The story of the origin of Pierre Ducan's diet is quite interesting. The French neurologist had a friend who couldn't get rid of the excess weight and asked for his help. Pierre didn't have a dietetics degree at the time, so he didn't want to agree for a long time. In addition, his friend had one condition - he accepted all restrictions, but left meat in his diet.
Therefore, the doctor suggested that she eat only meat and drink 2 liters of water for five days. And to the great surprise, the man managed to lose 5 kilograms this way. The decision was made to continue the diet. Over the next five days, the man lost an additional 3 kilograms, and on the tenth day he began to add vegetables to his diet. The idea of the famous Ducan regime was therefore born out of nowhere. And the patient managed to normalize his weight, losing 40 kilograms. Learn more about the facts, rumors, recipes, and the idea of the method in our next article.
The essence of the diet is to consume the maximum amount of protein. It allows you to eat in unlimited quantities 100 types of products (72 of animal origin, and 28 of plant origin) and is based on natural products.
Ducan argued that a large amount of protein in the diet helps normalize weight. After all, protein is low in calories, and by digesting it the body uses more energy than when consuming carbohydrates. As a result, the fat is burned.
By limiting itself in the consumption of carbohydrates and fats, the body enters a state similar to starvation and uses up the body's fat stores.
There are 4 phases in the Ducan diet: attack phase (2-10 days), cruising phase (15-330 days), consolidation (50-500 days) and stabilization (throughout life).
Attack phase
This phase starts the metabolism in the body and it is during this period that a weight loss of 2-3 kg occurs in 2-10 days.
You can choose protein foods from the 68 allowed, the quantity is not limited, and you do not need to count calories. It can be beef, fish, chicken, eggs, soy or low fat cottage cheese. Allowed: chicken, chicken liver, turkey, beef, lean bacon, veal chops, braised veal, etc. The only source of carbohydrates allowed in this phase is 1. 5 tablespoon of oat bran.
You should drink at least 1. 5 liters of water and exercise daily for 20 minutes.
Cruise phase
The essence of this phase is to gradually achieve the desired shape by adding 32 types of vegetables to the diet.
During the second phase, a person typically loses 2 kilograms of weight in a week.
You can eat all-you-can-eat protein, like in the attack phase, as well as non-starchy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, or green beans. Protein foods and vegetables should be alternated daily.
Do not forget about the use of water (1. 5 liters per day) and 1 tbsp. Oat bran.
Consolidation phase
In the consolidation phase, the main task is not to lose weight, but to avoid weight gain.
You are allowed to eat an unlimited amount of protein and vegetables, low sugar fruits, cheese, and whole grain bread.
During this stage, you can eat 1-2 servings of foods with starch and 1-2 dishes that are not on the allowed list.
During the consolidation phase, it is sufficient to eat a pure protein meal one day a week, preferably the same day each week.
Make sure you don't forget about physical activity.
Stabilization phase
It is the longest of all the phases. Its goal is to balance a person's nutrition forever.
You can eat absolutely anything, by following a few simple rules. Reserve a protein day once a week, as in the attack phase.
Eat 3 tablespoons of oat bran a day and exercise for 20 minutes a day.
Below we have prepared an example of a weekly Dukan diet for the first phase for you:
| Day of the week | Breakfast | Having dinner | Having dinner |
| On Monday |
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|
Cooked fish |
| Tuesday |
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|
|
| Wednesday |
|
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Bran Chicken Nuggets |
| Thursday |
|
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Chicken curry |
| Friday |
|
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Beef steak |
| Saturday |
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Meatballs in the oven |
| Sunday |
|
|
Seafood compote |
