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It’s said that Kate Middleton followed the ‘new Atkins diet’ to fit into her wedding dress and that singer Jennifer Lopez and supermodel Gisele Bündchen both committed to the French high protein plan to lose post-baby pounds. What people like about the Dukan method is what made the Atkins diet so popular: you can eat as much as you want – as long as most of what you eat is fish, meat and fat-free cheese. But the buzz the Dukan diet is generating isn’t all positive and French doctors are concerned it could pose health risks. According to founder Doctor Pierre Dukan, obesity is the real risk.

How it works

Just like the Atkins diet before it, the Dukan method relies on a process called ketosis to help you shed pounds. In ketosis the body converts fat into energy, rather than carbohydrates – which you are not part of the plan. Dukan claims you lose up to 2 stone in a few weeks without feeling deprived by following a four phase plan.

In phase one, which lasts up to one week, only seafood, lean meat, fat-free cheese and dairy products and eggs can be eaten, along with loads of water and oat bran. In phase two, certain vegetables are added to the diet and then, in phase three, small amounts of fruit, starches, bread and wine can be added to the diet. In the final ‘stabilisation’ phase you can eat whatever you want to – for the rest of your life – as long as you eat all-protein one day a week.

Too good to be true?

Some claim the Dukan diet can do more harm than good, actually damaging the health of dieters. A survey of 5,000 followers of the plan found that 80 per cent regained all the weight they lost within three years. Experts who analysed the results of the survey claim the Dukan diet, rather than being a sound weight loss method, is a health risk.

Dr Boris Hansel, a metabolism specialist at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, said: ‘The diet is not a long-term success because it does not meet our body’s needs. There are real risks… infertility, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure, type-two diabetes, liver disease or cardiovascular problems. Following this diet is not harmless; it could cause real health problems.’

Dukan rejects this criticism, as well as criticism that his diet is unhealthy for pregnant women. France’s biggest selling author says his diet is healthy, based on returning to ‘the foods which founded the human species, those eaten by primitive man, the hunter-gatherers, proteins and vegetables, 100 foods including 72 from the animal world and 28 from the plant world.’ It’s obesity, according to Dukan, that we should be worried about.

Tags: diet, weight loss