The Dukan diet is also known as the protein, protein and Protal diets. The originator of this famous diet is the former French dietician Pierre Dukan, who in 2013 was banned from practicing medicine in France. Despite this, the Dukan diet has gained the name of one of the most popular weight loss diets around the world in recent years and is a nutrition model for many people.
What can you eat on the Dukan diet? Sample menu and stages of a protein diet
What is a protein diet? The principles of the Dukan diet are very specific and precise. The most important principle of the Dukan diet is to increase the protein intake in the diet, while reducing the supply of carbohydrates and fats. The Dukan protein diet consists of 4 phases that follow each other directly. These include:
- Phase I – impact,
- Phase II – alternating,
- Phase III – unification,
- Phase IV – stabilization.
The first phase of the Dukan diet usually lasts from 5 to 10 days.EssentialGoalinitial stage isputting the body into a state of ketosis, which suppresses the feeling of hunger, and ensuring rapid weight loss, motivating to continue following the diet. In this phase of the Dukan diet, there is no need to scrupulously count calories or limit the number of meals eaten during the day, butit is allowed to eat only products with a high protein content. Therefore, you can eat high-protein and low-fat foods, such as lean types of meat (e.g. turkey, chicken, rabbit), offal (liver, kidneys), cold cuts, eggs, low-fat milk and dairy products (m.in. yoghurts, cottage cheese, cottage cheese, Scandinavian-type cheese),tofu,seitan, tempeh and fish and seafood. In addition, you can include bran, lemon, gherkins, vinegar, spices, water, coffee, tea and herbal infusions (without sugar) in your diet.
The second phase of the Dukan diet lasts until the desired and satisfactory body weight is achieved. In the second phase of the protein diet, lean protein products and vegetables are eaten for 1–5 days, alternating with 1–5 days in which only low-fat protein products are eaten until the proper body weight is achieved. Vegetables are allowed without limit both raw and cooked. In this phase, you can eat vegetables such as tomato, cucumber, radish, spinach, asparagus, leek, green beans, cabbage, celery, fennel and fennel, all types of lettuce, Swiss chard, eggplant, zucchini, and even carrots and beets, as long as they are not added to every meal. In the second phase, you should not eat vegetables that contain large amounts of starch, namely potatoes, peas, broad beans and lentils. When preparing salads and salads, avocado and ready-made sauces must also not be used. Natural yogurt is perfect as a salad dressing. At this stage, products rich in carbohydrates and fats are still excluded.
The third phase of the Dukan diet is called the consolidation or unification phase, and its main goal is to avoid the yo-yo effect, i.e. weight gain again. The expected length of the third part of the protein diet depends on the number of kilograms lost in phase two, with ten days for every kilogram lost. This means that if someone lost 10 kilograms in the second part of the Dukan diet, the unification phase should last 100 days, i.e. just over 3 months. In the third phase, the menu of the Dukan diet is enriched with small amounts of whole grain products (m.in. wholemeal rye bread, dark pasta, bulgur, brown rice), potatoes, legumes (e.g. lentils) and fruits with low sugar content. Being on the Dukan diet in the unification phase, you can also eat meats such as leg of lamb, pork tenderloin and cooked ham. In the third phase of the Dukan protein diet, bananas, grapes, cherries and nuts must not be eaten.
The last, fourth phase of the Dukan diet is called the stabilization phase, and its main goal is to maintain a healthy body weight for a long time. It does not include any restrictive dietary recommendations, but you should follow a high-protein diet one day a week and consume 3 tablespoons of bran every day to prevent constipation. This part of the Dukan diet, according to the author’s concept, should last as long as possible.
What is not allowed to eat on the Dukan diet?
Being on the Dukan diet, it is essential to follow the products allowed for each phase and avoid those that are not recommended in the menu, as they can prevent you from achieving the desired results. In the first part of the Dukan diet, you must not eat anything but low-fat protein products. In the second phase, you should eat nothing except lean protein products and vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, cucumber, tomato, asparagus, lettuce, cabbage, zucchini, spinach, kale, pumpkin, onion, leek, green beans, carrots, cauliflower. In the third phase of the Dukan protein diet, bananas, grapes, figs, cherries, nuts and sugar-sweetened products must not be eaten, and the consumption of alcoholic beverages should also be excluded from the menu.
Effects of the diet – how much weight do you lose on the Dukan diet?
Many people ask themselves how much weight can you lose on a protein diet and can you actually reduce body fat and weight with it? It is estimated that in the first stage of the Dukan diet, you usually lose 2-3 kilograms. However, people with very high obesity can lose up to 4-5 kilograms on a protein diet after the first 10 days. In the second stage of the Dukan diet, weight loss is on average about 0.5-1.0 kg per week and depends on many factors, such as health condition, baseline weight, level of physical activity, long-term medications, stress, sleep, specifics of work and motivation to follow nutritional recommendations in the long term. The effectiveness of the Dukan diet in the first two phases is mainly due to a clear reduction in calorie intake along with the diet, which allows you to generate a large energy deficit absolutely necessary to lose weight effectively.