Reviews and results of the DAN Diet (anorexic diet for beginners)

The abbreviation DAN stands for the beginner's anorexic diet and is a strict diet designed for 50 days in the classic version. The number of people who want to lose weight on it is directly proportional to the number of those who cannot do this due to excessive restrictions. This method of losing weight is not considered healthy and is not approved by medical professionals. Many girls in adolescence began to lose weight on it, and often this ended in treatment in rehabilitation centers for patients with anorexia.

The essence of the DAN diet

The essence of the diet is an extremely low amount of calories consumed daily. Such a diet is dangerous not only due to poor health, weakness and sudden weight loss, but also poses a threat to a person’s mental health. Getting used to living on so many calories, those losing weight begin to feel guilty if they eat more food and hate all foods. It consists of alternating monodays with fasting and drinking only water, or a more or less balanced diet with very small portions of dietary food. Weight loss occurs because:

• Very large calorie deficit.
• The products consumed help cleanse the body in a natural way.

It is worth saying that the lost kilograms are mainly muscle tissue, so the body becomes flabby and unattractive. The classic version is designed for 50 days and during this time, with such a menu, in 99% of cases the metabolism is disrupted, a deficiency of essential microelements occurs, new diseases appear or old diseases become worse.

The diet is extremely difficult to tolerate; only people with mental disorders associated with rejection of their body can withstand it. Most often these are teenagers or people with deep complexes and low self-esteem associated with the changes that occur at this age.

This is a very dangerous way to lose weight; not a single doctor or nutritionist will approve of it.

Kill fat along with your body!

What happens to the body during a long fast on such a diet? The most unpleasant surprise for those who want to get rid of fat is that with such a diet, it will be the last thing to go away. And the initial and main weight loss will occur due to muscle mass.

But for those who risk going on such a diet, the muscles are usually not very developed anyway. Therefore, the body begins to weaken, the weight gradually disappears, but the volume remains practically unchanged for a long time. It is faster and easier for the body to break down protein than fat tissue. In addition, he also tries to convert carbohydrates entering the body (for example, from chocolate) into fat and put them aside in reserve, compensating for the losses caused.

These changes affect not only the muscles of the arms and legs. The heart is also muscle tissue. And with a long hunger strike, irreversible changes can occur in it. Not to mention that a weakened heart has a much harder time pumping blood. As a result, internal organs begin to suffer from hypoxia and lack of nutrients.

Rules and recommendations

Basic rules of the DAN diet:

1. Drink a lot - the main drink is clean water. It helps prevent dehydration, which leads to metabolic failures, reduces hunger and improves digestion.
2. Do not exceed the allowed daily calorie intake - from 500 to 700, depending on the day. It is worth remembering that this is too small an amount and, if it is very difficult to follow this rule, a state of losing weight is characterized by loss of strength, apathy, nervousness, decreased performance - you need to reconsider your caloric intake and increase it. This will lead to slower but healthier weight loss.
3. Make meals fractional . With such strict restrictions, metabolic failure is guaranteed. Frequent and small meals help partially prevent this. In addition, split meals make it easier to tolerate the diet psychologically - a larger number of meals creates the illusion that more food is being consumed.
4. Chew your food diligently and for a long time - this will make you feel full a little faster. It also helps you feel the taste of the food you eat and enjoy it. Patients with anorexia nervosa experience an aversion to any food, perceive it as the main “enemy” and experience satisfaction only when they feel hungry. As soon as this symptom appears, you should sound the alarm and contact a specialist.
5. Minimize physical activity , but spend more time in the fresh air. With such a diet, a person is not able to fully exercise - only at rest, an adult on average needs 2000-2300 calories, and if he leads an active life, then 2500-2800. Therefore, 700 calories is too little for a calm rhythm of life, and even more so for an intense one. Fresh air is necessary for all people, even those who are not losing weight, for all body systems.
6. Plan a diet for the most calm periods of life - in addition to physical activity, energy is also used up during worries and stress. exams, reports, preparation for important events are not the right time for DAN.
7. Be sure to take vitamin complexes . Sharp restrictions on calories and foods will inevitably lead to a deficiency of beneficial microelements, even if you choose the most balanced menu options for the diet of an anorexic beginner. This will affect the operation of all systems and appearance.

