Everything Old is New Again – The Ultimate Crash Diet

Posted: Tuesday 20 April 2010 02:02pm

I feel a new diet coming on. Not mine, although I wouldn’t at all mind losing a few kilos, but another ultimate-lose-weight-for life-all-you-can-eat sensation, direct from France, land of the impossibly, apparently effortlessly slim and chic.

This particular ultimate diet is a protein-rich regime devised by eminent French nutritionist Dr Pierre Dukan, who has 30 years’ experience dealing with inveterate dieters’ “I don’t know how to lose weight” issues.

According to the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper website, the French have kept it secret for years. This seems a stretch as Dr Dukan’s first book was published 10 years ago and topped the bestseller list in France. Language is no apparent barrier in cyberspace, but I digress…

Since then The Dukan Diet has “spawned an underground dieting revolution of 200 websites, forums and blogs … today, more than 1.5 million French women swear by its dramatic – and long-lasting – slimming results,” says The Daily Mail.

“Politicians, film stars and high-profile models, including Gisele Bundchen and Jennifer Lopez, live the Dukan life, all of them seduced by its promise of the ultimate dieters dream – permanent slenderness while eating what you like. “

if it was a secret before it ain’t now, with the book being published in the UK next month by Hodder & Stoughton and excerpted in said Daily Mail. And, of course, news travels . . .

The Dukan Diet promotes four stages, the basis of which is the first, “Attack”, protein-only, rapid loss phase – this can last between one and 10 days depending on the weight of the individual – which may result in stripping 0.5-1kg off the scales overnight, primarily in fluid loss.

Of course, not all proteins are created equal and core to the diet are meat and poultry (no skin, duck or goose), fish, eggs and non-fat dairy products (suggestions being cottage cheese and non-fat yoghurt). This may sound a cornucopia of earthly delights but when carbs are essential energy-giving foods, these protein options (as well as tempers) may wear thin.

When weight is stabilised, and other foods are reintroduced, the fourth and final stage is a protein-only day once a week for life to maintain the results.

While researching myriad topics for the launch of Younger You, doctors and specialists in their respective fields have cautioned me: “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”

I will take this into account. Until today I hadn’t heard of The Dukan Diet but I am familiar with other of its ilk – The South Beach Diet (embraced by former US President Bill Clinton), The Zone (Jennifer Aniston in her Friends days) and Sugar Busters, among others.

All are high-protein and low or controlled carbohydrate plans and relatively low in kilojoules (energy), enough for most people to lose weight anyway.

According to the American Heart Association, protein-rich diets cause a quick drop in weight because cutting carbohydrate-rich foods from your menu causes a loss of body fluids. Additionally, protein (and fat) help to keep you feeling fuller longer and, so, reduce appetite.

But over an extended period, the breakdown products of burning large quantities of body fat for fuel – ketones – could accumulate and cause a condition called acidosis that may damage vital organs such as the liver and the kidneys.

If ketones reach dangerous proportions, dieters could suffer the same fate as diabetics without insulin – in a coma, which may even result in death.

On a lesser but unpleasant scale, side effects of accumulated ketones can include bad body odour and breath.

At risk of sounding like my dear-departed Nanna and after a lifetime watching my weight, if there was a miracle cure I would have found it by now. But I may well give the Dukan Diet a go … in moderation.

FURTHER READING
- The Clothesline Diet – 10 Winter Weight-loss Tips
- Belly Busters

by Jenni Gilbert

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