Only days before the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Dukan Diet took center stage as the weight loss protocol the future Princess of Wales and her mother were using to prepare for the big day.
According to Royal insiders, Ms. Middleton was completely enamored with the “French Atkins Diet”, a high protein protocol formulated by French nutritionist and dietitian Dr. Pierre Dukan MD.
Dr. Dukan has promoted his method of eating for over 3 decades. It is only in recent years that the popularity of his diet has surged in Europe and now America.
What is the Dukan Diet?
In a nutshell, the Dukan Diet is the Atkins diet minus the fat with lots of oat bran. So, essentially lots of protein and fiber.
How any low-fat diet could be considered French is beyond me! The French are well known for their slimness and lower heart disease risk compared with other Western countries. This despite the inclusion of liberal amounts of butter and cream in their delectable cuisine. Being far removed from where their food comes from is why consumers get so easily snowed with the notion that low-fat equals weight loss. For example, livestock farmers know that feeding skim milk to pigs fattens them up in a hurry!
Four “French Atkins Diet” Phases
The Dukan Diet consists of a four-step program which promises quick weight loss that stays off forever. Weekly cycles include large amounts of water, protein-rich foods and oat bran, no fruit, some wine and dessert, and a few vegetables. Only 20 minutes of light exercise each day is recommended.
Like other diet fads, the Dukan Diet has no research to back up the premise of its four-step program. Certainly, no traditional cultures ever ate this way!
Just because a medical doctor designed it does not make it medically sound or even safe!
Why?? Dukan Diet Restricts Fruits and Veggies
One interesting aspect of this diet is the restriction of fruits and vegetables. Perhaps this is why so much oat bran is included in the program. All that protein constipates the system so a strong fiber is necessary to clear out the digestive tract in a hurry! No doubt, the increased frequency of trips to the bathroom from all that oat bran contributes to the rapid initial weight loss. This isn’t permanent weight loss, by the way!
Will the Dukan Diet stand the test of time? The unsustainability of a high protein, low carb, low-fat diet makes it highly unlikely. In addition, the diet reportedly includes little variety, so the chances of devotees straying to more satisfying foods such as veggies cooked in butter and full-fat ice cream, yogurt, and cheese seem high.
Although wrong on many fronts, the British Dietetic Association has pegged the Dukan Diet correctly: one of the five worst diets of 2011. Even France’s National Agency for Food, Environmental and Work Safety identified the Dukan Diet as risky.
Hopefully, Ms. Middleton dropped this diet right after the “I do’s”. With its alarming restriction on blood stabilizing, hormone normalizing fats, the Dukan Diet is clearly not an appropriate way to eat for a lady expected to produce strong heirs to the British throne!
Healthy Ways to Lose Weight
If the realization that the Dukan Diet is a fad has you depressed, fear not. There are a number of ways to drop pounds safely while eating real food in ratios that have stood the test of time all over the globe. Here are links to more information on some of these various protocols:
Using Coconut Oil to Lose Weight
Harcombe Diet
The Bone Broth Diet Plan
Raw milk Fast
Why BPC Might Not Equal Losing Weight
Source
Dukan Diet: Newest Fad or Weight-Loss Answer?
The 1972 and 1981 Atkins books both suggest taking psyllium husk capsules
It is better for diabetics to eat slow burning carbs: potatoes, peanut butter, vegetables, breads, dairy products, etc. VS. fast burning carbs: candy, sugared soda, cakes, ice cream, anything high in sugar. Just know what your carb/insulin ratios (how much insulin you have to give yourself for the amount of carbs you are intaking) are. Adjust according to the amount of carbs(sugars) you are intaking. And, you should be fine. Natural sugars are better than processed sugars.
I know this is an older post, as I was looking up “bran” I stumbled upon it. Did you see that Kate had a miscarriage? (Of course, it was just a tabloid cover I saw, so I have my doubts) But maybe she is still on this diet and the lack of fats contributed to an unstable environment for a baby to be created. Just a thought…
My local newspaper covered this story. It annoyed me how they kept referencing the Atkins diet which is totally different except for the low carb thing. Atkins is a very high fat diet, especially during induction and I have to say, before I discovered WAPF it was a revolutionary way of thinking for me. Of course, the person covering this story was completely anti-fat but it just annoys me when Atkins gets lumped in with every faddish low carb diet that pops up.
You are the proof of your own words because you look great! Of course, traditional cooking takes quite a bit of an initial investment but in the long run, it is well worth it. It still struggle to make it happen in my household consistently. Before discovering your blog, I was just living on meat, veggies and coconut oil. Now I feel like I can live a little and have more variety in my diet. I love that you don’t skimp on fats and that your cooking methods try to use most parts of the animal (an important value to me). Thank you, thank you!
Ranjani.