If we talk about the recommendations of specialists regarding this method of losing weight, then the main one is to abandon DAN. The rest are similar to those given when losing weight on strict diets:

• Have the right mental attitude so as not to break down . Failures, in addition to canceling the results of weight loss and stress on the digestive system, negatively affect the mental state. Each of them makes the person losing weight feel guilty and engage in self-flagellation. This, in turn, leads to the emergence of a whole range of negative emotions, which people who are concerned about their weight, in 80% of cases, tend to eat sweets, flour, and fast food.
• Get enough sleep and avoid stress and negative emotions. This is important for maintaining normal hormonal levels and avoiding physical and emotional exhaustion.
• Keep a food diary to make it easier to control yourself . There you can write a menu, a list of necessary products, results that were achieved, motivating phrases. It distracts and helps you understand your weight loss.

Diet of an anorexic recruit: menu and recipes ^

Diet DAN: menu and recipes for beginner anorexics

Diet DAN: instructions for use

In order to lose weight quickly and maintain all 50 days, you need to follow several rules:

• Drink at least 1.5 liters of purified water daily;
• Count calories and stay within limits;
• Divide the product of a particular day into several servings;
• It is recommended to refrain from physical activity during the diet, and it is also necessary to take additional vitamin and mineral complexes.

Diet DAN: menu for 50 days

Below is the diet you need to follow:

• Day 1: consume no more than 500 Kcal;
• Day 2: have breakfast, then drink only water;
• Day 3: eat 600 kcal;
• Day 4: we arrange unloading on one product;
• Day 5: drink milk tea;
• Days 6 and 7: fasting;
• Days 8 and 9: eat chocolate (100 g each);
• Day 10: eat 700 kcal;
• Day 11: fasting;
• Day 12: in the morning we eat 50 g of cottage cheese, for other meals we drink 200 g of kefir (1%);
• Days 13 and 14: drink only milk tea;
• Day 15: eat cottage cheese and kefir;
• Days 16 and 17: repeat as on days 8 and 9;
• Day 18: eat 700 kcal;
• Day 19: drink a cocktail of kefir and lemon;
• Day 20: eat only 100 g of dark chocolate;
• Day 21: everything as in the menu of day 5;
• Day 22: we do unloading;
• Day 23: eat 600 kcal of food;
• Day 24: 100 g chocolate;
• Day 25: unloading on kefir;
• Day 26: eat 550 kcal;
• Day 27: drink milk tea;
• Days 28 and 29: no more than 50 g of chocolate;
• Day 30: we only drink kefir, compote without sugar or water;
• Day 32: repeat the diet of the 27th;
• Day 33: from morning to evening we eat cottage cheese and low-fat kefir;
• Days 34 and 35: we eat only steamed buckwheat;
• Day 36: chocolate (100 g);
• Day 37: fasting;
• Days 38, 39 and 40: we only drink, do not eat;
• Days 41, 42 and 43: we eat stewed vegetables;
• Days 44 and 45: fruity;
• Days 46 and 47: chocolate;
• Days 48, 49 and 50: fasting.

Anorexic menu

The anorexic menu will seem difficult even to avid adherents of strict diets. You can choose any of the options: the simplest, which literally does not require any cooking using store-bought dietary products, or a more balanced one, which will be easier to tolerate, but will require effort and proper organization.

