon, etc) cost a fortune! Yes, there are eggs and cheese - but their cost at that quantity - is too high for many incomes to bear.
So... does it work? In short yes. Any diet - if you follow it - will work. But does it keep the weight off in the long term? Dukan claims that following Dukan for just one day a week, following a walking regime and consistently choosing stairs over elevators or escalators will sustain your weight loss... no matter what you eat on the other 6 days of the week. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Well, some haven't found this to be the case.
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