The Dukan Diet by Pierre Dukan

been discovered: that humans can distinguish four universal flavors—sweet, salty, bitter, and sour—yet vinegar is the only substance in the human food list to provide that precious and rare sour taste.
    What is more, recent studies have also demonstrated the impact that oral sensation—the quantity and the variety of flavors—has on producing the feeling of satisfaction and fullness. For example, we know today that the taste of certain spices, such as cloves, ginger, turmeric, star anise, and cardamom, work on the hypothalamus, the area in our brain thatmeasures these sensations until the feeling of satiety is triggered. So it is very important to use as wide a range of spices as possible, and as much as possible, preferably at the start of a meal, and, if you are not already a great fan, to try to get used to them.
Yogurt Dressing
This dressing, made with nonfat yogurt, makes an easy savory sauce.
    6 to 8 ounces nonfat plain yogurt
    1 tablespoon mustard (Dijon, if possible)
    Dash of vinegar
    Salt, pepper, and herbs to taste
    Beat the yogurt and mustard together until it has the consistency of mayonnaise. Add the vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbs.
Vegetables as a Cooked Garnish
    Now is your chance to use green beans, spinach, leeks, cabbages of all varieties, mushrooms, braised greens, fennel, and celery. These vegetables can be cooked in water, boiled, or, even better, steamed to retain the maximum amount of vitamins. You can also bake them in the oven in the juice from your meat or fish.
    Finally, cooking
en papillote
(literally, “in parchment paper,” but aluminum foil can also be used) combines all the advantages as far as nutrition and taste are concerned; it is particularly suitable for preparing fish, in particular salmon, which remains tender when cooked on a bed of leeks or eggplant.
    Introducing vegetables after the pure protein phase brings freshness and variety to the initial Attack diet. Things are easier, even comfortable. Now it is practical to start a meal off with a salad, well seasoned and rich in color and flavor; or, in winter, with a soup, followed by a meat or fish dish gently stewed with flavorful and fragrant vegetables.
How Many Vegetables Are You Allowed?
    In principle, quantity is not limited. But it is wise not to go beyond common sense simply to take advantage of the fact that you are not restricted. I know patients who eat huge mixed salads without even feeling hungry, chomping through their meal as if they had a mouth full of chewing gum. Eat until you no longer feel hungry, but do not keep going. This does not alter the rule that quantities are unrestricted, which is at the heart of my program.
    Whatever quantity you eat, you will still lose weight, but at a slower and less encouraging rate.
    I want to tell you about a frequent reaction to the changeover from the strictly protein Attack diet to the diet now enhanced by the introduction of vegetables.
    Very often, weight loss is spectacular during the first phase and then, when vegetables are introduced, the scales seem to get stuck and do not go down, or may even show a slight increase in pounds. Do not worry—you are not slipping backward. So what is happening?
    During the Attack phase, eating only proteins has a powerful diuretic effect. Reserve fat is lost, as well as a large quantity of water that had been stagnating in the body for a long time. This combination of eliminated water and fat explains why your scales show an impressive loss.
    But when vegetables are added to proteins, water is retained once more, which explains the weight plateau. The real weight loss continues, but it is being camouflaged by the return of water. Be patient, and as soon as the pure protein days return, the loss of water weight will start again, and you will see how many pounds you have really lost.
    You must realize, however, that this is going to be your way of life during this period of alternating diets until you reach your target weight. It is