The history of the origin of Pierre Ducan's diet is quite interesting. The French neurologist had a friend who could not get rid of excess weight and asked for his help. Pierre had no qualifications in dietetics at that time, so he did not want to agree for a long time. In addition, his friend had one condition - he agreed to any restrictions, but leave meat in the diet.
Therefore, the doctor suggested that he eat only meat and drink 2 liters of water for five days. And to the surprise, the man managed to lose 5 kilograms in this way. The decision was made to continue the diet. Over the next five days, the man lost another 3 kilograms, and on the tenth day he began to add vegetables to the diet. So the idea for the famous Ducan Diet was born out of the blue. And the patient managed to normalize his weight, losing 40 kilograms. Read more about 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 high amount of protein in the diet helps to normalize weight. After all, protein is low in calories, and digesting it, the body uses more energy than when consuming carbohydrates. As a result, 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 reserves.
There are 4 phases in the Ducan diet: attack phase (2-10 days), cruise 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 weight loss of 2-3 kg occurs within 2-10 days.
You can choose protein foods from the 68 allowed ones, the amount is not limited and you do not need to count calories. This 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 carbohydrate source allowed in this phase is 1. 5 tablespoons of oat bran.
You must drink at least 1. 5 liters of water and exercise daily for 20 minutes.
Cruise phase
The essence of this phase is to achieve the desired shape gradually by adding 32 types of vegetables to the diet.
During the second phase, a person usually loses 2 kilograms in weight within a week.
You can eat unlimited protein, just like in the attack phase, as well as non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, or green beans. Protein foods and vegetables should be alternated daily.
We must 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 some whole grain bread.
During this stage, you can eat 1-2 servings of food containing starch, and 1-2 dishes that are not on the allowed list.
During the consolidation phase, you only need to eat a pure protein meal one day a week, preferably on the same day every week.
Be sure to remember about physical activity.
Stabilization phase
This is the longest of all phases. Its goal is to balance a person's nutrition forever.
You can eat absolutely anything, following some simple rules. Save a protein day once a week, as in the attack phase.
Eat 3 tablespoons of oat bran daily and exercise for 20 minutes daily.
Below we have prepared for you an example of a weekly Dukan diet for the first phase:
| Day of week | Breakfast | Dinner | Dinner |
| Monday |
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|
Baked fish |
| Tuesday |
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|
| Wednesday |
|
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Chicken nuggets with bran |
| Thursday |
|
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Chicken curry |
| Friday |
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Beef steak |
| Saturday |
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Baked meatballs |
| Sunday |
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|
Stewed seafood |
