« Older Entries

What is Dukan Diet and its side-effects?

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

mediaimage
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.

Tags:

Weight Loss for a Life Change

The first day of a new year is the best time to renew one’s commitment to healthy living with weight loss. You’ve spent the past year focused on working toward your family’s success, or your career success and you’ve gotten busy or distracted from that goal. This could mean you put yourself last on the priority list or not even at all. As a result, you’ve been noticing that you’re in the department store again looking for a larger size pants, tops, dresses, or work clothes that camouflage as much as possible. Often times throughout the past year, you thought to yourself “so what I’ve put on a few pounds.” You may step on the scale to find out that the number you get, combined with your waist measurement, age, and height equal a BMI number (Body Mass Index) that you and your doctors are very disappointed with. So you’ve been trying, since the start of the holiday season to watch what you eat and exercise harder to sweat harder and ache more than you ever have before.

During the early stages of your DIY weight loss process, your skin and hair looks healthier from improved circulation, but the layers of fat on your abdomen, hips, buttocks, and legs are sometimes still there. So you still aren’t satisfied. On one hand, your doctors are noticing improvements in your blood pressure and cholesterol, but you want to look good too. On the other hand, the amount of time that the weight has stayed on has taken its toll on your respiratory ability to handle the work outs every single day. The workouts begin to take their toll on your joints and muscles. This doesn’t mean that your muscles won’t adjust to the workouts with time and efficient effort, but you do have to be careful with your aging joints. So you see this as the perfect opportunity to call upon the efforts and expertise of a weight loss professional at a medical or holistic facility to help you get on the right track in a careful and successful way.

One of the first pieces of information that you will receive will include the fact that effective weight loss for stubborn bodies is achieved by a multifaceted approach. There are several physical internal and external options that accompany therapeutic methods to help curb the behaviors that caused the food mistakes or unhealthy relationship with dieting. Therefore, practicing doctors, licensed dieticians and educated therapists treat patients with their wealth of experience, trail, and practice to create an individualized plan for each patient based on their methodology. They align the practice that will help each man or woman overcome their past hurdles. They work with each patient over several months or an entire year to find the right combination of treatment with medication, exercise routines, nutrition options and therapy supplementation to enact the behavioral change that each person would like to see. The development of healthy habits is critical to weight loss success. It will be those habits that keep the new body throughout the New Year and for the rest of your life.

Tags:

Diets And Weight Loss Secrets – 3 Reasons Why Your Weight Loss Diet Is Not Working

Do you know diets and weight loss secrets that can really make you lose weight fast? You are really serious about losing weight fast, and it seems like ages now since you embraced your weight loss diet. But it’s not yielding any significant result, and you now find yourself on the brink of frustration. If this is really the case, it is time you sat back and investigated the reasons behind your poor results. Chances are that some of these bad habits have sneaked in and are disrupting your weight loss efforts.

1. Diet Traps

I won’t be surprised if you have fallen for one of these, considering the number of weight loss myths going about without knowing diets and weight loss secrets. One of the most common commercial tactics to appeal to dieters is manufacturing fat-free foods. You will see it on cookie boxes, jars of dressings and jams, and even ice-creams. What you need to realize is that losing weight fast does not involve cutting fat from your diet. What you need, instead, is to cut calories. However, to compensate for the lack of taste, when the fat is omitted, manufacturers load their products with flavored syrups, sugar, salt or starch. So, what you get at the end of the day is empty calories, which is counter-productive to your weight loss efforts.

Another diets and weight loss secrets you should know is that there are other common ‘weight loss’ food categories that people tend to fall for are flavored, fat-free yogurt and fruit juices. Both these may involve high quantities of added sugars, which end up packing you with calories, without making you feel full or satisfied. While 100% fruit juices are a lot healthier, they too contain none of the fiber of whole fruit, and therefore can’t make you feel satisfied. If you want to make a low-fat yogurt a part of your weight loss diet, get one which is also low in added sugar and calories.

2. Eating For Reasons Other Than Hunger

We all do this every now and then, some more than others. The problem is that if you get caught in the ‘comfort food’ trap every time you are feeling stressed or are dealing with loneliness or emotional pressure, it won’t do your weight loss efforts any favors, and you will only end up compounding your guilt. Of course, no one picks up a light salad when they are stressed! Try something different the next time you are really stressed, rather that rushing to your favorite hamburger joint or ice-cream parlor. Exercise is a far more productive way of relieving stress. You don’t have to pump iron in a gym. Simply go out for a walk to a nice place, do yoga, or even a little bit of meditation will help.

3. A Large Dinner

So you stay committed to a strict diet all day long, and anxious to avoid junk snacks and meals, you end up eating a meal or two less during your busy day. The inevitable consequence: a large dinner. However, night-time is the worst time to pack in the calories, and it can completely destroy your weight loss efforts. It is when your body is preparing to sleep and the last thing it needs is excess food. Also, a large dinner can affect the quality of your sleep negatively, and if your body is not well rested, your metabolism slows down. If you are serious about losing weight fast, you should eat frequently during the day (at least 4-5 times) and have a light dinner.

If you can avoid these common pitfalls by understanding diets and weight loss secrets, there is no reason why your weight loss diet won’t be a great success.

You are free to publish this article without any change in the content electronically, in print, in your e-book, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author resource details are included.

Tags: