Sacred Heart Diet
Quick weight loss program, similar to the Cabbage Soup Diet.
BACKGROUND
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The Sacred Heart Diet is a 7-day eating plan that is supposed to shed pounds quickly by consuming a special soup made of broth and vegetables as your main source of food. According to the diet, during the seven days, you can lose up to 10 pounds or more. Each day has specific guidelines for which foods and drinks to consume. There is a thorough list of restricted foods and beverages, so that you'll know exactly what you can and can't consume.
This diet supposedly comes from the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital, although reports on the Web refute this. It is used for overweight heart patients in order to lose weight rapidly, usually prior to surgery. In addition to losing weight quickly, it is intended to also wash your body of impurities while giving you a surge of energy without the ingestion of caffeine or other energy-enhancing products. This diet is also sometimes referred to as the Cabbage Soup Diet.
PRO
- There are notable health benefits from avoiding certain processed foods like refined sugars and flours
- Does not call for any funky supplements or herbal concoctions
- Reliance on the diet's consumption of vegetables, fresh fruit and lean protein is beneficial to one's health and can possibly aid in weight loss also.
- Its one-week time frame is manageable for individuals with a strong will power and who want to lose weight quickly
- Supports exercise
CON
- Diet may be restrictive for some
- No scientific evidence that this soup will actually burn calories
- Once you've completed it, you are on your own to reestablish your eating routine
- Does not give any guidelines for how to sustain long-term weight loss
- Given its strictness, the individual may run the risk of having a gorge fest when Day 7 is completed
- Sacred Heart Hospital and The American Heart Association deny any relationship with the diet
DIET and NUTRITION
The soup, which is made from 11 ingredients, is the supposed magic pill of The Sacred Heart Diet. The soup includes canned tomatoes, mushrooms, green beans, bell peppers, celery, beef stock and vegetable juice. You can find the complete Sacred Heart Diet Recipe here.
For the seven days of this diet, you will eliminate bread, white sugar, alcohol, fried foods, and carbonated beverages
The Diet has specific guidelines for each day that you must adhere to in order to reap the supposed benefits.
Each day, you will consume your sacred soup in addition to certain kinds of fruit, certain allowable beverages, protein and other cooked or canned vegetables. For instance, on Day One, you may eat as much soup as you want to as well as fruit except for bananas. On this first day, you can only drink coffee, black tea, water or unsweetened juice without milk or sugar added to the beverages On Day Two, you can have soup, vegetables and a baked potato with a small pat of butter for dinner. On Day Four, you may eat at least 3 bananas, and drink as much skim milk and soup as you can. The diet continues for the following three days in which you add lean red meat or chicken and still continue to eat the soup.
Abiding by the diet's guidelines is intended to yield the results you are looking for.
EXERCISE
There are no specific exercise recommendations for The Sacred Heart Diet other than to follow your usual exercise routine by getting in some form of exercise on most days of the week.
CONCLUSION
Albeit it is a very restrictive diet, The Sacred Heart Diet is a commendable eating plan given its reliance on vegetables, fruits and lean protein. It is clearly high in fiber, nutrients and minerals. It is similar to many low carbohydrate diets out there for its avoidance of refined sugars, flour of any sort, fried foods and added fat. Although there is no scientific proof that the sacred soup which you ingest every day is a magic pill to melt off the pounds, it is a great way to feel full and to get in more than your five veggies a day. But its reliance on veggies and fruit might give some stomach cramps if your system is not used to this way of eating. Since this such a one-shot punch to lose weight, it might be that you gain the weight back just as quickly or even more quickly as you lost it.
And do make a pact with yourself before starting this diet that on Day 8, when The Sacred Diet officially ends, you don't hightail it to McDonalds and order 3 double cheeseburgers and 2 super-sized fries. Do be gentle on your gut as you acclimate it back to the foods that you normally consume: order the Happy Meal.
Common Misspellings
sacrid, saecred, hart, scared
Featured Diets
Related Diets: Cabbage Soup Diet, Juice Diet, Maple Syrup Diet, Purple Diet
User Feedback
(Page 1 of 23, 441 total comments)ashley
Horrible!!! The second day I felt as if I was dying my whole body was weak and I felt as if I was getting a bad case of thw flu. I am quitting and doing it the hard way!
posted May 8th, 2013 5:54 pmtawnya k
3rd day of the sacred heart diet..down 3 pounds.
posted May 2nd, 2013 7:26 pmAlessandra
This is Day 1 for me and it seems to be okay. I have eaten two bowls of the soup and watermelon so far, and I have done a total body workout. I will have to see about tomorrow when I go back to work, where all we have to eat is fast food takeout and chocolate. My manager gave me this diet and her and her sister both lost 10lbs, and they are already thin.
