The history about the origins of Pierre Ducan’s diet is quite interesting. A 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 the time, so he did not want to agree for long. In addition, his friend had one condition - he agreed to any restrictions, but leave meat in the diet.
Therefore, the doctor recommended that he eat only meat and drink 2 liters of water for five days. And surprisingly, the man managed to lose 5 kilograms this way. The decision was made to follow the diet. Over the next five days, the man lost another 3 kilograms, and on the tenth day he started adding 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 method idea in our next article.
The essence of the diet is to eat the maximum amount of protein. It allows you to consume 100 types of product (72 of animal origin, and 28 of plant origin) in unlimited quantities 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 when digested, the body uses more energy than when you eat carbohydrates. As a result, fat is burned.
By limiting itself in the consumption of carbohydrates and fats, the body enters a state similar to hunger and uses up the body’s fat reserves.
The Ducan diet consists of 4 stages: aggression phase (2-10 days), cruising phase (15-330 days), consolidation (50-500 days) and stabilization (lifetime).
Stage of attack
This stage starts the metabolism in the body and it is during this period that 2-3 kg weight loss occurs within 2-10 days.
You can choose protein foods from the 68 allowed, 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. Approved: chicken, chicken liver, turkey, beef, lean bacon, veal chops, braised veal, etc. The only carbohydrate source allowed in this step is 1. 5 tablespoons of oat bran.
You need to drink at least 1. 5 liters of water and exercise daily for 20 minutes.
Cruise stage
The essence of this step is to gradually achieve the desired shape by adding 32 kinds of vegetables to the diet.
During the second stage, a person usually loses 2 kilograms of weight within a week.
You can eat unlimited protein, just like in the attack phase, as well as non-starchy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, or green beans. Protein foods and vegetables should be exchanged daily.
We must not forget about the use of water (1. 5 liters per day) and 1 tbsp. oat bran.
Condensation 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 breads.
During this phase, you can eat 1-2 servings of starchy foods, and 1-2 dishes that are not on the allowed list.
During the condensation phase, you only need to eat a pure protein meal one day a week, possibly the same day each week.
Be sure to remember physical activity.
Stabilization step
This is the longest step. Its aim is to balance a person's nutrition forever.
You can eat 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 a day.
Below we have prepared a sample for you of the weekly Dukan diet for the first step:
| Day of the week | Breakfast | Dinner | Dinner |
| Monday |
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Baked fish |
| Tuesday |
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| Wednesday |
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Chicken buttons with bran |
| Thursday |
|
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Chicken curry |
| Friday |
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Beef steak |
| Saturday |
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Baked meat balls |
| Sunday |
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|
Bia mara stewed |
