Are you a veg lover? Can you do without snacks? If your answer is an emphatic “yes” to both these questions, the Danish Diet can help you boost your metabolism and lose weight. However, as it is a restrictive diet plan, no matter how keen you are, you can face some problems with it such as hormonal imbalances or muscle loss. So, learn what the problems are, and how, if you overcome them, the Danish Diet can help you get slim.
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What is the Danish Diet?
Also known as the “Copenhagen diet”, the Danish diet aims to speed up the metabolism process. It is a 13-day diet, which promises incredible weight loss of up to 22lbs / 10kg during this period.
As a firm rule, you’ll need to limit your calorie intake to a maximum of 600 per day, while eating high-protein and low-fat food.
So, let’s go over the basics so you can learn more about the Danish diet and what problems you could face. However, you can skip straight to the Danish diet food list if you want.
Danish Diet Basics
The food and beverages you’ll eat and drink will increase your metabolic rate. Eggs, beef, and lean meat are very rich in protein and need more energy to digest than they have stored in them. Combine this with a low intake of carbohydrates, and your body will use stored fat to produce energy.
What to Eat and Drink
You are urged to eat 3 meals a day, without snacking, while on the diet. The diet suggests that you drink water if you get hungry between meals. You are discouraged to eat after 6 p.m. and are not permitted to indulge in any non-planned food.
But what will you be eating?
Low-calorie and high-protein foods.
Beef, lamb, poultry (e.g. chicken and turkey), and eggs are good sources of protein that are low in calories. Protein is essential for maintaining healthy muscle mass and supporting weight loss.
But, like almost all other diets, you’ll also need to eat vegetables. However, finding out which vegetables to eat is vital to this diet. The list of allowed vegetables is short and simple:
These are low in carbs that would otherwise get turned into fat and stored in the body, causing weight gain.
Fruit is not restricted on this diet. So, you can eat whatever fruit you want at mealtimes.
Regarding what to drink, significant water intake is important. It alleviates your appetite as it takes up space in your stomach, therefore making you feel less hungry and helps you lose weight. If you’re not sure how much water you should be drinking throughout the day, you can equip yourself with useful tools such as a water drinking reminder app.
Caffeine in black coffee can also boost your metabolism and increase the fat burning process of the body. Tea, particularly green tea, not only contains caffeine and but also antioxidants called “catechins” that help to increase the number of calories burnt.
Additionally, you’re allowed to have unsweetened lemon juice on the diet.
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What to Food and Drink to Restrict
As a part of the 13-day diet plan, there are plenty of things that you’ll need to restrict.
No alcohol is allowed. This is because it has a surprising amount of calories, as the alcohol itself gets turned into glucose by the liver, which in turn is stored in the body as fat.
You’ll also need to avoid anything sweet. Sugar and honey contain a lot of calories, and the glucous from these that get into your blood gets turned into fat and leads to weight gain.
What’s more, chewing gum is not allowed. That’s because, most chewing gums, especially mint-flavored gum, can tempt people into eating higher calorie sweet foods afterward.
Lastly, we all know that oil, the main ingredient for food preparation, is high in fat and contains few nutrients. Therefore you’ll need to restrict its use when on the diet.
What is a typical Danish Diet Day?
Below is an example of 1 day on the Danish diet. As mentioned before, you should have different meal plans for each day. Such meal plans are readily available online, and you can even adjust them to be specific to you.
Black coffee with no sugar added.
Lunch: 1-2pm
A small portion of ham with low-fat yogurt.
Dinner: 5-6pm
200 g of grilled lamb with a green salad, and lemon juice.
Side effects of the Danish diet
This diet promotes weight loss in the short term. However, if done for a long period beyond the 13 prescribed days, it can lead to nutritional imbalances and muscle loss.
The nutritional imbalances you might suffer from include mineral and vitamin deficiencies. While being on the diet, your cholesterol might also become poorly affected. What’s more, low glycogen may lead to such physical problems as dizziness, bad breath, irritability, vomiting.
Therefore, this diet is certainly not good for everyone. It should not be undertaken by: people who train actively, minors, the elderly, those pregnant or nursing.
Danish Diet Food List
Copenhagen Diet Food List
Copy to clipboardMeat & Eggs
- Beef
- Eggs
- Lamb
- Poultry
Vegetables
- Carrots
- Celery
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Tomatoes
Fruit
- Anything of your choice
Drinks
- Black coffee
- Lemon juice
- Tea
- Water