posted Apr 16th, 2013 5:12 pmlydia
Breakfast on veggie day! Try sweet potatoes cut into cubes and baked in the oven, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon if you prefer and viola! its pretty good and stays within the diet!
posted Feb 12th, 2013 9:28 pmvicki
I used this diet according to the way it was to be made and followed for 2 weeks and I lost a total of 25 lbs. Yes it was to fast according to the doctor but I felt great. I suffer from arthritis and it made a heck of a difference. You must like vegetables. But it works as long as your dedicated and willing to do. You do get meats and what not but not till the end of the week.
posted Feb 7th, 2013 5:09 pmGemma Teller
Day one and all is well. Might have to substitute the green beans though. Just don't like them.
posted Nov 24th, 2012 7:20 amGemma Tellert
Just preparing the soup ready for tomorrow. I have 44 lbs to lose and a closet of stunning clothes just waiting to be worn. I can do this. Will check back soon. All the best to everyone. GT
posted Nov 23rd, 2012 9:12 amcourteney
is there anything you can substitute for the tomatoes on day 5?
posted Nov 13th, 2012 5:23 amJohn
My wife and I did this diet the first time about a year ago. The first time, I lost 11 pounds and she lost about 8. I did it 4 more times between late October-mid December of last year, and lost a total of 34 pounds by Christmas. I now have maintained a loss of between 30-34 pounds (I fluctuate). After using the diet I did not want the effort to go to waste, so I changed my eating habits. Instead of fast food breakfasts I eat watermelon or other fruits and burritos with low calorie sausages and swiss cheese. Lunch is usually soup or salad. I enjoy myself in the evening with a full dinner, snacks, beer, whatever, but eating light during the day makes up for it and I am not gaining back the weight. I try to do 50-70 situps a day. Have sworn off bread almost completely. Wife has also lost about 30 pounds and maintained it. One of my kids commented the other night "Mom and Dad are so skinny now!" Made me feel great! This diet is excellent to get you motivated to lose weight and keep it off. I have told numerous people about it and those who tried it had success. The key is to lose the weight then not go back to old habits. I am 54 and weigh what I weighed in my early 20's. I am a believer!
posted Nov 2nd, 2012 8:44 pmSarah
I started this 12 days ago and has lost 12lbs so far. My husband and I are having a go at this together. We have stuck to the plan rigidly for 7 days then we moved over to salads (king prawn for me and ham for him) and then chickend and all the veggies with new potatoes for dinner for 2 days then back onto the plan. I lost 9lbs the first 7days and stayed the same till we started up again and have now lost another 3lb so 12lb for me and 10lb for hubby. All in all we know we cant do this forever but for now we are very very happy and come off it, if you want to loose weight and have chosen this diet YOU will stick to it.
posted Jul 6th, 2012 1:26 pmLeQuinta
This day 3 of the diet for me and when I woke up this morning I was down 5 pds. I started at 188 and I am now at 183. I have been sticking to the diet without cheating or excersing thus far. I have been drinking the recommended water as well. Don't know if it's water weight and don't care I so far pleased with the results. I will provide another update tomorrow on Day 4. I plan to start walking for at least 30 mins to an 1hr tonight.. Good luck to everyone....
posted Jun 27th, 2012 11:28 pmjenopher
Today would be day 6 but we have moved on and decided to give slimfast 321 a shot. We did lose weight. I am down 3 lbs total and my daughter is down 4.5 lbs total. It's just very hard to stick to, especially when it seems to just deplete energy. It did give us a little jump start, but I'm sure we could have just restricted calories to the same and lost at the same rate and maybe enjoyed our food better.
posted Jun 7th, 2012 4:01 pmjenopher
On day 5 and never before have I eaten an 8 oz steak for bfast. Today it was divine! I'm down 2.5 lbs and my daughter is down 3.5 lbs total. Banana day started out ok, but was terrible by the end of the day. While I've dropped a few lbs, I haven't felt any surge of energy, or felt cleansed or anything like that. I have felt tired and bloated most of the week. We'll see how the week finishes up, but I doubt we'll go for two weeks on this plan. I think we'll switch to a week of slimfast and teach my daughter to make healthier dinner options on our own. This diet does help break you of sugary carb addiction. I haven't been craving junk food, just craving normal meals.
posted Jun 6th, 2012 4:44 pmJenopher
Made it through day 1. The diet itself is not too bad, you just don't feel satisfied and it's upsetting to the stomach. Kinda boated feeling. My daughter was down 2.5 lbs and I was down .5 lb. I have a lot less to lose so I'm ok with that. I am still quite bloated and wouldn't be surprised if I have a sudden drop once that goes away. We liked the first bowl or two of the soup, then found we much preferred to blend it and drink it. We are in the middle of day two and need to keep ourselves busy as veggies only are not very appealing. Looking forward to the potato at least. I'll update again tomorrow.