For 7 days

A balanced menu option for the DAN diet for a week:

Day	Breakfast	Snack	Dinner	Snack	Dinner
1 – 500 calories	Rice porrige	handful of berries	Piece of boiled fish, greens	Kefir	Chicken cutlet, cucumber
2 – 600 calories	2 apples	Kiwi	Buckwheat porridge, cabbage salad	Yogurt	2 hard-boiled eggs
3 – 700 calories	Berry smoothie	Greenery	Vegetable soup	Greens, lemon and cucumber smoothie	Tomatoes, a piece of low-fat cheese
4- 500 calories	Buckwheat porridge, boiled egg	Citrus	Vegetable salad	Cottage cheese	Boiled fish, a few slices of lemon
5 – 600 calories	Fruit salad	Some nuts or seeds	Braised cabbage	Curdled milk	Cottage cheese with cucumber
6 – 700 calories	Buckwheat	Kiwi	Chicken broth with herbs	Kefir	Boiled seafood
7 – 500 calories	Citrus fresh	Baked apple	Tomato juice	Green tea with milk	Hard boiled eggs

A more stringent version of the diet consists of alternating days with eating any food within the specified calorie content with drinking days.

For 14 days

The diet menu is given for 14 days, similar to the weekly one, it involves alternating daily caloric intake of 500/600/700 calories. One of its options:

Day	Breakfast	Snack	Dinner	Snack	Dinner
1	A piece of black bread with cheese	Apple juice diluted with half water	Beet salad	Green tea with milk	Tomatoes
2	Boiled egg	Grapefruit	Cabbage and cucumber salad	Kefir	A piece of boiled fish, cucumber
3	Applesauce	Green tea	Vegetable soup	Yogurt	Seafood stew
4	Rice porrige	Ginger drink	Salad of tomatoes, bell peppers and cucumbers	Kiwi	Boiled chicken, greens
5	Fruit salad	Kefir jelly	Buckwheat porridge, cucumber	Orange	Hard-boiled egg, tomato
6	1 egg omelette	Berry sorbet	Cabbage and bell pepper salad	Cottage cheese with dry fiber	Piece of boiled beef
7	Rice with raisins	Green tea with milk	Baked carrots	Tomato juice	Steamed broccoli
8	Carrot-apple puree	Kiwi	Beet salad	A piece of black bread with low-fat cheese	Boiled chicken fillet
9	Buckwheat porridge, cucumber	Kiwi	Vegetable soup with beans	Kefir	Baked apple stuffed with cottage cheese
10	Rice with carrots	Tomato juice	Braised cabbage	Applesauce	Hard-boiled egg, tomato
11	Fruit salad	Citrus	Fish soup	Kefir	Boiled seafood
12	Oatmeal	Kiwi	Vegetable stew with chicken	Cabbage, cucumber and herb salad	Hard-boiled egg, tomato
13	Buckwheat porridge, cabbage salad	Green tea with milk	Baked eggplant	Yogurt	Boiled fish, a couple of lemon slices, lettuce leaves
14	Berry smoothie	Some prunes	Carrot, celery and pumpkin seed salad	Whole grain bread with low-fat cheese	Boiled seafood

A mono-variant (when the menu for each day consists of one type of product) of a two-week diet provides the following sets of products for each day:

1. Up to 1 liter of low-fat kefir or up to 1% fat content - this drink helps keep the microflora of the digestive organs healthy.
2. Citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C, which is essential for immunity. The body's protective properties are likely to be significantly reduced; citrus fruits can prevent this.
3. 700 g of low-fat cottage cheese or 500 g of cottage cheese up to 5% are powerful sources of high-quality protein, calcium and essential bifidobacteria. You can add dry fiber and organic sweeteners to cottage cheese to improve its taste.
4. Up to 1 kg of baked or stewed zucchini, cucumber, greens - they are low-calorie, rich in vitamins and fiber, which promote high-quality cleansing of the digestive organs.
5. Up to 100 g of chocolate with 70% cocoa content will help maintain a good mood, supply the body with antioxidants, and speed up metabolism.
6. Up to 2 kg of sour apples - rich in vitamins, including C, healthy acids and fiber. It is recommended to eat it as raw as possible, but you can bake it and lightly stew it.
7. Up to 300 g of hard cheese or up to 500 g of low-fat cheese is a source of calcium and protein. Fans of this product will find it easier to endure their diet thanks to such a day.
8. Tomato juice, preferably homemade - up to 1 liter. It is recommended to prepare it from seasonal tomatoes of any variety. This will benefit the cardiovascular and digestive systems.
9. Up to 1 kg of fresh vegetable salad to saturate the body with vitamins and fiber.
10. Up to 500 g of boiled lean meat - only meat contains essential amino acids. It is also necessary for the maintenance and formation of muscle mass.
11. Up to 100 g of dark chocolate with cocoa content up to 70%.
12. Up to 1 liter of stewed zucchini.
13. 700 g low-fat cottage cheese or 500 g cottage cheese up to 5%.
14. Up to 700 g of any sour fruit: apples, kiwi, citrus fruits, plums, berries.

