The Dukan Diet Read Online Free PDF Page B

body with less than 1 gram of protein per day for every 2 pounds of body weight, and, most important, protein intake should be evenly distributed over the day’s three meals. A meager breakfast, lunch consisting of a pastry and a bar of chocolate, then pizza for dinner with fruit for dessert are all meals that lack protein and will make your skin dull and impair your body’s general strength.
The Low-Calorie Value of Proteins
    A gram of protein provides only 4 calories, the same as sugar but half of what fat provides.
    Only 50 percent of all meat, fish, and other food proteins are assimilated; the rest is waste or useless tissue. This means that 4 ounces of turkey or steak provide only 200 calories. When you take into account that your body has to contribute 30 percent of this caloric value—that is, 60 calories—just to assimilate it, only 140 calories are left from this tasty and filling food, the equivalent of 1 tablespoon of the dressing you deem so harmless when you add it to your salad.
    A high-protein diet has two drawbacks:
Protein is expensive
. The cost of protein is relatively high—meat, fish, and seafood can easily make a dent in a modest budget. Eggs, poultry, and offal, like chicken livers, are moreaffordable but are still expensive. Fortunately, nonfat dairy products make it possible to get excellent quality protein at a price that allows us to offset the high cost of protein meals.
Protein produces waste products that must be eliminated
. When protein is digested, waste products, such as uric acid, remain in the system and have to be eliminated. In theory, eating higher amounts of protein foods would increase the amount of waste products and cause discomfort to certain people. In fact, the human organs, and particularly the kidneys, have mechanisms for elimination and are perfectly suited to this task. But for the kidneys to work efficiently, it is absolutely necessary that they have an increased quantity of water. The kidneys will filter and remove uric acid from our blood, provided that we increase our normal consumption of water.
    I had the opportunity to review sixty cases of patients suffering from either gout or uric acid kidney stones. They followed a protein-rich diet and also agreed to drink 3 quarts of water a day. Those who were already following treatment continued with it; the others, who were not on a treatment plan, did not add any medication. During the diet there was not a single case of uric acid levels rising; in fact a third of the patients saw their levels go down.
    It is therefore essential when following a protein-rich diet to keep drinking water, especially during the protein-only phase. This is an opportune moment to deal with the accusations leveled against proteins by those who spread the idea that protein-rich foods can strain and even damage the kidneys. These same people have stated that even water can be toxic for the kidneys if you drink 1½ quarts per day. In thirty-five years of working with my diet and its unrestricted protein intake and insisting that my patients must drink at least 1½ quarts of water per day, I have never had a problem with a patient. I have even worked with thirty patients who, despite having only one kidney, lost weight without having any change in their renal markers. Apart from the usual prophets of doom, there are also jealous and troublemaking people—in particular, people who could do with losing weight themselves but lack the will todo so—who try to stop others from having a go. To such people I say, Come and join us, and let’s drink a glass of water together!
Conclusion
    Let’s highlight some of the fundamental principles of a good weight loss diet:
Fats are the number one enemy
. Without doubt, fat both from animals and plants is the greatest enemy for anyone about to embark on a weight loss diet. Even before you start considering the fat content in meat or fish, just adding up the calories from the fat in cooking oil, sauces,