Hey guys, you’ve probably heard about the whole Dr Dukan vs Dr Cohen lawsuit……
Dr Dukan famed for his Dukan diet used by celebrities, such as the Middletons, Jennifer Lopez and Gisele etc, is suing Dr Cohen for saying that his high protein diet is a health hazard.
Isn’t it funny that when you grow up you can sue people for saying something nasty about the other person and yet if this was the school playground…you push and shove each other saying “come on then!”
Anyway, I’m not saying I’m a follower of the diet but what the Dukan diet does right is that it recommends that you should eat real food, banning calorie counting from his diet and also recommends eating as many vegetables as you want.
Dr Cohen’s diet recommends eating 900kcals to 1600kcals a day. This is his recommendations for men. I wonder what he recommends for women….I’d probably pass out due to the caloric restriction.
From what I’ve read and heard, the science definitely seems to back up what Dr Dukan is recommending, when we consume protein roughly 25-30% of it is burned already due to the thermic effect of food, carbohydrates on the other hand seems to burn 5-15% and fats seem to be under debate. (click here to read study)
The real reason why the diet works is the effect on hormones, mainly insulin.
During the initial attack phase of the diet it says you should consume only protein for 7 days. This puts a lot of people off because there are no vegetables, no fruits, no carbohydrates, no dairy.
While I was researching on the Dukan diet, I came across the Cosmopolitan message board and women were having a debate about whether the diet was any good, one of them stuck out in my mind, she was convinced the diet was bad because it gave her headaches and she had no energy.
Let’s note that sugar is addictive. Food scientists are getting so good that we actually crave these foods. What was the Pringles slogan “once you pop you can’t stop!”
That’s what all the drug addicts are saying……
Imagine a drug addict suddenly goes cold turkey, what happens when they give up their drug addiction they obviously feel like crap and clearly it’s tough. This is exactly what happens to your body when you reduce your high sugar consumption. Exactly the same when we give up caffeine.
The attack phase of the Dukan diet seems fairly extreme but its purpose is to get you into ketosis.
Ketosis is a state in which the body produces ketone bodies during fat metabolism, this means your body is burning your own fat stores as energy.
If you were to eat any kind of sugar it would halt ketosis and you end up burning the sugar you’ve put in your mouth.
(I don’t know why people train and drink lucozade sport when they’re not training intensely)
A study by Kuwait university researching the long term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients concluded that during the 24 week long study a ketogenic diet was more beneficial in reducing body mass, body weight, as well as decreasing LDL (bad cholesterol) and increasing HDL (good cholesterol), there was also a significant decrease in triglycerides, which is a great thing as high triglycerides are linked to a heart disease. (click here to read the study)
They also stated that there were no side effects and using the diet over 24 weeks was perfectly fine.
So where did it go wrong?
I think the media and bad science/researchers screwed alot of it up for people.
Even in today’s media, they’re still stating fats are bad when they haven’t proved it, they’re still advocating a low calorie diet when it’s nothing to do with the amount you eat it’s more the effect on your hormones and by the way Atkins didn’t die from his diet that many people claim, he actually died from a fall and according to a researcher who saw him 6 months before he died, he wasn’t fat at all.
So what should you do?
- Eat meat (ideally organic)
- Try to stay away from gluten if anything. No breads or pasta. (Gluten has been linked to intestinal villus atrophy, which basically means your gut loses the ability to absorb the nutrients you’re getting from food. Calcium not absorbing in your small intestine means you may get Osteoperosis.)
- Everyones ability to handle starch is individual so if you do eat it, try eating more from lower G.I starchy vegetable like sweet potatoes, eat rice if you need to. Once in a while doesn’t hurt
- Steer clear of cereals, they’re basically a bowl of sugar. Even the “healthy” versions, why would you want to eat something fortified with vitamins and minerals? doesn’t that mean the nutritional content of the food isn’t worth eating? why add something that isn’t there in the first place?
- Eat alot of vegetables
- Drink alot of water
- Minimize your sugar intake (including alcohol and any other type of juice)
There’s loads of other factors you need to remember when trying to be more healthy.
You need to be getting enough sleep, you need to exercise smart, you need take into account your level of stress, there’s also toxins and chemicals around us that we need to be aware of, and definitely try to think positive!
I would recommend you read “The Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sisson as well as Robb wolf’s ” The Paleo solution.”
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-primal-blueprint/
Oh yeah definitely go pick up a copy of “why we get fat and what to do about it” by Gary Taubes.
(I’ve been staring at my screen for like 2 hours writing this and I feel a little wired so if it doesn’t make sense let me know and I’ll edit)
Kang.
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