Dukan Diet. anyone ever tried this?

I'd like to know as well!

Just another fad diet. Temporary water weight loss, is all. Any diet that tells you to cut out carobs for a few days is generally a scam, as cutting carbs leads to an initial drop in water weight, not any fat loss. Eat at a sensible calorie deficit, and you will lose weight. It's simple. No silly "diets" required.

The way eating a low carb diet (people generally do under 50, sometimes under 20, but even under 100 can work depending on your body) helps with weight loss is it puts your body into ketosis. In ketosis, your body will aggressively burn bodyfat (and dietary fat) for energy. The process creates "ketones" that your body can use for fuel, and excess ketones are excreted through the urine. I am currently on a doctor supervised fast (protein sparing modified fast, or PSMF) that aims to keep me in ketosis at all times. I eat about 60 carbs a day, give or take. Try googling PSMF or "ketogenic diet" for more info. (I dunno what the linking policy is on this site but I don't wanna get in trouble for linking to websites.)

My guess is Dukan has you go into ketosis to lose the weight and then come out when the weight loss is achieved, gradually moving back into a regulated-carb diet with healthy foods.

Eating a calorie deficit, whether it's low carb and high fat, or high carb and low fat, will generally get you good results. Why some people choose ketogenic diets is because protein and fat are PROVEN to be more satisfying for hunger with longer effects. Your body will get energy from burning bodyfat, so you will be able to sustain good energy levels even if you have to miss a meal (though you shouldn't.) Dropping carbs will initially make your body uncomfortable, though, as it kicks into ketosis. This is called the "keto flu" by keto dieters, and passes in a few days or up to a couple weeks.

Ketogenic diets are NOT "fads" and people who claim that probably have not done much research into it. If you would like to learn more, I recommend going outside MFP for it because there are a lot of internet doctors on this site who will spout off at the mouth without any info to back it up. -_-

You can also check out a website called Reddit - their Keto subreddit has a LOT of info on eating a ketogenic diet and eating low carb. The benefit to something like Dukan is that it gives you some structure. Anyone can eat low carb, but some of us need more structure and guidance to help us stay focused on our goals.

Ketogenic diets are NOT "fads"

I agree, but the OP was not asking about Ketogenic diets in general but the Dukan specifically. This is a diet which has risen in popularity and will be replaced by another variant of the same in the future. Just as happened with the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the Power Life Plan, Primal Blueprint, Go Lower Diet, The Earth Diet and South Beach Diet.

If you would like to learn more, I recommend going outside MFP for it because there are a lot of internet doctors on this site who will spout off at the mouth without any info to back it up. -_-

This is good advice. In the UK (where OP is based) this (http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/starchy-foods.aspx) is a good source of information on diet (low carb or otherwise) (NHS web site).

I agree, but the OP was not asking about Ketogenic diets in general but the Dukan specifically. This is a diet which has risen in popularity and will be replaced by another variant of the same in the future. Just as happened with the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the Power Life Plan, Primal Blueprint, Go Lower Diet, The Earth Diet and South Beach Diet.

Yeah, I'm sorry. I did what I just criticised others for doing and went off at the mouth without researching. I've heard mixed reviews about Dukan and don't know a whole lot about it. =s (kind of embarrassed.) BUT I hate hearing people slam ketogenic diets because they can be seriously great for some people! So I got all up in arms. From what I understand Dukan feels more like a fast, so it can be hard for some to sustain.

Eating low carb won't necessarily keep you in ketosis any longer than any other type of diet, as the body can and will eventually convert the extra protein and fat you are eating into glucose through gluconeogenesis, and then use it for energy just like it would had it broken down a carb into glucose. All ketosis means is that you have used up your glycogen stores, and are burning ketones for energy.

Your body definitely will convert the protein into glucose, which is why you can't overdo the protein intake. That's why ketogenic diets work better when you're eating high fat too. Eating LCHF will certainly allow you to sustain ketosis for an extended period of time. In fact, my largest macro is protein on my PSMF and I sustain ketosis at length just fine as long as I stay under around 80 net carbs per day. I know anecdotal evidence doesn't compare to scientific/medical study, but your statement can't be true at the same time that my experience contradicts it!

However, I am totally open to learning. If you have any resources (like studies or even medical/nutrition blogs or news articles) that back up what you're saying, please share! I'm no doctor, and I'm not even that well-educated, so I would love to learn more.

Gluconeogenesis also converts fatty acids into glucose, not just protein. The human body has many, many metabolic pathways, and is good at converting one macro into another macro based on physical need. It can create fatty acids and amino acids out of carbs (excluding the essential amino and fatty acids,) it can create amino acids out of fatty acids, and it can create glucose out of fatty acids and amino acids. There's really no way to simply state that eating more or less of any one particular macro will automatically have a specific effect.

The main difference is gluconeogenesis will mostly convert protein and fat to glucose for energy needs, and will not significantly refill liver glycogen stores. However, the low amount of carbs you eat, will be used for glycogen production in the liver. So again, ketosis is a normal body process, it happens anytime glycogen is low. An active person doesn't need to eat low carb in order to achieve it. And again, ketosis has nothing to do with how much fat you burn, as the body fat is burned first, and then Acetyl-CoA will be sent to the Krebs Cycle, or to create ketones, depending on glycogen levels. Either way, the same amount of fat is being burned.