DAN for 50 days

Having decided to continue the diet and follow it for 50 days, you can repeat the proposed two-week menu again. To diversify it, you can use the following options for different meals:

1. Breakfast: oatmeal, cottage cheese with berries, prunes stuffed with walnuts, smoothie made from oatmeal, kefir and berries, granola with yogurt, low-fat cheese with herbs, whole grain bread, any fruit. If melon is chosen for breakfast, then it should not be combined with other fruits and the next meal should be no earlier than 3 hours later.
2. Lunch: rice meatballs with minced chicken, dairy chicken or turkey sausages, baked chicken fillet roll with cottage cheese and herbs, zucchini pancakes with bran instead of flour, cooked on a non-stick coating, broccoli soup.
3. Dinners: cheese soups with mushrooms, broccoli, sardines, tuna with cucumbers, beans stewed in tomato sauce, any raw fruits, vegetables or berries.

Diet of a beginner anorexic DAN: essence and features ^

The essence of the DAN diet is a very limited calorie intake, due to which weight begins to rapidly decrease: the body stops receiving the energy it needs and begins to independently break down fat cells.

Advantages and disadvantages

This technique is considered very tough, as its name suggests. Perhaps the only advantage is really fast weight loss, but it has a lot of disadvantages:

• The diet is very difficult to maintain completely, because... in most cases, it is allowed to consume no more than 700 Kcal;
• It is suitable only for absolutely healthy people, and in the presence of any diseases, during pregnancy and breastfeeding, it is strictly contraindicated;
• Due to constant fasting, gastrointestinal diseases can develop.

How much can you lose?

The weight loss process is different for everyone, and the more extra pounds you have, the easier it is to get rid of them. In general, approximately 800 g are consumed in 1 day, but this figure can vary from 500 g to 1 kg.

Many people are interested in whether volumes are lost on the DAN diet? Of course, with such a strict diet, not only weight decreases, but also volumes decrease, so everyone who has lost weight after 50 days can buy clothes 2 sizes smaller.

The main condition of the diet is a strict calorie restriction, that is, you are allowed to eat any food, but their calorie content should not be higher than that indicated for a certain day.

Selected types of the DAN diet

There are certain types of diets for anorexic beginners, designed for a shorter period of time than the classic version. These include various drinking diets, among them the most popular are regular drinking and shock drinking.

Drinking

The duration of the diet is 7 days and during this time you can drink the following drinks:

• Kefir 0% fat - up to 1 liter, including fat-burning kefir drinks with cinnamon, bran and fiber;
• Pure water, unsweetened green tea - unlimited;
• Sassi water, ginger teas and drinks - up to 2 liters per day;
• Freshly squeezed apple, carrot, citrus, watermelon juices, diluted with water;
• Berry and vegetable smoothies, you can add chia seeds;
• Milk 0-1% - up to 0.5 l.

Sample menu for the day:

Breakfast	Snack	Dinner	Snack	Dinner
Berry smoothie with chia seeds	Ginger tea	Tomato juice	Carrot-apple juice	Kefir with cinnamon

A more stringent version of the drinking diet is to drink only clean water for 3-7 days, or, as a last resort, green tea without additives or with milk.

Choco-drinking

The drinking chocolate diet also lasts 7 days, solid food is completely excluded, allowed drinks:

• Pure water;
• Cocoa brewed with skim milk;
• Hot chocolate.

The menu is simple: hot chocolate with a teaspoon of honey in the morning, cocoa for lunch and dinner. You can sweeten drinks with organic sweeteners. In between these drinks, you should drink plain water.

