The Dukan diet.
The Dukan Diet
The Dukan diet is a high-protein, low-carb weight loss diet split into four phases — two weight loss phases and two maintenance phases.
How long you stay in each phase depends on how much weight you need to lose. Each phase has its own dietary pattern.
How it works: The weight loss phases are primarily based on eating unlimited high-protein foods and mandatory oat bran.
The other phases involve adding non-starchy vegetables followed by some carbs and fat. Later on, there will be fewer and fewer pure protein days to maintain your new weight.
Weight loss: In one study, women following the Dukan diet ate about 1,000 calories and 100 grams of protein per day and lost an average of 33 pounds (15 kg) in 8–10 weeks.
Also, many other studies show that high-protein, low-carb diets may have major weight loss benefits.
These include a higher metabolic rate, a decrease in the hunger hormone ghrelin and an increase in several fullness hormones.
Other benefits: Apart from weight loss, there are no recorded benefits of the Dukan diet in scientific literature.
The downside: There is very little quality research available on the Dukan diet.
The Dukan diet limits both fat and carbs — a strategy not based on science. On the contrary, consuming fat as part of a high-protein diet seems to increase metabolic rate compared to both low-carb and low-fat diets.
What’s more, fast weight loss achieved by severe calorie restriction tends to cause significant muscle loss.
The loss of muscle mass and severe calorie restriction may also cause your body to conserve energy, making it very easy to regain the weight after losing it.
SUMMARY
The Dukan diet has not been tested in quality human studies. The diet may cause weight loss, but it also may slow down your metabolism and make you lose muscle mass along with fat mass.
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