The Dukan diet is a dietary system that was popularized by Dr. Pierre Dukan, a neurologist who focused on nutrition. He was inspired by the weight loss of a friend who followed his recommendation to eliminate all foods except proteins from his diet.

This diet became immensely popular after the publication of Dukan’s book The Dukan Diet and through the publicity it gained from celebrities who successfully lost weight by following this diet. However, as with most diets, the Dukan diet is not without its share of controversy and debate in terms of its benefits and faults. Here are some pros and cons of the diet.

Pros

• The diet has a limited list of foods allowed, but there is no limit on the quantity that one can consume. This eliminates the hunger pangs that one associates with dieting.
• The diet is protein based, which makes it preferable to meat lovers.
• The diet aims to achieve significant weight loss in the first phase, which is very encouraging and motivating.
• The diet is planned to be a lifelong sustainable one so that one does not rebound and put on all the weight that has been lost.
• The diet is not very difficult to follow as food preparation is not complicated and does not call for any exotic ingredients.
• One’s intake of unsweetened tea, coffee, sugar-free gum, artificial sweeteners, and spices are not restricted. One can also enjoy a glass of wine every day in the last two phases of the diet.
• There are plenty of success stories and testimonials from both celebrities and ordinary people who have succeeded in losing weight through this diet.

Cons

• The diet is largely based on animal protein, and it offers limited pure protein options for vegetarians and vegans.
• Eating so much bran and protein can get boring after some time, and it can be hard to consume regularly for some.
• This diet is risky for those with certain pre-existing health problems and conditions. The sudden lack of carbohydrates in the first two stages will require adjustments in medication for diabetes. The protein overload is not good for those with renal problems. The lack of adequate fiber poses a problem for those with heart and digestive problems.
• Being a ketogenic diet, the Dukan diet works on the principle of starving the body of carbohydrates, leading to an absence of glucose. This causes the body to break down fats to produce energy in the form of ketones. This is called ketosis. Side effects could include dehydration, constipation, bad breath, fatigue, headaches, and nausea.
• The diet can adversely impact one’s gut health due to the lack of dietary fiber.
• Nutritionists question the low amount of fiber in the diet, the lack of a balanced intake of fruits and vegetables, and the lack of good fats. The diet could cause nutrient deficiencies.
• If the amount of weight to be lost is significant, the consolidation phase of the Dukan diet will be very long. Nutritionists do not recommend that a person be deprived of balanced food intake for such extended periods of time.