This article gives pertinent information about Dukan Diet and its side-effects

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Pierre Dukan, a French doctor and nutritionist, challenged with the case of obesity started to look for alternative ways in curing the illness. After 20 years of thorough research he published in the year 2000, a book called, “Je ne sais pas maigrir” or translated as, “I don’t know how to get slimmer.” It gained the best-seller in France after a year it has been published.
It was made a hit in UK when Kate Middleton, now the duchess of Cambridge, tried the Dukan Diet before her marriage to the beloved Prince William, she reportedly claimed a loss of two dress sizes. It also allegedly claimed to help five million French. The book is also gaining fame in the US in the year 2011 when actress/singer, Jennifer Lopez, lost pounds after her pregnancy by following this diet.
Dukan Diet: What is it? How does this work?
Dukan Diet is similar to the famous Atkins diet. Atkins and Dukan are much alike in terms of non-intake of carbs initially and do not require portion control or counting calorie consumptions. In Atkins, it requires net carbohydrate intakes and unlike Dukan, it suggests a daily intake of oats, increase water consumption and 20 minutes of everyday brisk walking. Dukan Diet adopts four phases namely: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization.
Four Phases of the Dukan Diet
Attack: In this starter phase, the dieter is only allowed take protein rich foods that are exquisitely low in fat. Dr. Dukan provided 72-item list of foods to be eaten, it excludes pork, lamb, poultry products and cheeses. Food should always be cooked but without adding any fat to it, it best to cook in grilling or roasting. It also requires you to eat 1 ½ tbsp. oat bran & 1.5 liters of water per day. This phase should be followed around 2-7 days or more. Results from this initial phase within 5 days may result in 4-7 lbs. loss. This phase promotes quick loss of weight since it is strictly based on a protein-only diet.
Cruise: Cruise, the second to the fourth phase of the Dukan diet scheme. During this phase dieters who were only allowed to eat protein-only foods can now alternate a 28-items of non-starchy vegetables. They may take attack phase diet for today and take non-starchy veggie diet for tomorrow, and so this phase must go on by alternating these two types of diet each day. This phase may last long enough as much as you want by reaching your desired weight and assuring 2 pounds per week loss.
Consolidation: As one achieves the desired weight, one has to go the next phase called Consolidation, this is the maintenance phase of this diet scheme where you have to prevent putting back excess pounds. The plan in this phase is less strict compared to the first two phases. During this phase you are permitted to eat protein-only and veggie diet along with a piece of low-sugar fruit, 2 slices of whole grain bread and a portion of hard cheese. In this phase you are allowed to have 1-2 serving of starchy foods and one celebration meal per week. The phase of consolidation does not expect to loss off pounds but rather it is steadily the maintenance process.
Stabilization: Stabilization is the final phase and a life-long phase of the diet scheme. In here maintenance of the life-changing diet may be a challenging and tempting. During this portion of the scheme, one is already permitted to allow any food intake that a person wants and by also sticking to the diet rule in the consolidation phase. As Pierre Dukan suggest, that staying on the phase 1 rule once a week and eat whatever you like for the rest of the week lowers the chances of regaining weight.
Pros and Cons of Dukan Diet
Pros: The fast results of this diet scheme is beneficially rewarding and motivating. It allows you to have protein and veggie meal plan diets and does not require you to count off your calorie intakes.
Cons: It is highly restrictive and can exclude healthy foods. Dieters can experience side-effects such as symptoms of headaches, nausea, lethargy, irritable and loss of concentration. Dieters may acquire halitosis (bad breath), metallic tasting mouth and strong smell in their urines. For those people who have problems with their kidneys and liver are not advised to follow this diet plan. It is not also recommended for pregnant and nursing mothers.

Views and Opinions by Health Experts on the Dukan Diet
There are lots of critics in this diet plan. Due to the restrictive type scheme of this diet, some fruits, grains and nuts which are healthy and have high amounts of vitamins and minerals that are vital to the nutrition of the body are eliminated. Keri Gans of American Dietetic Association, said that the lost amount of multivitamins that should be acquired from those restricted foods are not compensated in the Dukan diet. Experts have also criticized that experiencing such side-effects may not be healthy at all.

Everyone leads a busy life running around to office. One often misses out on the important meals of the day. Dieting is the new way of losing weight. But are we really able to do that? The answer is no. What we need is a balanced diet for weight loss.

The story of skipping meals and eating a lot more than they should out of hunger is very common today. This makes them lose and gain weight in a dangerous manner that can prove to be really unhealthy and harmful in the long run. Besides weight loss must always be proportionate. That’s why it so happens, that one puts on weight in a weird manner. It is very important to have a balanced and low calorie diet. It is only a balanced diet with the right amount of meals and nutrition that is going to help us lose weight. Dieting gets you absolutely nowhere. In fact health experts consider it the worst thing to have ever struck human beings. Instead of dieting if one eats right and exercises right there can be a whole lot of difference as far as weight loss is concerned and it will be beneficial to your health as well. So what does one include in that kind of diet for weight loss? The answer to that is a lot of nutrition.

One must include the right amount of proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats and carbohydrates in your diet. One should make sure they don’t consume too much of oily food which only add to the calories. A once in a while splurge is fine but what is important is that after meals, the exercise regime is carried out on a regular basis. A low calorie diet and a strict regime of exercise is what will see you through.

Another method that is followed by many today is using weight loss supplements. These supplements make you lose weight in a quicker and efficient way. But sadly most people feel that only these weight loss supplements are enough. You still need to exercise and eat a well balanced diet for weight loss. You have to burn calories and fats – they won’t go away by themselves. You should also keep a check on your consumption levels and avoid extra fats. Weight supplement companies will only sell their products and not mention these things. It is you who has to take care of such things.

A low calorie yet nutritious diet will help you by improving your metabolism. It can actually turn your body into a fat burning machine. The diet will prevent fats entering your system in the first place. So the benefits are many. A balanced diet for weight loss and a positive mindset are the main ingredients to a healthy lifestyle. Losing weight is important and the right way to lose it is even more important. After all majority of our problems in old age are caused due to being overweight. Why even reach that stage?

You may be looking to lose weight either for health reasons or to improve your appearance, whatever the reason you will most likely be looking for tips or advice on how to get started. Tips and advice are things that are not in short supply and this article will highlight a number of them that will definitely help you in your quest to lose weight.

Eat the right things!

Number one on the list must be to eat healthily. Eating healthily means watching and monitoring exactly what you eat and not necessarily how much you eat. You could in reality end up eating more than you were before starting your diet by swapping junk foods that contain high levels of calories with fruits and vegetables that are what are classed as negative foods (foods that contain fewer calories than are used to digest them!).

One of the first things you should do when looking at improving your diet is to learn a little about the foods that are good for you and those that are not. We have already mentioned those that are good for you; the negative calorie group of foods, their opposites the bad foods, often referred to as junk foods, are the foods that take fewer calories to digest than they contain, therefore they leave unused calories in the body, that if left unused will turn into fat. These foods are known as empty calorie foods and must be either limited and controlled or eliminated from your diet completely. It is a drastic step to look at completely eliminating them from your diet so limitation is probably the favored option.

Plan your meals to be as varied as possible.

In order to succeed in your diet change it is advisable to vary your meal plans as much as possible to avoid the drudgery that is often associated with a change to a low fat or healthier diet. The easiest way to find out information related to healthy foods and recipes is to look for it on the internet. One valuable piece of advice would be to find a good weight loss program that utilizes a method called calorie shifting.

Low calorie and fad diets should be avoided as they are all detrimental to your health!

Any diet that forces the body’s metabolism to go into starvation mode is a bad diet as it will lead to fatigue, illness and a poor immune system. This bodily reaction happens because the body eventually gets used to the level of calories being consumed and over time adapts to survive at this newer lower level of calorific intake. This in itself is ok, but should the intake of calories drop below that which the body requires to function normally and to carry out normal day to day tasks the body will start to burn fat in order to service its needs. The problem is that the body will become critically low in energy and as a result you will be constantly fatigued, this is a fundamental sign of starvation, and that is not a good thing!

In the second part of this article we take a look at Calorie shifting, exercise and goal setting all vital to your weight loss plan.