Perhaps it’s because I have been up since 4am today but I found one article on the BBC news particularly irksome. The article was about the current fad called the Dukan diet. It’s not that this diet is worse than any other, I get very annoyed at the term ‘diet’ in general and especially at these fad diets that are not sustainable in the long run.
The Dukan diet is essentially a 4 phase diet that starts with a protein only week (the attack phase). Then the next week you start to introduce some more vegetables before the 3rd phase allows you to have fruit, bread and other starches. The final phase allows you to eat whatever you want but you must follow some simple rules. Now this is a basic summary and there is a bit more to it but you can use Google to delve deeper (if you must).
So I have a few problems with this.
- So the first week you are eating high protein food and no vegetables…doesn’t sound very healthy or balanced. The body needs to get essential nutrients from animal and plant sources for normal metabolic, hormonal, enzyme, and immune system functioning.
- Nearly everything on the list is fat free or low fat…so we don’t need fat soluble vitamins?
- The 3rd phase introduces bread and fruits but these processed (bread) and sugars (fruits) are the last thing that someone trying to lose fat needs.
- The 4th phase lets you go back to normal as long as you eat one portion of protein a day and ‘take the stairs’. For crying out loud! So if I eat a lot of food and this makes me fat then after 4 weeks on a strict diet (in which I lost some fat) I go back to what I was eating this won’t make me fat like it did the first time?
- The creator himself suggests avoiding strenuous activities during the attack phase as you may feel tired due to the lack of carbs…so let your metabolism slow down, get even more unfit…don’t eat carbs you get too tired to do stuff – if ever there was a sign that our bodies NEED carbs.
- Most importantly, this is so strict and almost impossible to commit to. And this is the problem I have with nearly all diets.
Even if you can stick with this for a month it will not last forever and has not taught any
good eating habits. To be fair to the BBC the nutritionist that they interviewed pretty much said the same. Initially it seems good as you are pretty much guaranteed to lose some weight at the start but this method is not sustainable.
Good eating is simple but the message is not reported by the media. Everyone should eat a balanced, healthy diet consisting of clean, whole foods and not processed rubbish. Meat, fish, eggs, veggies should be the bulk of what you eat. If you are a bit tubby and what to lose some weight then you should cut down on the fruit and starchy carbs (less potato with dinner, have more veg instead).
References
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/changingshape5.htm
http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2011/05/the-dukan-diet-whats-it-all-about/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukan_Diet
http://dukandietmenu.blogspot.com/
http://thedukandietsite.com/774/28-vegetables-added-in-the-cruise-phase-of-the-dukan-diet/
http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=4889028
http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/pierre-dukan-diet.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/30/dukan-diet-france-health-affect
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