The Dukan Diet

If you’ve heard of this diet, created by French Physician Pierre Dukan, you might have also heard the Dukan diet has LOTS OF RULES.

If you’re not a big fan of plotting, planning, writing, logging and following—this diet is NOT for you.

The Dukan Diet claims you can lose up to 10 pounds within the first week, and then continue to lose anywhere from 2-4 pounds per week.

It also claims you can do this while eating as much of the approved foods as you want.

Whaaat?

Yeah. If something is smelly fishy, it’s probably the protein. Lots and lots of protein.

Let’s dive into the Dukan Diet.

What is the Dukan Diet?

The diet revolves around the theory that the key to weight loss is protein.  Dukan claims this is so because protein is more filling, takes more calories to digest and has fewer calories per gram than other foods. Most importantly—protein works because it forces your body to feast on fat since you’re not eating carbs and replenishing glycogen stores of carbs.

How Does the Dukan Diet Work?

Named #37 of the best diets for weight loss by US News with an overall score of 2.1/5, the Dukan Diet has four phases.

Phase 1 of Dukan Diet: Attack

All you can eat protein.

Meat.

Lots of it.

• Lean beef
• Pork
• Venison
• Fish
• Turkey
• Ham
• Chicken
• Eggs
• Tofu
• Organ meat
• Non-fat dairy
• Water
• Diet drinks with 0 calories
• 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran.
• Herbs/spices to liven things up.

That’s it.

That is ALL you can have. Any cheating completely destroys this delicate diet.

How long do you eat this way? It depends on what you want to lose. Most people are in phase one for 5 days before they move onto phase 2. Expect to lose around 4-10 pounds.

Phase II of Dukan Diet: Cruise

Phase I Food plus green non-starch vegetables

Don’t go droolin’ on yourselves, now.

• Zucchini
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Mushrooms
• Celery
• …You know—green stuff mostly.
• 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran.

Do this for another 10 days. Cycle back between phases 1 and 2 until you reach your goal weight. Then….

Phase III of Dukan Diet: Consolidation

CONGRATS! If you’re here, it’s because you lost the weight you wanted to lose. Now, because you’re vulnerable to weight gain, you must adjust slowly to other foods.

Keep eating phase 1 and 2 food, but you can add two slices of whole grain bread, 1.5 ounces of cheese and a serving of fruit daily. Add two tablespoons of oat bran, now.

Then, twice a week, you can have one serving of pasta or other starchy foods and two cheat meals.

You do this 5 days for every pound you’ve lost. Think about that….if you lose 20 pounds, that’s 100 days. No cheating.

Phase IV of Dukan Diet: Permanent Stabilization

You made it! Yay! Now you can pretty much eat whatever you want except one day of the week you must eat protein only. Forever.

That’s it. That’s the Dukan Diet.

This is definitely a meat-lovers diet. While it is geared toward forcing your body to feast on fat for fuel, the reason for its lower rating by US News was nutrition/health. Keep that in mind and talk to a doc before you commit to anything new.

What do you think? If you’re not a fan, try taking a peek at the Mediterranean Diet. It’s not as harsh and very healthy.

If you’re trying to lose weight but don’t want to eat McDonald’s Farm over the course of the next few months, get CapsiLean. It burns calories, blocks carbs and burns fat. Get it here.