Quitting the diet

An anorexic beginner should exit the diet by following these rules:

1. Gradually increase your daily calorie intake by 200 calories until it reaches normal levels.
2. Continue to maintain a calm rhythm of life without excessive physical activity.
3. Leave meals in fractions.
4. Introduce cereals, ovo, and fruits first, followed by foods that are more difficult to digest.
5. Continue to drink plenty of water.
6. Take vitamin complexes.
7. Get examined by a doctor to make sure that your diet is not harmful to your health.

Contraindications and consequences

This diet has many contraindications:

• Pregnancy, lactation, menopause.
• Active lifestyle.
• Mental problems, including eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, food addiction.
• Any diseases: digestive, cardiovascular, excretory system and others. The form of disease progression is not of fundamental importance.
• Age periods accompanied by intensive growth or hormonal changes: childhood, adolescence, menopause.

Globally, all strict diets, including DAN, are contraindicated for weight loss for all people, not only those with certain health problems.

Consequences of following a diet for an anorexic beginner:

• Metabolic failures and slow metabolism. With a significant calorie deficit, the body begins to work as nature intended in conditions of hunger: to accumulate fatty tissue from any food consumed, even dietary ones.
• Loss of strength, apathy.
• Breakdowns, consumption of huge amounts of high-calorie food, which had to be abstained from during the diet. As a result, a return to the original weight + an increase in additional kilograms.
• Exacerbation of existing chronic diseases.
• Deficiency of vitamins and nutrients, the emergence of new diseases against this background.
• Hormonal imbalances, menstrual irregularities in women.
• Deterioration in appearance: flabby body, sagging skin, weak nails, hair loss, dry and dull facial skin.
• The development of anorexia nervosa with all the ensuing consequences. In addition to the total destruction of physical health and failure of the functions of literally all organs, the psyche suffers greatly. People become afraid to eat, they feel guilty for every piece of food they eat, they hate themselves and induce vomiting. The perception of oneself and the vision of oneself in the mirror are completely distorted.

What are the dangers of anorexia?

Mindlessly following a fashionable diet ultimately risks anorexia, a serious disease for which you may have to be treated in a hospital. A completely unbalanced digestive system loses its ability to function normally. And the body’s defense reaction against discomfort and a constant strong feeling of hunger is a complete refusal of food.

50 days spent on the DAN diet can lead to the following consequences:

• nausea, vomiting;
• indigestion;
• insomnia;
• disruptions in the menstrual cycle;
• hormonal disorders;
• development of chronic gastrointestinal diseases;
• tachycardia;
• numbness of the limbs;
• frequent loss of consciousness;
• the appearance of hallucinations.

In principle, the list can be continued. Of course, an absolutely healthy body will come out of this stress with minor losses. But if you have chronic diseases, even those whose existence you did not suspect or those that are in the relapse stage, be sure to wait for an exacerbation.

Reviews from doctors and specialists

Albina Nikolaevna, nutritionist:

I urge all people, especially teenage girls, not to lose weight through crash diets. This is fraught with metabolism and health in general. Rounding of shapes is an absolutely normal phenomenon during adolescence; you should not perceive it as something tragic. In some cases, adult women and men can follow a diet with an extremely low calorie content, in particular its drinking variety, for high-quality cleansing of the body. But in this case, the duration of the diet should not be more than 7 days. Before deciding to take this step, you need to consult with a competent specialist and know for sure that the person losing weight is absolutely healthy.

Elena Vladislavovna, endocrinologist:

Hunger, which necessarily appears when losing weight on diets with extremely low calorie content, is a great stress for the body. And in a stressful state, hormonal levels are disrupted - a large amount of the hormone cortisol is released, and in such circumstances the metabolism slows down significantly and there is a constant desire to eat something very nutritious and harmful. The result is breakdowns. I do not advise my patients to allow themselves to go hungry when losing weight; it is better to lose weight more slowly, but without harm to health.

Olga Ivanovna, immunologist:

All strict diets have a detrimental effect on the immune system. Firstly, they do not provide the required amount of energy and the person experiences weakness. Secondly, they disrupt hormonal levels. Thirdly, various organs do not receive what they need for full functioning. Fourthly, they have a negative impact on the psyche due to the constant conflict “the desire to satisfy hunger - the need to limit yourself.”

