A DIET said to have been followed by Kate Middleton and her mother Carole has been branded by health experts as the worst celebrity weight-loss plan.
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) said the Dukan Diet had no scientific basis and could leave adherents with constipation and bad breath.
The four-phase diet, which is also reported to be followed by actress Jennifer Lopez and supermodel Gisele Bundchen, starts with 72 high-protein foods for quick weight loss, followed by “pure protein” days alternating with proteins accompanied by vegetables.
The third, “consolidation” phase involves a gradual increase of other food types, leading on to a final “stabilisation” phase.
However, the BDA said the diet had “absolutely no solid science behind it at all” and advised against cutting out food groups.
It said: “This diet is so confusing, very rigid, full of very French foods that most Brits would run a mile from, like rabbit and offal, and even Dr Dukan himself warns of the associated problems like lack of energy, constipation and bad breath.”
The BDA said the diet topped a list of “dodgy” celebrity diets to avoid in the New Year, based on the volume of calls it had received enquiring about it.
Fife-based registered nutritionist Dr Carina Norris said the Dukan Diet was impractical and potentially dangerous.
She said: “This is an extremely restrictive diet, and incredibly complex to stick to.
“During the first stages it relies solely on protein foods, with other foods being introduced gradually and on a very intricate time line with days ‘on’ and ‘off’ certain foods. The weight loss it promises is faster than is generally accepted as safe.”
The BDA said the second worst celebrity diet to follow was the Alcorexia or Drunkorexia Diet. It is a type of a very low-calorie diet (VLC) which involves eating very little, then “saving” all the calories to binge drink alcohol.
The Blood Group Diet – said to be followed by Cheryl Cole, Sir Cliff Richard and Courteney Cox-Arquette – is also one to avoid, according to the BDA, which said it is “completely based on pseudo-science”.
Also on the BDA list is the Raw Food Diet, said to be followed by Hollywood stars Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, which involves eating raw uncooked food and non-pasteurised or non- homogenised dairy products.
The list to avoid is completed by the Baby Food Diet, said to be followed by Lady Gaga, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston.
One version of the diet involves eating up to 14 jars of pureed or baby food a day.
BDA spokeswoman and consultant dietician Sian Porter said: “There is no wonder diet you can follow without some nutritional or health risk, and most are offering a short-term fix to a long-term problem. If you want to lose weight you need to eat a nutritionally-balanced and varied diet with appropriately sized portions and burn off more calories than you consume.”
A statement issued by the Dukan Diet said: “It is interesting that the BDA are criticising Dr Dukan’s diet for lacking scientific basis when the BDA’s own analysis has been ‘based on telephone call volume and other contributing factors’. If indeed a thorough scientific evaluation had been undertaken by the BDA, they would have recognised that many of their claims are wholly inaccurate.”
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