The Dukan Diet is a high-protein

low-carbohydrate Low-carbohydrate diets restrict carbohydrate consumption relative to the average diet. Foods high in carbohydrates (e.g., sugar, bread, pasta) are limited, and replaced with foods containing a higher percentage of fat and protein (nutrient), pr ...

fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defini ...

devised by

Pierre Dukan Pierre Dukan is a French former nutritionist, and the creator of the fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreason ...

Description

The Dukan diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet with four phases, each of which has specific rules.

History

In 1975,

was a general practitioner in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

when he was first confronted with a case of

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...

. At the time, being overweight or obese was thought to be best treated by

low calorie Calorie restriction (caloric restriction or energy restriction) is a Diet (nutrition), dietary regimen that reduces intake of energy from caloric foods & beverages without incurring malnutrition. "Reduce" can be defined relative to the subject's p ...

and small sized meals. Dukan thought of an alternative way to prevent patients from regaining their lost weight. He designed a new approach in four phases, including stabilisation and consolidation. After more than 20 years of research Pierre Dukan published his findings in 2000 in his book ''Je ne sais pas maigrir'' (''I don't know how to get slimmer''), which became a best seller. In July 2011, a French court ruled against Dukan in his attempt to sue rival nutritionist

Jean-Michel Cohen Jean-Michel Cohen (born 22 May 1959) is a French nutritionist and author, best known for the ''Parisian Diet''. Biography Cohen received his M.D and PhD in nutrition from the Paris Diderot University in 1983, after which he worked as a nutritio ...

for

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

, after Cohen had criticised his method in the press. In 2013, Dukan, then aged 72, was banned from practising as a GP in France for eight days for breaching

medical ethics Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...

by prescribing a

diet pill Anti-obesity medication or weight loss medications are pharmacological agents that reduce or control weight. These medications alter one of the fundamental processes of the human body, weight regulation, by altering either appetite, or absor ...

to one of his patients in the 1970s that was later pulled from the market.

Related diets

Pierre Dukan said the

paleo diet The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or stone-age diet is a modern fad diet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten by humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet avoids processed food and typically incl ...

was a copy of his weight loss strategy. The Paleolithic diet is claimed to be based on the human ancestral diet. Other similar diets include the

ketogenic diet The ketogenic diet is a high- fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate dietary therapy that in conventional medicine is used mainly to treat hard-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than ca ...

being low carb moderate protein and high fats and

Atkins diet The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, marketed with claims that carbohydrate restriction is crucial to weight loss and that the diet offered "a high calorie way to stay thin forever". The diet bec ...

being low carb high protein and moderate fats.

Promotion and media exposure

Dukan has been promoting his diet since the 1970s; it gained a wider audience after the 2000 publication of his book, ''The Dukan Diet'', which has sold more than 7 million copies globally. The book was released in the United Kingdom in May 2010, and in the United States in April 2011. The French magazine ''

L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

list of the 20 top-selling non-fiction books for the week of 27 December 2010 ranked ''La méthode Dukan illustrée'' in 19th place.

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

included the diet in the programme ''Will my crash diet kill me?'' on 26 January 2011. The American spokesperson for the diet is culinary dietitian

Gina Keatley Gina Keatley (born March 9, 1980) is an American nutritionist, Celebrity, media personality, and television host. She is better known for her food-focused television shows and her approach to health and weight loss. Gina was awarded ''The Preside ...

Reception

The Dukan diet is categorized as a commercial

and carries some risk of causing

chronic kidney disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of kidney disease in which a gradual loss of kidney function occurs over a period of months to years. Initially generally no symptoms are seen, but later symptoms may include leg swelling, feeling tired, vo ...

and worsened

cardiovascular health Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

. It is unclear whether it helps people lose weight or increase their

glucose tolerance Prediabetes is a component of the metabolic syndrome and is characterized by elevated blood sugar levels that fall below the threshold to diagnose diabetes mellitus. It usually does not cause symptoms but people with prediabetes often have obesit ...

Nephrolithiasis Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine s ...

is a potential side effect of the diet that is of particular concern to people with a history of kidney stone formation. The

British Dietetic Association The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is a professional association and trade union for dietitians in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1936 and became a certified union in 1982: it is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress and the Scottis ...

have named the Dukan Diet the number 1 "diet to avoid".

References

External links

Dukan Diet – United States siteDukan Diet – UK site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dukan Diet Dieting books Fad diets French inventions Health in France High-protein diets Low-carbohydrate diets