France’s Dukan Diet: Is It Safe?

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Have you heard of the Dukan Diet?  If you haven’t then chances are, very soon, you probably will.   Right now it’s the hottest diet in Europe and it’s getting ready to make it’s move to the United States.

In France the diet is HUGELY popular and, according the New York Time, people who lost weight with the diet even have their own nicknames – the “Dukanniste.”

One of the reasons for the exploding popularity of this diet is the fact that Kate Middleton, her mother, and other celebrities like Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lopez have taken it up.  Also, the diet promises very quick and very long-lasting weight loss by eating high-protein and low-carb foods.

The Dukan Diet

In France Dr. Pierre Dukan (the creator of the diet) has sold over 3.5 million books with translations in over 14 languages.  The book is now about to be made available in the United States and with it hundreds of blogs and online support forums.   Most of the marketing that will be unleashed promises that the Dukan Diet is the REAL reason that the French people stay so skinny.  This is highly contested by most critics who say that this diet is really just another version of the popular low carbohydrate based Atkins diet.

How The Dukan Diet Works

There are four stages of this diet.  The stages are:  Attack, Cruise, Consolidate, Stablilize

Attack

During this stage the people on the diet are only allowed to eat oat bran, foods that are low in fat and high in protein, and water to drink.

Cruise

During the Cruise Stage of  this diet followers are allowed to have vegetables every other day.  They are allowed to have the same foods from the first stage (oat brain, low-fat & high-protein, water) but they are not allowed to have any fruit.

Consolidation

The Consolidation stage comes after the dieters have lost a specified amount of weight.  Once it’s reached they can enter the Consolidation stage where they will be able to have “celebration meals” twice a week.  These “celebration meals” are meals in which the dieter is allowed to have wine,  dessert, and small amounts of cheese, bread and fruit.

Stablize

This is the last stage and it continues on for the remainder of the users life.  In the Stabilize Stage the dieter is allowed to eat anything they want 6 days a week.  On the 7th day they must eat only low-fat and high-protein foods as they did in the Attack Stage of the diet.  This stage requires a daily 20 minute walk and recommends that you do not take the elevator but that you take the stairs whenever possible.

So, Is France’s Dukan Diet Safe?

There has been much criticism of this diet due to it’s lack of fruits and vegetables.  Most Doctors say that from a cardiovascular standpoint, the diet isn’t very healthy.  A large study recently conducted in Europe found that every serving of fruits and vegetables that a person eats daily reduces the risk of a fatal heart attack by four percent.

The diet has also come under much fire in Europe.  The BDA (British Dietetic Association) called it one of the worst diets of 2011 and the French government’s National Agency For Food, Environmental And Work Health Safety said that the diet was “unbalanced” and potentially risky.

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