Dukan Diet: Phases, Sample Menus, and More

For celebrities, looking a certain way is part of their job. It’s how many actors get roles, and singers often prepare for tours by getting in better shape. Some opt for a diet and exercise plan that produces quick results — not necessarily a lifestyle plan for overall health.

That’s where diets like the Dukan diet come in. Big names who have credited the diet for their weight loss include British royal Kate Middleton and singer-actress Jennifer Lopez. (1)

The diet is a low-carb, high-protein weight loss plan, similar to the Atkins diet, that’s split into four phases. It claims to help you lose weight quickly without being hungry.

Pierre Dukan, MD, a French doctor who specializes in weight loss and management, created the Dukan diet in the 1970s after being inspired by a patient with obesity. The man told Dr. Dukan he could give up anything if it would help him lose weight — except for meat.

In 2000, Dukan published The Dukan Diet, a book outlining an eating plan that was based on his experience using it with patients. The book ended up reaching global popularity, selling over 3 million copies worldwide.

First, the diet helps you find out what your “true weight” should be. (2) The “true weight” calculation considers your gender, age, weight loss history, and a variety of other factors. This number will then be your goal.

This diet contains four phases that are designed to help you meet your goal weight, according to the Dukan diet website. The length of time each phase lasts is based on your “true weight.”

The Attack Phase

The first phase kicks the diet off with a heavy amount of lean protein. It can last from one to seven days, depending on how much weight you need to lose. You are allowed to eat only lean animal proteins in unlimited amounts during the whole phase. You’ll also drink 6 to 8 cups of water and eat 1.5 tablespoons (tbsp) of oat bran per day.

What You Can Eat

• All types of lean meat, including beef, pork, lamb, and any other red meat
• Chicken
• Fish and shellfish
• Vegetarian proteins, including soy, tofu, tempeh, and seitan
• Fat-free dairy, such as cottage cheese, milk, cream cheese, Greek yogurt, sour cream, and ricotta
• Water
• 5 tbsp oat bran
• Shirataki

What to Avoid

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Carbohydrates and grains (other than oat bran)
• Sugars
• Fats
• Alcohol

The Attack Phase is also when you start an exercise routine of 20 minutes of brisk walking each day.

A 1-Day Sample Meal Plan for the Attack Phase

• Breakfast: one serving of low-fat cottage cheese
• Lunch: spicy chicken kebabs
• Dinner: chicken tandoori and shirataki noodles

The Cruise Phase

The second phase is when you can start adding nonstarchy vegetables to your eating plan. You’ll alternate between one day of only lean protein and one day of lean protein mixed with nonstarchy vegetables, plus you’ll increase to a 2-tbsp serving of oat bran per day. The Cruise phase length is based on a schedule of three days for each pound you want to lose, and in most cases runs anywhere from 1 to 12 months.

To help with weight loss, proponents of the Dukan diet recommend 30 minutes of brisk walking each day.

What You Can Eat

• All types of lean beef, pork, lamb, or any other red meat
• Chicken
• Fish and shellfish
• Vegetarian proteins, including soy, tofu, tempeh, and seitan
• Fat-free dairy, such as cottage cheese, milk, cream cheese, Greek yogurt, sour cream, and ricotta
• Water
• Nonstarchy vegetables, like leafy greens, root vegetables, mushrooms, onions, broccoli, and cauliflower
• 2 tbsp oat bran
• Shirataki
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) of oil in a salad dressing

What to Avoid

• Fruits
• Starchy vegetables, like potatoes and corn
• Carbohydrates and grains
• Sugars
• Fats
• Alcohol

A 1-Day Sample Meal Plan of the Cruise Phase

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs with smoked salmon
• Lunch: turkey on a bed of lettuce
• Dinner: meatloaf with mushrooms

The Consolidation Phase

After the first two phases have helped you lose weight, the Consolidation phase gradually introduces more food groups again. This phase lasts five days for every pound lost and is designed to prevent rebound weight gain.

You’ll continue eating lean protein and nonstarchy vegetables, along with some carbs and fats, with one day of lean protein only each week. Your oat bran serving stays at 2 tbsp per day.

To maintain the weight loss, try to aim for 25 minutes of brisk walking each day.

