Meet the Dukan diet, the diet of the royals. As its most popular followers include Kate Middleton and other members of the royal family. The Dukan diet originated from Dr. Pierre Dukan, a French physician. French eating habits and the royal family? Together? Now, tell me if this doesn’t sound appealing to you!
Say goodbye to 10 lbs in the first week!
The diet is simple and straightforward. Eat as much of the 100 approved foods in the list and that’s it, you’re off to a new you. What are the 100 food items on the list? The Dukan diet only approves lean meat, of all kinds. You can eat as much meat as you can, as long as its lean and without fat. You can’t consume any carbohydrates, except in the later phase of the Dukan diet. And even so, you would still need to control yourself as the servings need to be measured.
It’s about following the rules
The Dukan diet has four phases. The first phase is the attack phase where you will only consume proteins (all the lean meat, eggs, tofu, nonfat dairy you can find). You also need to consume at least six glasses of water and 1 1/2 tablespoon of oat bran. This phase can last up to 10 days, depending on how much weight you want to initially lose.
Then in the second phase called cruise phase, you will be able to eat the allowed vegetables (which means no fatty ones like potatoes and avocados). You still need to eat oat bran, but now it’s 2 tablespoons.
In the consolidation phase of the Dukan diet, you can now eat bread and cheese, but still in minimal amounts.
And the fourth and last phase, the permanent stabilization phase requires that you implement everything that you’ve learned in the first three phases. You also need to raise the oat bran to 3 tablespoons a day, but other than that you’re free to eat anything. Oh, and once a week, you need to do protein loading again and all throughout you need to exercise 20 minutes every day. You think that it’s too much to follow? These are just the gist of the rules, there’s more to it when you read the book.
Why some nutritionists don’t like the Dukan diet
Having no carbohydrate intake at all can be bad for your health. And all that protein consumed can affect your kidneys. Since you can eat as much as you want, you are not checking the other components of these food items like cholesterol, salt, and even becoming gout-prone with all the meat intake.
The strict rules and the changing food allowances may also be a bit tricky for everyone to follow. Some nutritionists claim that there should be healthier options and portion allotment for the Dukan diet.
Here is a video showing Dr. Dukan as he tries to explain how the diet works and what benefits you can get from it. Then you can decide afterward if the Dukan diet is fit for royalty and for you.
