Eleven years ago, I bought the book Je Ne Sais Pas Maigrir by Dr Pierre Dukan and published by Flammarion. I thought I had to lose weight although everyone said: “Marilyn, you are not fat!”

About two months into the diet I felt like a million dollars because I’d lost weight: a few kilos.

Then I thought, “Okay, now I can stop the diet,” and what do you know – I put the lost kilos back on almost immediately.

My conclusion was: Dr Dukan’s diet was just another diet.

Then in 2006, again thinking myself fat, I retrieved my Je Ne Sais Pas Maigrir for another go at Dr Dukan’s Protal diet, and do you know what? After a few days I thought, “What the heck,” and I put the book back in the cupboard where I’d found it, and I just ate sensibly – and do you know what? I lost weight and I’ve kept it off.

Dr. Dukan has though now become the new guru of the slimmers. His new book The Dukan Dietis #27 on Amazon.us and the Hodder paperback is #2 in the UK. His new French edition is also doing well: #45 on Amazon.fr.

However we are now being told here in France how dangerous the doctor’s diet is.

For example he says that the diet is safe for pregnant women but Prof Irène Margaritas of ANSES (Agence Nationale charge de la Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation), the national safety in food health agency, is saying that the diet is dangerous for women who are pregnant as it will slow down the foetus’ growth.  As the diet also causes a shortage of Vit B9 the baby could well have a malformation of the spinal cord. The professor says this in an interview in the Paris daily Le Parisien this past May.

As the daily further points out the risks of the Ducan diet are as follows:

Too much protein, as in this diet, damages the kidneys;

Too much salt, also as in this diet, damages the kidneys;

Too much calcium, as in the diet, will result in kidney stones;

Too little Vitamin D, which is also the case with this diet, could result in osteoporosis;

Too litte carbohydrates, also the case with the doctor’s diet, could make the slimmer very moody and tired;

Too little fibre, also as in this diet, could make the slimmer constipated and could cause other digestive problems as well.

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