Kate Middletons mother Carole boosts Dukan diet sales because she's a fan

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Trim: The popularity of the Dukan Diet has soared since Mrs Middleton said she was on the weight-loss programmeAs a royal bride-to-be, Kate Middletons picture has been used to sell everything from tea towels to jigsaws.Now her mother Carole Middleton has also been hailed as a marketing sensation, by the creator of a controversial French diet.The popularity of the Dukan Diet has soared since Mrs Middleton said she was on the weight-loss programme.It has become the best-selling diet book in Britain and food stuffs linked to the plan have experienced a 100 per cent spike in sales.Asked for the secret of its success in the UK, creator Pierre Dukan replied that it was down to two factors.It works, and Carole Middleton, he said.FormerBritish Airways air hostess Mrs Middleton let her diet secret slip lastOctober, before her daughters engagement to Prince William was announced.The 56-year-old told an interviewer: Ive been doing it for four days and Ive lost four pounds.
Her younger daughter Pippa joked that Mrs Middleton was surviving on cottage cheese and prawns on the high-protein diet.MrsMiddletons comments prompted speculation over whether she was getting in shape for a royal wedding, and a month later the engagement was officially revealed.

Sales of the diet book and website subscriptions have risen significantly since Mrs Middletons revelation, five months after the Dukan Diet was launched in Britain last May. The book has sold more than 250,000 copies in the UK alone.

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But there have been warnings that its high-protein content could lead to side effects including bad breath, low ener! gy and c onstipation.Dieticians have also asked if the regimes high salt content and lack of vitamin C could lead to nutritional imbalances.

Special occasion: Mrs Middleton's comments about the diet prompted speculation over whether she was getting in shape for a royal wedding, and a month later the engagement was officially revealedThe diet has four phases, starting with the attack stage in which users eat only lean protein and zero-fat dairy products for up to a week. In the second stage dieters can add non-starchy vegetables on alternate days.
Fruit and starchy foods are allowed only in the final two phases, and dieters are also told to drink two litres of water a day and eat oat bran to provide fibre.Dr Dukan, a neurology specialist, says the diet is safe to follow and has claimed that 40 per cent of Dukan dieters have not regained weight afterwards.