Dukan Diet for Vegetarians

Among the various healthy diets that people all around the world are following these days, there's one special diet that seems to be working really well for celebrities and lay people as well. It is the world-renowned Dukan diet. The peculiar feature of this diet is that it is a high protein and low carbohydrate diet. The diet consists of four phases called the attack phase, the cruise phase, the consolidation phase and the stabilization phase. Protein rich foods generally include different kinds of meats and poultry. But how can a vegetarian benefit from this diet? What kind of meal plan can vegetarians follow if they want to go on this diet? Those are exactly the questions this Buzzle article aims at answering.

Vegetarian Dukan Diet

The Dukan diet seems perfect because it does not involve starving yourself. It merely involves eating foods that contain a lot of protein, less carbohydrates and less or no fats. The first phase of this diet is the most important one. It is in this attack phase that the main weight loss occurs. This is because in this phase, which should not exceed 10 days, a person is advised to eat only protein rich foods. No carbs, and no fats at all. For meat, egg and poultry eaters, this poses no problem because they can get their protein content from lean meat, fish, etc. However, it's the vegetarians who are left wondering about what their options for the first phase of this diet are. Given below are some options that vegetarians can explore. 

Tofu
One of the healthiest and most popular choices for vegetarians to substitute meat in the Dukan diet plan is tofu. It is a completely vegetarian product, made by coagulating soybean and water. It is made by curdling soy milk and pressing this curd to make the final product. Tofu is very high in protein and calcium content and low in carbs. There are a lot of delicious tofu recipes that you can use to ensure that your diet continues the way it should by eating enough to satiate your hunger and also making sure that what you eat is palatable.

Textured Vegetable Protein
There are a number of textured vegetable proteins available in health food stores and supermarkets. These textured vegetable proteins are manufactured by extracting the heavily concentrated proteins form foods like soy, oats, wheat, etc. This protein is extracted, shaped into different forms like chunks, flakes, etc. and run through a series of processes that make them highly concentrated in protein even after they are severely dehydrated. They can be used in various food items like spaghetti, tacos, etc. to add flavor and the nutritional value that is required by this diet.

Dairy and Dairy Products
Another section of food items that you can eat in the first phase of the Dukan diet is dairy and dairy products. However, you must ensure that any dairy product that you consume is strictly low in fat content. There's no point in insisting on high protein if you're going to let it all go waste by consuming high fat foods as well. So, low-fat skimmed milk, low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese can become your favorite foods for ten days. And that's not really that bad now is, it? There are loads of recipes that you can find to make your meals delicious as well as wholesome.

As mentioned, for vegetarians there are not many options in the first phase of this diet. But the second phase of the Dukan diet is concentrated on vegetables along with the above mentioned choices, so you can go on a healthy vegetarian diet with protein rich veggies like
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
French beans
Mushrooms
Pumpkin
Spinach
The third phase involves the inclusion of certain fatty foods (except too much sugar) and the fourth phase is basically a maintenance phase. So, as you can see, it's just the first phase of the diet that may pose a problem for vegetarians. But we've taken care of that as well, haven't we?
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/dukan-diet-for-vegetarians.html