Cabbage Soup Diet
The very definition of an ill-advised fad diet.
BACKGROUND
Look up the definition of fad diet and you’ll see a picture illustrating the Cabbage Soup Diet. It should not be followed as a long-term eating plan, as it is dangerously low in calories and could do more harm than good. It is possible to lose 10 pounds in a week when you stick to this uber-low calorie plan.
The Cabbage Soup Diet does offer fast weight loss, but it is completely lacking in nutrition, flavor and variety. You'll consume mostly soups of cabbage, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms. Nutritionists argue that the pounds shed are more likely attributed to the dramatic and dangerous loss in calories and not the proposed fat-burning power found in the cabbage. This diet deprives your body of essential nutrients and has been correlated to difficulty concentrating, feeling light-headed and weak.
PRO
- You will lose weight
CON
- Unhealthy
- Dangerously caloric intake
- Primarily losing water weight
- Will regain lost weight if don't stick to healthy eating and exercise following completion
- Does not promote exercise; would be too weak to do so
DIET and NUTRITION
The one-week Cabbage Soup Diet relies on this simple plan:
Day One All-you-can-eat soup and fruit (no bananas). Consume plenty of water, cranberry juice and unsweetened tea.
Day Two Consume all the soup and vegetables you like (no beans, peas or corn). Have a buttered baked potato with dinner. No fruit today.
Day Three Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you like, nothing else.
Day Four Eat your soup, no more than eight bananas and all the skim milk you want.
Day Five Have at least one serving of soup today. You can also have 10-20 ounces of skinless chicken or beef and no more than six tomatoes. Drink plenty of water.
Day Six Eat plenty of vegetables and your servings of beef. Today is the day you can go a bit overboard with the meat (2 steaks if you like) - just make sure to add salad and vegetables. Stay away from the carbs - no fries, potatoes, etc.
Day Seven Have at least one serving of soup. Only eat brown rice, vegetables and unsweetened fruit juice.
EXERCISE
No recommendations are made. Given the severely low calories you'll be consuming, you likely won't have the strength for physical activity.
CONCLUSION
For rapid weight loss as a jump-start to a more healthy eating plan, the Cabbage Soup Diet could possibly be a solution. However, fasting or liquid diets like Cabbage Soup promising dramatic weight loss results in only a week are typically only helping you shed water weight. This weight will creep right back on once you stop the diet and continue with previous poor eating habits. Finishing the Cabbage Soup Diet and beginning a healthy eating and exercise regimen is the best advice anyone following this unhealthy approach can receive. Be sure to speak with your physician before beginning.
Common Misspellings
cabbge soup diet, cabbage soup deit, cabage soup diet, cabbagge soup, cabbagesoupdiet.com, cabbage diet, cabagge soup diet, soup diet
Related Diets: Juice Diet, Maple Syrup Diet, Grapefruit Solution, 21 Pounds in 21 Days, Martha's Vineyard Diet
Wikipedia
The Cabbage soup diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over the time of seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet, in that it is designed for short-term weight-loss and requires no long-term commitment. It has inspired several copy-cats based around similar principles.
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I love reading everyone's comment. Very inspirational. I'll start the dies in the next day or so and let everyone know about my progress. I LOVE food, but I am so motivated to lose the weight since I have 2 wedding to go to in 2 weeks time.
Yeah - as the above comment. I'm vegetarian. What could you possibly substitute for the meat? Maybe Quorn? Cheers
Do you have to eat the meat on days 5 and 6. I'm vegetarian but the diet has worked for some family members.
im going to start the diet in a few days. i hope i do it my mother in law did the diet she says it works so im going to take her word for it
well today is my first day on the cabbage soup I have ate a 1/2 apple and a orange and a boul of soup it was really good i am still real hungry tho.I also spiced it up a bit i hope i loose atleast 10 lbs . my husband is very lean but he ate 3 bouls and loved it lol... to be continued...
I would be sick of eating soup. I could only eat once in awhile.
It works, I used this diet back in 1999 to lose weight so I could join the military, lost 12 or so pounds. I'm starting day 2 tommorrow of my second go around. I don't think anyone mentioned beano. It's a supplement you can get at the store to help with the gas. If you don't take something to help with the gas you can be hurtin.
My hubby and I are starting the diet in the morning. I did it years ago and did well on it. We are both VERY overweight and are hoping the Cabbage Soup diet will give us a kick start. I loved reading everyone's comments. Very encouraging. Good luck to all.
