Summer is coming, it's almost swimsuit fitting time, so off to the gym and the strict diet. From this year, however, not that of the famous French nutritionist Pierre Dukan, which under his own request was disbarred last May 16 by the Order of transalpine doctors.
In fact, his "magic formula", the much-contested high-protein diet, had already ended up in the eye of the storm two years ago, when his colleague Jean-Michel Cohen accused the Dukan method of causing "a real food destructuring, which can lead to serious health consequences for some patients, such as a sharp increase in cholesterol, cardiovascular problems and even breast cancer”. Cohen, author of a concurrent diet (the low-calorie one, which does not exclude any food), then accused the whole system, "which rode the wave of this phantasmagorical magic wand".
Cohen was taken to court by Dukan for defamation, but the magistrates agreed with the accuser (judgment of July 5, 2011), effectively putting an end to the legitimacy of the high-protein diet, unanimously considered, even in Italy, dangerous or at least ineffective, as it promotes rapid weight loss, but with an accumulation of ketone bodies which cause nausea and reduce appetite but can only do so in the short term, without affecting – as would be correct – the patient's food lifestyle.
Opinion also certified by the data of a research by the French epidemiological institute NutriNet-Santé, reported by Le Figaro, according to which 43% of people who have used the Dukan diet have considered it too difficult to maintain over time, while the “Weightwatchers” (based on mutual motivations exchanged in weekly meetings with people of equal difficulty), “Chrono-nutritional” (based on indulging the body's biological clock) and the same "Cohen" (based on the reduction of sugars and calories contained within 1.500 k/cal) have much higher percentages of satisfaction and tolerability.
The display of the splendid line obtained by various international stars following their declared use of a high-protein diet is of little use, one might say. Among the staunch followers of (former) Dr. Dukan are numbered Jennifer Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Hellen Pop, Gisele Bundtchen and, lo and behold, the entire Middleton family: mom Carole, princess Kate and even the legendary B-side of sister Pippa.
For the record however, although the controversy has always focused on the diet that bears his name, Dukan was formally disbarred because he was subject to two disciplinary proceedings. The first for having violated article 19 of the French Code of Deontology (which states that medicine cannot be practiced for commercial purposes) by publishing in 2000 a book entitled "I don't know how to lose weight" ("Je ne sais pas maigrir"), sold in over 4 million copies and translated into 14 languages. The second, decidedly more bizarre, because he had publicly called for an "anti-obesity" evaluation in high schools, complete with a score that could even lead to the final exam depending on the weight maintained between the first and last year of the course. Here the article was number 13: "a doctor must use prudence in his public utterances". Effectively…
Read also Le Figaro e Le Monde
