What is: The Dukan Diet?

Long a secret of the French, the Dukan Diet is like many other diets, strong on protein and low in processed sugars.

At long last an English language guide to this popular French diet is being put together, giving some insight into how French women stay so thin while seemingly eating anything they desire.

Britain's Daily Mail has an ongoing series about this diet, which gives some idea about how it works.

The first phase, called Attack, is where the weight comes off quickly.

Anything NOT on this list is forbidden during Attack:

1 Lean beef and veal or rabbit, not pork or lamb (trim all fat and avoid ribs as too fatty). Eat meat grilled, roasted or boiled and without using butter, oil or cream (not even low-fat versions).

You could also 'dry fry' it - rub the surface of a frying pan with a few drops of oil on kitchen paper. Lean minced beef can be prepared as burgers or meatballs (mixed with an egg, spices, capers or gherkins) or enjoy frozen beefburgers (if less than 10 per cent fat).

2 All chicken and turkey (not goose or farmed duck) but remove skin before eating and avoid the outside part of the wings (too fatty).

3 Ham if low-fat and lean, also cut rind off. Avoid deli, cured, and smoked hams (too fatty).

4 Beef, veal or chicken liver.

5 All fish white or oily, fresh, frozen, dried, smoked or canned (but not in oil or in any sauce containing fat), even crab sticks.

6 All crustaceans and shellfish.

7 Up to two eggs a day. Stick to 3 to 4 yolks per week if you have high cholesterol, but the white can be eaten without restriction.

8 Non-fat dairy products such as 0per cent yoghurt, fromage frais, quark, cottage cheese, and skimmed milk. Natural ( plain) and flavoured yoghurts (coconut, vanilla, lemon) are allowed without restriction, but non-fat fruit yoghurts (containing fruit puree) should be limited to two a day (or avoided if you want a lightning start to your attack phase).

9 Sweeteners (Canderel, Silverspoon Sweetener) or Stevia (a natural sweetener available from health food stores), vinegar, spices, herbs, garlic, onion, gherkins, pickled onions (as condiments, but not in large quantities), lemon juice (on food, but not to drink), mustard and salt (in moderation), sugar-free natural ketchup in moderation, sugar-free chewing gum (can slow down the mechanical swing towards eating whenever you feel under pressure).

Drink 1.5litres of water per day (plain or carbonated) particularly at mealtimes to help you feel full. Tea, coffee and diet drinks (no more than 1 calorie per glass) can be included in this total.

Eat 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran per day (as porridge, sprinkled on yoghurt, or made into a pancake).

Walk briskly for 20 minutes every day. This is a non-negotiable doctor's prescription.

Avoid all butter and oil.

I disagree with a lot of this.

• 1.5 liters is NOT enough water
• Too much meat and not enough fiber causes constipation (like Atkins)
• So-called low-fat food products are rife with chemical additives
• Ditto for sweeteners
• No spinach on this list? No broccoli?

In later phases of the diet, you eat whatever you want, except on Thursdays, when you eat only protein.

Bizarre.