Anatoly Yakovlevich, psychotherapist:

The number of patients with anorexia is increasing every year and the speed of this process terrifies all employees of medical institutions. If previously the patients of rehabilitation centers were mainly girls from 11 to 16 years old, today they are also joined by representatives of older age groups. It all starts with a subjective assessment of oneself as a person who is overweight and not beautiful in appearance. And the next step is finding a diet. DAN is one of them. Having read about it, girls begin to follow it and wait for their forms to become ideal, not noticing how they turn into skeletons. It takes years to return them to normal life and it is not always possible. Such diets are very dangerous, as are the situations that push people to follow them.

Reviews and results of losing weight

Marina, 28 years old, Volgodonsk

For me, the DAN diet turned out to be very difficult. Probably, I shouldn’t have immediately chosen the 50-day option, but I really wanted to lose more kilograms. I only lasted 20 days and when it was the next day’s turn for milk tea, I simply couldn’t stand it. True, I lost 8 kg in these almost 3 weeks, but I began to look much worse. The newfound slimness did not add beauty to my figure, since the skin became flabby, the volume did not decrease much and somehow unevenly, circles and bags appeared under the eyes. In addition, my mood was constantly depressed; I didn’t want anything. Now 2 weeks have passed, I’m trying not to indulge in high-calorie foods, I’m eating more vegetables and fruits to maintain my health and prevent the lost kilograms from returning. I will never lose weight like this again and will not recommend it to anyone.

Nadezhda, 43 years old, Domodedovo

I would call DAN an extreme way to lose weight. You need to resort to it when you can’t lose weight at all by any other methods. In essence, this is ordinary fasting, during which you can eat a little so as not to die of hunger. That is, the food consumed is only enough to provide minimal support to the body, and it must use up its reserves for the rest. When such a moment of despair came for me after yet another failure in the fight against excess weight, then the anorexic diet caught my eye, the reviews and results of which I saw on one women’s forum. Almost everyone responded negatively, but those who were able to hold out shared their incredible weight loss results. I was not afraid of difficulties - the result was important and there was strong motivation. Therefore, I endured all 50 days and lost even more than promised - 29 kg! Yes, there was everything - dizziness, almost loss of consciousness, a desire to give up everything and live as before. But I controlled myself. And she won. To be honest, I’ve been restoring my health for three months now, but I’m incredibly happy with my newfound slimness. It’s a miracle to become an elegant woman after 20 years of living weighing under 100 kg. Any effort is worth my new sensations.

Elena, 29 years old, Orel

My sister lost weight on the anorexic menu. I was shocked - 1 apple for the whole day, on another day - only water or empty tea, then 4 cucumbers, then a “more varied” menu - as many as 2 apples! This is self-mockery. There was a severe loss of strength, then a nervous breakdown occurred. Anorexia began, with which she ended up in a psychiatric clinic, where she underwent several courses of treatment. Now she weighs 52 kg with a height of 175 cm, and then she lost weight to 34 kg, and was barely saved. He doesn't want to lose weight anymore.

Reviews

Dear readers, your opinion is very important to us - therefore, we will be glad to hear your feedback about the DAN diet in the comments, it will also be useful to other users of the site.

Alla:

7 years ago I heard about a diet, the essence of which is to consume a minimum amount of calories - a maximum of 700. I was 14 years old then and my classmates said that I had big thighs - so I decided to lose weight on it. There are no more stubborn people than teenagers, I lasted 3 weeks. I lost 12 kg and my recently started periods stopped. I got scared, told my mom, she took me to a psychologist and nutritionist who helped me. Now I follow proper nutrition.

Dina:

In a week of dieting with 500 calories a day, I lost 4 kg. It was easier for me to tolerate it without solid food, on a drinking diet. I drank green tea, unsweetened coffee, citrus and apple juices, plain water, kefir with cinnamon. As soon as I ate a piece of solid food, I immediately wanted to eat more.