The Dukan Protein Diet was created in 1975. It is based on 72 foods rich in protein: meat, fish, seafood, dairy products, tofu, as well as vegetables and fruits, that is, you do not have to go hungry or suffer. Dukan's book "I Can't Lose Weight" was published in France in 2000 and has since been endlessly republished in different languages in millions of copies. The book was published in other languages only in 2011, and now Pierre Dukan came to give an interview, give a seminar and meet with admirers.
— Mr. Dukan, at the beginning of his book there is a dedication to his wife and his children. Our Internet resource is entirely dedicated to family life, childbirth and parenting. How important do you think family is in today's world?
— I am a traditional person. I think finding a woman, a real woman, is a great blessing. Now everything is changing very quickly, many things are being devalued, traditions are being destroyed, that is why it is very important to have a woman nearby, understanding and devoted. It is important that she complements you, because I can do something that my wife cannot and she, in turn, contributes something that I do not have. This is the base.
My wife gave me two children and all three, like my readers, are the most valuable thing in my life. This is not a joke, but it really is very important. Our children, who have spent thirty years side by side, already belong to the spiritual, religious realm, this is the magic of life. I think that marriages that are carried out in a hurry, when spouses change like handkerchiefs (get married, divorce) are bad. This behavior makes a person more fragile, less stable and this has a negative impact on health. When we are happy, when we are satisfied with our family and our relationships with our children, then we are better able to resist life's problems.
—What do your children do?
— My son is a financier, he lives in Paris, he works with me: he takes care of everything related to finances, the Internet, the website, the products we launch to make it easier for people to follow a diet.
My daughter Maya is finishing her studies, she is studying at the Higher School of Economics (Ecole de Commerce). And there is a very funny story related to her name, I will tell you now. A patient with a German surname, who had a Swiss husband, named Maya, came to see me. I said, "Oh, my daughter's name is the same as yours. "She asked why we named our daughter that. I explained to him: "Because I respect Picasso a lot and one of his daughters is called Maya. "And do you know what the woman responded? "It's me. I'm Maya Picasso. "
— Tell us a little about your brand's products and how can they be purchased in our country?
— The first product I began to produce under my own name was bran. The fact is that bran is one of the most important dietary products, but it is very difficult to find in France. Bran is very useful: firstly, it cleanses the intestines, and secondly, it provides the necessary calories. As a result, we started importing them from Finland and then discovered that the product was actually from another country, that is, through Finland it reached France. (Canada is the largest supplier of bran in the world). When people "tried" this product, they came to us with suitcases and bought it all. Then I decided that the time had come to start selling bran and thus the first product appeared.
Later they began to produce bran-based cakes (cookies), which I recommend using during the first stage of weight loss; This is an excellent tool to combat hunger: a person with an uncontrollable appetite can eat them as much as he wants. In my book I give a recipe for this type of flatbreads: in addition to bran, you need liquid cottage cheese, proteins and a little vegetable oil. But many readers wrote on my website about how nice and convenient it would be to buy ready-made flatbreads. Then we started producing them. Then they started making ketchup, without salt and without sugar. Now we produce more than 50 products and sell them all over the world. I hope that in 3-4 months, at the beginning of next year, they will begin to be sold in our country.
—What relevance do you think the problem of excess weight has in our country?
— I was surprised to read on the Internet that in your country's megacities there are more overweight people than in Paris. People eat fast food and move little. But if you eat like Americans, you will become like Americans! We must remain true to ourselves, preserve food traditions. Now you are at a turning point: you can still do something, stop so as not to lose your balance.
In general, the problem of excess weight is not just a whim dictated by women's desire to look more elegant and younger. It is known that obese people live 9 years less than people of normal weight.
I am a doctor, I am not a businessman. And since I was a child I wanted to be a doctor. When, after graduating from high school, I had to choose between art and medicine, my mother, she has always been a beacon for me, told me: "If you become a doctor, you can always draw or collect art, but if If you become an artist, you will never be able to practice medicine. "
As I am a doctor, I take great pleasure in curing all who can be cured. And, in my opinion, excess weight is not even an acute form of the disease, but a persistent and chronic disease.
In the 70s, everyone wanted to lose weight quickly and did not think that the weight would inevitably return later. People now understand that it is necessary to maintain weight throughout life. Many diets do not stand the test of time due to the lack of a consolidation step.
When I started, patients who initially lost weight returned to my office again after six months. I improved the technique and they began to return within a year. But as a doctor I was not satisfied with this result either: I wanted them to be cured forever. Therefore, in the end, I brought my method to perfection: I offer patients not only fish, but also a fishing guide, that is, a diet plan according to which they can not only quickly and effectively cope with obesity, but also maintain the results for a long time and without external help.
—How do you respond to criticism of your methodology?
— I emphasize that my method was created to get rid of excess weight. It is necessary to distinguish between a diet for a person with between 10 and 20 extra kilos and the usual diet of a person with normal weight. My technique is based on a very short and concentrated period - from a month and a half to three months - this is an "attack" on weight, this is war. Then it is easier, but still, of course, it is necessary to monitor your diet: if a person has a problem such as excess weight, there is a tendency to become obese. For example, according to the recommendations of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), the daily diet should contain 55% carbohydrates. However, the standards were adopted in the 1960s; For today's sedentary lifestyle, this is too much. When you eat sugar, your body doesn't want it because it understands that sugar is dangerous for the body and should be completely eliminated from your diet.
Very important - and this is not new - physical activity. I was born into a world where it was natural to move and I didn't feel obligated to show it. But modern society promotes all kinds of technologies that make a person's life easier, make him move less: this is precisely the vision that needs to be overcome.