Dukan Diet Reviews

For more on the Dukan Diet

About the Dukan Diet

The Dukan Diet was developed by a French Doctor by the name of Pierre Dukan who wrote a very successful book about it. Instead of low calories it has a strong focus on nutrition instead. The idea behind it is that not only will dieters be spared from hunger, but will eat foods that result in effective and healthy weight loss. We are going to look at the significant amount of anecdotal evidence that has arisen from the Dukan diet and if it is in fact the real deal.

So as mentioned, the Dukan Diet does not restrict calories, it instead restricts the foods you are allowed to eat, namely keeping to a high protein low fat and carbohydrate ratio. It does this with 4 phases aimed at putting the body through its weight loss paces before coming to a continuous phase of maintenance.

What are people saying?

Food and Satiety

Not having to count and restrict calories is certainly an aspect of the Dukan Diet that is bound to be appreciated, so user reviews as a whole are positive. Being hungry all the time and battling the cravings is a clear downfall of other calorie limiting diets despite their weight loss merits.  The Dukan Diet is comprised of menu planning without strict restrictions on portion sizes. The foods on the menu are not to everybody’s tastes with some people finding it difficult to create diverse meals that are not boring or bland tasting. However, this could be an issue with adjusting to a diet void of the foods they are accustomed to. There is otherwise a good portion of those who belief the Dukan Diet gives them the opportunity to lose weight by preparing meals that are filling, varied and delicious.

Community

Because the Dukan diet is largely in part structured around eating restricted foods and focusing on nutritional content, there is scope for dieters to be creative with menu plans and meals. It is extremely useful and interesting for fellow dieters to share recipes and tips for utilizing the allowed foods of the diet (particularly for protein only days) and to discuss whether certain ingredients can be used. The diet was originally created according to the foods found in Dr. Dukan’s native land of France, so as the diet becomes more widespread, the global community has to translate Dr. Dukan’s foods to the equivalent of those ingredients and foods found locally. Because of this there is a tendency for communities to develop naturally for the purposes of support and information, the types of communities which the likes of Weight Watchers values for successful weightloss.

Weight Loss Results

The customer reviews from those have bought the book or followed the diet online has shown some very good results both in terms of rapid weight loss and the ability to keep it off in the long term. It is not unusual to hear of people losing between 11 and 22 pounds within the first several weeks. At the same time, there are those who feel like they get stuck after losing a good amount of initial weight, reminiscent of the plateau that most people reach at some point during any weight loss journey. The ability to reach weight loss goals are only as achievable as the weight loss goals themselves so there is still the onus of the dieter to have goals that are reasonably healthy and realistic, particularly since the weight loss will slow down after the initial big drops in weight.

Does the Dukan Diet work?

The foundations of the Dukan diet are aligned with some successful weight loss strategies however there is controversy (as there is with many diets) that the Dukan Diet does not have a good balance of nutrients and can actually be damaging. This opposition to the diet is echoed in other online plan reviews and by professionals in the medical and health field. It is no wonder Dr. Pierre himself recommends taking vitamins to compensate for the lack of intake from the diet but these are not an ideal substitute. There is online material and support for vegetarians who can of course use their usual sources of protein in the place of meat. Dr. Pierre was most recently blasted by healthy experts over his encouragement for pregnant woman to be on the Dukan diet.

Diets higher in lean protein and lower in carbohydrates and fat are certainly conducive to weight loss and the allowed foods for the Dukan diet may be more nutritious than the processed foods found in the common western supermarket diet of today, but there is still the question of balance and protein making too much a percentage of the diet. During the phases there are times where the Dukan diet is a protein only diet and despite the health concerns, these restrictions do lead to great satiety, less intake of carbs and fats and ultimately weight loss. As a long term weight loss and maintenance solution, the Dukan diet is by no means a good substitute for a balanced diet that will provide you with all the nutrients and minerals your body requires.