posted Jun 3rd, 2012 7:16 pmMichelle
this is my 4th day on the diet and i have not cheated AT ALL and i've been exercised a lot everyday except the first however I only lost 1 kg (2.2 lbs) :/ It's pretty hard to not cheat but I haven't and it's been pretty tempting.
posted May 31st, 2012 2:25 pmsal
ok, so I am on day 3 and lost 2 pounds. not sure if its just water weight! also worried the weight will creep back in after the 7 days is over. Day 3, going to miss the baked potato, but going strong. body feels so much lighter!
posted May 9th, 2012 12:53 amMichael P
I started this diet a week ago. I cheated on the 6th day when I was a a bday and had some tapas at a mexican restaurant, and on the final day I had a bourbon and dry. Today im doing it again for one week, I will try not to go off the rails as in the five strict days that I was on the diet, I lost 3.5kg. I went to the gym every two days for a cardio and weights workout. This week as my energy levels have skyrocketed, im going to try to excersise every day, even if it is a half hour walk.
posted Mar 12th, 2012 12:55 amThis soup on the diet tastes great and is very healthy. My soup consists of; 1.2litres of water, 2 beef stock cubes, 2 small hot chillies, 2 large brown onions, 1 bunch shallots (not the leafy ends), 1 bunch celery (stalks only), 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, 1kg carrots, 500g string beans, and pepper and garlic for flavouring. If made the original way, the soup has way too much sodium if you use stock! Exersise is really important, this diet in low calorie, so if you sit and dont do anything, how are you going to burn calories? Unless you have a physical job, you have to do something! Last week I went all out and ate as much as I could, this week I will eat as much as I need to get by. I love meat and fish, so its challenging not eating it so often, but did you know that by combining brown rice and red kidney beans you get a complete protein minus the fat as in meat! Because this diet is low carb and fat, when I do weight training, after I have a low carb/fat protein powder mixed with water, just for that added protein the muscles need for fuel. Then whatever is for dinner but a small portion as you dont need to eat much at night. And make sure to get a good sleep, as eight hours sleep burns 500 calories! Good luck all. Hope this diet works for you. Im 40yrs old and 90kgs, so if it works for me, hope it works for you.
Holly
I've been on this diet since Wednesday. I will admit after day two I was done with the soup. However, I am not a soup eater but will continue to eat the soup because it is teaching me self control and portion control. I weighed in today and have lost 5lbs. I love this diet because not only is it going to jump start my weight loss but I am also learning self control. I weight 283 now 278. My goal since I am getting married in September is to go on the diet one week. Eat healthy and watch calories/fat intake for 4/5 days then go back on it. I've found that I'm not sluggish by the 2pm hour and I have more energy. My fiances family had BLT's last night and it felt good to know that I'm okay. Its amazing to me how your mind can work when your ready to jump start a weight loss program. My body even feels clean if that makes any since. My co workers have seen the improvement and results and they are starting the diet on Monday. Goodluck to those who want to try it as off now i'm learning control and looking forward to rewards. (like the meat and potato that i used to eat all the time)
posted Mar 2nd, 2012 11:19 pmangie b
on day 3 of this diet, while day 1 and 2 were fine i feel sick today and the thought of any food yet alone the soup is making me feel ill although i`ve forced 2 bowls of soup and half a watermelon down me, i`ve had a few dizzy spells today too, hoping the banana and milk will stabilise me 2moro, will stick it out til day 7 though cos i dont wanna undo this really hard work !
posted Mar 1st, 2012 7:47 pmameerah
I have done this diet since I was 12 on and off over the years - I am now 21.
posted Feb 26th, 2012 12:20 amIts always shown results for me. It should be a detoxifier a few times a year cleaning out all the garbage in your system and not a quick weight loss fix.
If you do this diet and stay on a healthy plan afterwards slowly introducing (grilled fish/steamed veggies/ yogurts with fruit) etc then you will keep the weight off and still have all the tastey foods you desire !
It should be a kickstarter to your matobalism and healthy lifestyle.
I cannot express enough that your body needs to burn fuel - even if this is a fat burning soup you need to get off the couch and do some light exercise to keep the blood circulating (go for a evening or morning walk/ or do yoga for a peace of mind or go for a swim if its hot or play a game of ping pong (activities like these you won't even notice your doing exercise because your having fun) then come back and have a big bowl of yummy soup ....
You do not need to do this soup week in week out!
Its nice to have this soup on a cold night with herbs and spices and your choice of meat (beef/chicken) and add some italian dried mixes with a dollap of cottage cheese mmm!
I sometimes make this soup for myself and my partner and he doesn't even know its a diet soup because I jazz it up.
It has worked with me all of these years
sometimes just adding fresh lemon juice to it makes it taste a lot better if it is getting a bit repetitive and boring...
Goodluck to whoever is considering doing it :-)