Sacred Heart Diet
Quick weight loss program, similar to the Cabbage Soup Diet.
BACKGROUND
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
Related Diets: Cabbage Soup Diet, Juice Diet, Maple Syrup Diet, Purple Diet
> Leave Feedback
User Feedback
(Page 11 of 11)
I am starting the diet today at 227. I am getting married in October and would love to drop 30 pounds before then. Lets see how it goes. Today I have followed the diet to the tee and went to the gym and burned 650 calories according to the gym readers
Ive been on this diet for 3 days. Ive lost 6 pounds. I have no cravings. I started off at 154 and am now down to 148 and still have 4 days to go! However, I am a firm believer in exercise. I usually work out with weights Tue, Thurs, Sat, and an hour of cardio (walking fast, jogging, stationary bike, eliptical etc..) Monday, Wed, Friday. This may have something to do with the weight loss. If you season the soup right, it's actually good! I'm a bit burnt out on fruit and veggies tho :(
Hey girls! I am going to start this diet tomorrow...I will let you know how it works for me. It seems as though you diet to get the weight off, then you just watch your weight from there. I am exercising too (crunches, lundges, jogging) so maybe I will get the desired result. I'll keep you posted! x
It wasnt a bad diet but i only lost 5 pounds. What did i do wrong?? i am on the last day now. Diet doesnt explain whats for breakfast or should it be the soup breakfast lunch and dinner. Need examples of what veggies to have
This diet is a decent way to jump start a healthier way to lose weight and get off of boxed foods. It does drop the pounds but you will gain them back if you revert to your old eating habits. As with any kind of diet. I did this diet in January of '08 and lost 12 lbs. Of course, like alot of others, I went back to my old way of eating, stopped exercise (and I wasn't a gym bunny) and gained it back. I have restarted, am on day three and have lost 5 lbs. I know at the moment it's mostly water weight, but will be burning off actual unhealthy weight soon. Once day eight arrives, I will be eating alot more healthier than in the past. More veggies, less refined sugars and flours. I am also going to be sticking to a more active lifestyle which includes walking, eliptical, light weights and swimming. And I'm a mom of three who works full time. It just means I get up 45 minutes earlier. It's worth it to be healthier.
Since the cabbage soup diet gets a thumbs down review, I am surprised this review isn't nearly as dreadful
I am thinking about trying the SH diet.. but i really am serious about losing this weight and i don't want to do it if its not going to work. Anyone have any good results theyd like to share for motivation??
I don't understand I did the SH diet and i lost only 5 pounds, I dont get it.
I just started the SH diet today. So far so good not getting the crazy cravings I get all the time. Im hoping to lose at least 10-15 lbs. I've created a journal to that I could keep my mind into in, along with a work out schedule. Hip hop abs in the morning and 1-1 1/2 hour walks at night. Wish me luck
Sunny- thanks for the info! After reading your comment I'm really motivated to try it!
I can tell you that I HAVE done this diet. I only did it to day 3, which by that time I had already lost 9 pounds and I was beginning to get sick (I wasn't huge anyway) but it did work!!! for a smaller person like me though wanting to lose a couple pounds, I recommend just doing the first 3 days. after day one, I had lost 5 pounds. and believe me, you don't crave the things you did before. I had no want for caffeine when it was over, and did not overeat, because your stomach shrinks so much you won't be able to hold anything more than a happy meal. And I have never gained the weight back (it's been 2 years)
yes, its basically the same, without the cabbage in the soup.. everything else is pretty much identical
The S.H. soup doesn't have any cabbage in it. The diet might be the same, though.
Is the Sacred Heart Diet the same as teh cabbage soup diet?
See 109 more diets