Mary, I don't think you're supposed to practically live on this diet...but it seems to have worked for you (by "worked" I don't mean you lost weight, I mean you don't seem to be hospitalized or anything, although the state of your internal organs might make for an interesting study). What I found with this diet is that Yes, you do get gassy. Cabbage will do that - it's a brassica. It also does seem to make you hungrier than you were before you ate it. For all those who are asking "can I have X, Y, Z" on the diet, you aren't supposed to have anything that isn't on the list. The whole list can be found at the actual diet website, which is easily Googled. I didn't lost a ton of weight on it - I think only about 7 pounds and I started at 185 - but the real weight loss happened afterwards, when I could no longer stand the feeling of any kind of fat in my mouth so stayed completely away from things like chips, chocolate, butter, etc. They left this slippery, grainy feeling in my mouth. Altogether, then, after about 3 months I ended up 18 pounds lighter than I had been before. I have only ever done the diet once, since it was enough to change my eating habits. I am planning to do the first three days of the diet once per month this year - see what happens. It would be more a cleanse than a diet, then - less about weight loss and more about being mindful about what goes into my mouth. Plus I find banana day the hardest by far - though the photocopied diet I was given (about 8 years ago) was different - you were only allowed four bananas, not eight. The soup was different too - not the one with the carrots and mushrooms. It was plainer.
Today is my first day on this diet. I'm within my first two hours, and I already have gas. I'm 5'2 and my choice of career requires that I remain at 137 or less. Right now I'm 142. I'm just lucky that they haven't weighed me in. I'm going to stick to this diet, and eat right on Christmas. I won't overdo it like I did on Thanksgiving. I nearly ate an entire apple pie in one sitting thinking it'd be okay. Well it wasn't, and now I'm seven pounds heavier. I'm ready to take on this challenge of the cabbage soup diet. I'll keep you informed on my daily progress.
my roommate and i are starting the diet today. we doubled the recipe and then divided it into 4 different types: italian (added basil & diced tomatoes were canned with garlic, oregano and basil), also made one with lime zest, cilantro and used fire roasted canned diced tomatoes), did one with red bell pepper instead of green and added chili powder, and did one regular. i am 5'11" and weigh 157 (7 of these pounds i've gained since thanksgiving!!) i just want to drop those extras. i think i am also going to drink kombucha. It's an unflavored tea...but might be blurring the lines a little. does anyone think this will be a problem?
i just started the soup diet, and i saw a picture of it and it was kinda green. Mine is red, cause i used the v8 juice instead of water. And it is spicy. So i didn't know if this was normal. And how quick till you see results?
This diet is for strong people who happen to be over weight but insist on being skinny-in other works it works great but nothing worthwile is EASY
can I eat steamed string beans on the veg day. It sais no beans, but there are so many diff. beans
My daughter and I are starting the diet tomorrow sunday. I have a cruise coming up in 3 weeks, am feeling a tad "puddingish" since Christmas eating. My 18 yr old daughter wants to lose a few pounds too. I love fruits and veg but she does'nt : so it will be very interesting to see how we both fare. I agree it is good to prepare mentally and have a good attitude towards doing this or anything really. It helps to have something to FOLLOW, like the routine and structure of the diet. It won't send us into ketosis either, that's GOT to be good. Good Luck and God Bless all of you on your "cabbage journey".
For the woman who was wondering about string beans- they are fine. The diet bans beans that are pulses. This means beans like flagolet, kidney, butter, lima, black eye). The reason for that is because they are relativley high in carbohydrate, as well as protein. Does not refer to any sort of green beans (i.e. string beans, french beans, fine beans).
my first day tomorrow on cabbage soup diet i have to lose 2and half stone to try ivf in 6 weeks let you know how i get on xxxx
Who said this was low nutrition--in comparison to what? Processed grains and meat? I do the cabbage soup diet a couple times a year--I don't stick to it religiously (so I lose 5-7 pounds and still feel great). Most of all, I go crazy with the soups. I just made a spicy lemongrass soup with napa cabbage, well-caramelized onions, mushrooms, and tofu. My usual soup is grand--onions cooked like the onions in in French onion soup, red bell peppers, green bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, fennel and mushrooms--with canned whole tomatoes and a cup of dry white wine to give it body. This is your soup--make it delicious! A few extra calories don't matter if it helps you stick to the diet. Eating this many vegetables has got to be healthy. I always try to mix in a bit of bread for breakfast, though, so that I don't get dizzy. Just think of your soup as delicious, healthy diet food. And you will lose weight!
Can you drink black coffee with this everyday?
This is my first day on the diet and I can say that I feel very hungry after each time I eat the soup. I also bought a very limited amount of fruits. I will make sure that I have more variety next time. Besides the fact that I am hungry I think its all in my head. I am trying to stay busy and not think about it. I wish I could slip a little peanut butter on my apples though! Hopefully this works for me. We'll see!
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