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 10 of 23, 441 total comments)Lumi
Can anybody tell me what their experience was after 4 days? I did everything right but however, I only lost one pound and I am very upset about it. Of course I will continue the diet as I saw all my friends that tried it losing between 30 to 50pds and I know it's working. Did anybody had a similiar experience about the first week as not loosing almost anything? Any help is greatly appreciated.
posted Apr 15th, 2010 8:28 ambutrfli
It's day 4 and still hanging in there. My weightloss in 3 days has been 5lbs. Trying my best to make it to day 7! Can't wait for my meat day tomorrow.
posted Apr 10th, 2010 4:19 pmLynne
I have been on this diet for 3 days now and have lost 3 pounds. I need to lose weigh fast because I am unable to walk for long and need to walk to lose weight. I think this diet is quite good but I do take supplements and also psyllium husks to stay regular.
posted Apr 8th, 2010 6:20 pmI know it won't harm me so it's worth a try.
butrfli
I'm a female who wants to lose 50 lbs. Today is day 2 and I feel great! Yesterday was struggle but I feel better today and I've lost 2.6 lbs in one day so far. I'm hoping to lose 12-15lbs by day 8, next Wednesday's weigh in. I'll take a week off, eat light and sensible and restart the diet the following week. I'll keep you posted as to how it goes. Good Luck everyone. We're in this together!
posted Apr 8th, 2010 9:12 amSyl
Vicky,
posted Apr 6th, 2010 3:34 pmcongratulations on your weight loss. Since you are going to do it again, any chance you wanna team up?
Also, did you take brakes in between rounds?
Vicki
I have been on this diet for 5 weeks now and have lost 15 pounds. I have not felt sick, deprived, or light headed at all. I always feel well nurished and not hungry. I do beleive this diet is okay to stay on for an extended period of time if your body is accepting it. I hit my first goal weight and am not going for another 4 pounds. =) Diets easy to follow and I always look forward to the different foods each day!!
posted Apr 6th, 2010 12:20 amLori Mitchell
Is it safe to continue on this diet until you meet your ideal wieght?
posted Apr 5th, 2010 1:59 pmSyl
I am looking to team up with someone to do this diet again. I have hard time sticking to it but really need to lose weight. Please email me if you wanna join me.
posted Mar 29th, 2010 10:32 amSarah
Today is day four and i tried not to weigh myself until the end but I gave in and I lost 0.8 lbs. Very discouraging. I wish someone could tell me that they didn't drop the weigh until the end.
posted Mar 27th, 2010 2:13 pmSyl
Thank you Tron for your respone.
posted Mar 26th, 2010 11:20 pmtron
If you just eat the same veggies that go into the soup it would qualify as "the soup". I didn't follow it exactly, all I ate was the soup. Every day. The first day I stuffed myself with the soup, watermelon, and cantaloupe. The second day I ate the soup and a loaded veggie salad with a little Italian dressing. The rest of the days I basically at just soup and ate some raw veggies. One of those days I drank a couple of beers and the diet still worked. I lost 7lbs that week!
posted Mar 25th, 2010 9:50 pmSyl
I did this diet in the past and know it works.
posted Mar 23rd, 2010 11:45 pmI would appreciate anyone's feedback. It states the more soup you eat, the more you'll lose. I was wondering if any dieter can confirm this based on his/her experience.
Syl
Tron,
posted Mar 23rd, 2010 11:21 pmI think those two postings are from you. Did you follow the diet exactly?
I was wondering, sometimes I don't feel like having soup. Eating few raw vegetables to fill me up, the ones that go into the soup. Would that be still considered following the diet?
Technically yes, right??
tron
Buy a SlapChop to chop your veggies, it will save you tons of time instead of standing there mincing them. Because if you don't like your veggies crunchy, you have to cut them up really small. I've done this diet twice in the past and have noted that the 2nd time I did it I worked out on an elliptical for about 45 minutes 5 out of 7 days and I lost twice as much weight as I did the first time. I did feel a little "out of it" the first 2 days, but then got used to it and felt normal again. I couldn't believe how much better I felt toward the end of the diet and how much clearer my skin looked. When the diet was over all I craved was more vegetables and the soup! I have no desire to eat greasy foods or chips.
posted Mar 23rd, 2010 11:34 amTron
For those of you wondering how you keep the weight off:
posted Mar 23rd, 2010 11:24 amYou need to change the way you eat and the foods you eat. This diet jump starts a new way of thinking about food. You can't go back to your old ways of eating junk. You have to eat healthy. If you do this, you will continue to LOSE weight rather than gain it back. I did this diet about a year ago and lost 14 pounds. I changed the way I eat, I don't eat junk food anymore and I havn't gained any of the weight back. I am doing the diet again to try to lose another 8 lbs and finally be at my target weight. Good luck to all!
Syl
To everyone who used it and was successful on it, please advise. How do you keep the weight off. The truth is that it is a drastic decrease in calories. Once you're off the diet, do you gradually add food? It is common sense that if you put loads of calories back at once it will be turned to fat.
posted Mar 21st, 2010 2:41 amThanks so much and good luck everyone!
Sarah
i dont like to eat veggiess
posted Mar 20th, 2010 12:23 amcuz it makes me sickk.
what can i eat instead of themm?
ashley b.
hi! i just started the diet today and i was wondering how long can you actually stay on it before eating normally? can i do the diet for 3 weeks and rest for one? thanks so much!
posted Mar 16th, 2010 11:29 amkitzy
This is a winderful diet to kickstart a healthy way of eating. The first week I lost 7 pounds and felt great. I lost my desire for sweets almost totally! By changing my eating habits I lost a total of 32 lbs by June. If you gain a few pounds back, just make the soup and stay on for a few days and you will drop some in the first 3 days. Good luck and be healthy!
posted Mar 13th, 2010 3:00 pmMeredyth
I actually lost a majority of 65lbs on this diet approximately two years ago. The weight has only recently begun to return and that is mostly due to stress. I started the diet again last Sunday and have already lost 8lbs and only have 12 more to go. That's under three weeks to lose 20lbs! I always feel a little sick the first few days and then, as my body adjusts to a more health diet I start feeling better and better, not to mention that all the water really helps your complexion. Anyways that's my review...
posted Mar 12th, 2010 7:42 pm