In the 1970s, a French physician called Pierre Dukan developed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that is purportedly based on the eating habits of hunter gatherers.

The winning claim, though: The Dukan Diet claims to produce rapid, permanent weight loss without hunger.

That’s one heck of a selling point. Is a magic wand included?

The origin story certainly borders on the mystical. Dukan said he created the diet when an obese patient claimed he could give up any sort of food to lose weight, except for meat.

He took on the challenge, and over time, tried his ideas out on patients.

When they lost great quantities of weight, he wrote a book, Dukan Diet, published in 2000, an international best seller. Other books followed.

He’s still out there, running a Dukan empire. It’s not exactly at the forefront of weight-loss conversation. (Ozempic trumps everything.) But seems to be making a comeback.

Many of the major, serious health sites are treating Dukan as if he’s relatively new.

That’s the sizzle, where’s the steak?

Dukan’s method is novel, somewhat demanding, with a lot of moving parts.

Firstly, the diet requires you to confine your eating to 100 foods. These were either proteins or vegetables.

The exciting part? A person can eat as much of these foods as they like, with no weight gain. You can find the magic list at his website.

The second component consists of four phases, each with a different goal. Which is clever. Because it breaks up the tedium, and introduces different goals on the run.

The Dukan phases

The diet is divided into two weight-loss phases and two maintenance phases.

According to Healthline, the four phases in the Dukan diet are:

Attack phase (1-7 days)

You start the diet by eating unlimited lean protein plus 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran per day.

Cruise phase (1-12 months)

Alternate lean protein one day with lean protein and non-starchy veggies the next, plus 2 tablespoons of oat bran every day.

Consolidation phase (5 days for every half kilo lost in phases 1 and 2):

Unlimited lean protein and veggies, some carbs and fats, one day of lean protein weekly, 2.5 tablespoons of oat bran daily.

Stabilisation phase (indefinite):

Follow the Consolidation phase guidelines but loosen the rules as long as your weight remains stable. Oat bran is increased to 3 tablespoons per day. And every Thursday is an all-protein day.

You also need to take the stairs as often as possible, exercise for 20 minutes each day, continue to drink 1.5 litres of water daily.

 Some problems

Although it has been around for a while, there isn’t much quality evidence supporting the diet’s efficacy. Nor is it well established that a high-protein diet is safe.

For a 2015 investigation of the Dukan diet, the all-female participants ate about 1000 calories and 100 grams of protein per day. They lost 15 kilograms in eight to 10 weeks.

That’s impressive weight loss, but it may have been largely water, not fat. And 1000 calories per day is too low for most women. This suggests the women weren’t perhaps eating as much as they wanted.

According to Medical News Today, a 2015 study found the Dukan diet long term can pose health risks, including kidney disease, liver disease, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

Overall, a Healthline review from 2022 gave the Dukan diet 1.63 out of 5.

The review assessed weight loss, healthy eating, sustainability, whole body health (scoring 0.75), nutrition quality and evidence based.

The author said the diet was “complicated, eliminates lots of healthy foods, may prompt health concerns due to its high protein content, and is probably not a long-term solution for weight loss”.