What You Can Eat

• 1 to 2 servings of fruit per day (except those indicated below)
• 2 slices of whole grain bread per day
• 5 ounces (oz) hard rind cheese
• 1 to 2 servings (1 cup when cooked) of starchy foods per week
• 1 to 2 celebration meals (including only 1 serving of each: appetizer, entrée, dessert, and a glass of wine) per week
• 2 tbsp oat bran per day

What You Can’t Eat

• Bananas
• Grapes
• Figs
• Cherries
• Alcohol (other than the one glass of wine in the celebration meals)
• Sugar

A 1-Day Sample Meal Plan of the Consolidation Phase

• Breakfast: omelet with vegetables and cheese
• Lunch: grilled chicken in a salad with greens and a low-fat dressing
• Dinner: crab and tomato-stuffed flounder

The Stabilization Phase

The final phase lasts indefinitely and is meant to help you keep the weight off. It’s very similar to the Consolidation phase, but allows you to be a little looser with the carbs and fats. One day out of the week should still be lean protein only, and each day you’ll have 3 tbsp of oat bran.

Twenty minutes of brisk walking per day is still recommended to maintain weight loss. You’re also encouraged to practice lifestyle fitness habits, like taking the stairs instead of an elevator.

Use the same guidelines from the Consolidation Phase to plan meals:

What You Can Eat

• 1 to 2 servings of fruit per day
• 2 slices of whole grain bread per day
• 5 oz hard rind cheese
• 1 to 2 servings (1 cup when cooked) of starchy foods per week
• 1 to 2 celebration meals (including only 1 serving of each: appetizer, entrée, dessert, and a glass of wine) per week
• 3 tbsp oat bran per day

What You Can’t Eat

No foods are forbidden, but you need to continue monitoring the amounts carefully.

There haven’t been many quality studies on the Dukan Diet, but indirect research suggests high-protein, low-carb diets can be effective for weight loss.

A review published in the journal Nutrients that looked at popular diets without calorie targets found the Atkins Diet — which has similarities to the Dukan diet — to be most effective for weight loss among the plans studied. (4)

The Dukan diet does promote weight loss, says Mary Anne Smith, MS, BSN, RN,  customer success manager at Collective Medical in Austin, Texas, but it’s a weight loss that’s hard to maintain. “Whenever you’re cutting out food groups and sticking to protein only, it can get boring and hard to stick to,” she explains.

A study published in the journal Roczniki Panstwowego Zakladu Higieny looked at women following the Dukan diet. (5) The women, who were ages 19 to 64, ate large amounts of animal protein per day and lost an average of 33 pounds in 8 to 10 weeks.

The authors concluded, however, that the weight loss was likely due to a calorie deficit and not macronutrient composition. And because the diet was low in important nutrients, including calcium, iron, potassium, and vitamins A, C, and D, they warned that adopting a high-protein diet may be harmful to health in the long run.

While she doesn’t recommend the diet overall, Jennifer Fitzgibbon, RDN, CDN, a registered oncology dietitian at Stony Brook Cancer Center in New York, says there are some positive aspects to it: a focus on lower fat proteins, using oat bran to get fiber, limiting alcohol and sugar, and recommending exercise and a lot of water.

The main focus of the Dukan diet is to help people lose weight. It doesn’t offer additional benefits, other than reducing your risk of obesity-related conditions if you can maintain the weight loss.

In the eyes of nutrition professionals, this is very much a fad diet. Someone who doesn’t have pre-existing health conditions and wants to lose weight for a special occasion might find the diet helpful.

The diet provides a lot of guidance and strict rules, which can be good if you have trouble regulating your eating patterns. You can buy the book The Dukan Diet: 2 Steps to Lose the Weight, 2 Steps to Keep It Off Forever for $16 and follow it on your own, or purchase the online coaching program for $29.95 per month.

The Dukan diet is not recommended for anyone with an existing health condition because it restricts a lot of nutrients. For someone with diabetes, kidney disease, or heart disease, or those who are pregnant or breast-feeding, the risks far outweigh the benefits, says Fitzgibbon.

There’s too much protein for people with kidney disease or those at risk of kidney stones, not enough fiber for heart disease patients, and the diet makes insulin regulation difficult for people with diabetes.

Other health concerns include constipation, bad breath, tiredness, and headaches, says Smith.

“You’ll feel tired and foggy and might not be able to maintain exercise,” she says.

Furthermore, because the Dukan diet allows you to liberally eat red meat, it may also raise your risk for certain kinds of cancer, like colon cancer, according to Harvard Medical School. (6)

One reason experts caution against certain high-protein diets is because there isn’t enough research on the long-term effects on the body. Most of the current studies focus on short-term results without looking at overall health years later.

That’s why it’s important to talk with your healthcare team and dietitian before giving the program a shot. Not only might another plan be more appropriate for your weight loss goals, but due to the stringent guidelines, the Dukan diet may result in health harms.