The diet with cabbage soup is short term beneficial diet and the name says it all, lots and lots of cabbage soup.
Proponents of this say you can lose 10 pounds in a week. But, health experts say this can be really unhealthy and just short term. This review is about whether this diet works or not.
WHAT IS THE DIET WITH CABBAGE SOUP?
This diet is for fast weight loss ONLY. So, if you have this diet for a week, you can lose 10 lbs.
It works just as it sounds. For the next week, you eat nothing but this DIY cabbage soup. Every day you can have 2 other foods tops, like fruit, veggie or milk.
Sources say that this diet is not per se starvation, but almost is, and cabbage is low in calories, the body digests this fast and burns more than the cabbage has actually.
So, this soup makes you ingest calories, and burn twice as much.
It must not exceed a week in order to get nutrients after it and be healthy.
This diet also has other names like Sacred Heart Hospital Diet or Mayo Clinic diet since this was created in a hospital and for weight loss before patients went to surgery of the heart.
Hospitals denied this theory though.
No one knows where this originates from, but in the end it is agreed upon that this became famous in 80s and 90s and remained that way ever since.
FINAL COMMENT:
This diet makes you lose 10 lbs in a week.
HOW IS THIS SOUP MADE?
The DIY cabbage soup is the basis. You need big batches for the whole week. Items vary on the source but the main recipe is below.
CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE
You need:
- 2 onions
- 2 green peppers
- 2 cans tomatoes
- 1 celery bunch
- 1 cabbage
- 3 carrots
- 1 pack mushrooms
- 2 bouillon cubes
- 8 cups water or veggie cocktail V8
METHOD:
Chop the veggies in cubes and in a big pot, saute the onions with a tad of oil.
Add the rest of the veggies and cover with water. Add the bouillon and spices if you want. Let this boil with medium heat and let it simmer for 30 min.
Add salt, pepper, hot sauce, herbs if you prefer or add non-starch veggies like green beans and spinach too.
Daily, eat limitless cabbage soup at least few times per day. The more soup you eat, the more weight you lose.
DIET RULES
Every day, you can have 2 low calorie food items along the soup. But, do not replace some drinks and stick to water and calorie free drinks like tea.
Also multivitamin for the day is a good idea, since you reduce nutrients with the diet.
- Day 1- unlimited soup, and fruits. No bananas.
- Day 2- just veggies and soup. Raw cooked leafy greens, but no peas, banana and corn. Also have 1 baked potato with butter.
- Day 3- limitless fruits and veggies along the soup, but no baked potato and bananas.
- Day 4- limitless bananas, skim milk and the soup.
- Day 5- 20 oz beef, or chicken or fish. Also have 6 tomatoes and limitless soup. 8 glasses water too.
- Day 6- beef, soup, veggies. Replace beef with fish. Have leafy greens and NO potato today.
- Day 7- brown rice, veggies, limitless fruit juice with NO sugar, and soup.
Do not extend this week. Repeat the diet further on after you pause for a while.
FINAL LINES:
To follow this diet, you need big batches of the soup for several times in the day. And have just 2 other food items along this.
DOES IT WORK?
This diet was not studied so we cannot say it is 100% effective. But, it is low in calories and this is good for weight reducing. You can eat limitless soup amounts and other foods too, but you have limited choices and the calories are low.
Sadly, even though this diet can make you lose weight, the weight probably will come back once this is over. This is a main problem in low calorie diets, the weight comes back, metabolism is slowed down and you burn less calories after the diet is done.
But, this slower metabolism is the reason you lose weight at the same time, ironically, and it causes long term weight returning. If you notice the metabolism is slower in the first few days of such a diet, it is normal. This is why we get the weight back after such short diets.
Also, low calorie diets have some benefits too. If obese people use these diets with permission of a doctor, for them it will last 4-12 weeks and make improvements in the weight and metabolism. Some studies said short diets decrease insulin resistance and make changes in the body fat deposits.
Another benefit of this diet is that you are not starving all the way. You can eat limitless amounts of what is allowed. Also you get fruits and veggies for the fibers. But, all this will not make you feel full and the choice is limited.
Another good thing here is that this diet is cheap to follow. Other diets need fortunes for certain foods, but this is for a low budget cost.
BOTTOM LINE:
You lose weight with this diet, but the weight will come back.
DRAWBACKS OF THIS DIET
This diet has some benefits we know, but the drawbacks might overbear this. One such problem is that it lasts just a week and is not much for more weight loss.
This is the maximum weight you can lose per week and in this week, 34% of weight is lost from the fat. The other thirds are water weight and muscles.
The water weight is from the glycogen stores and they are our energy fast source. Glycogen binds to water and is stored.
When you make calorie deficit, the body uses this glycogen storage as energy and removes excess water. Another way to lose excess water is through kidneys. They will remove salt and water more.
When you end this diet and start eating bit by bit, the body will replenish nutrients and energy and weight comes back! Also, this diet has not much nutrients.
The cabbage diet is limited in choices and deficient in minerals and vitamins, and offers just a bit of protein. Since it is low in protein this means you will lose muscle mass and metabolism WILL get slower.
The last drawback is that the tastes are bland and is not tasty, but it lasts a week only. People say this is tasteless and not good. After the day 3, you will be tempted to cheat and fail. Also you have to find the time to make big batches for the whole week.
Bottom line:
Bland diet, hard to stick to, deficit in nutrients is seen, it lasts a week and you lose moderate weight that comes back after the diet.
5 SIDE EFFECTS AND SAFETY COMMENTS
This diet must last only a week.
- Low in calories- this is not starvation but all the foods are low in calories and you even end up with calorie deficit of 1000 cal. per day. This is risky and not allowed for daily needs since it exceeds the allowed amount for basic needs. For women per day is 1200 cal and for men 1500 MINIMUM. Low calorie diets with less than 800 calories per day are just good for obese people and only with doctor’s approval.
- Not enough nutrients- such diets must be approved by doctors and made adequate for each body type. This diet limits you in amounts and choices and has just a bit protein. It is low in carbs, fats, calories, minerals and vitamins. The risk of such deficits is not grave if the diet lasts just a week. Many people that tried it have dizziness, weakness, and so on.
- Cramps and flatulence- since it has many fibers, you might have flatulence and cramps.
- Gallbladder issues- some reports have been said about the blockages of gallbladder and gallstones issues. Due to fast weight loss, gallstones might appear. With fatty foods, the gallbladder makes more digestive juices for digestion. But, if you eat no fats the gallbladder will not be emptied often and stones can form inside. These are common in low calorie and fat regimes.
- Blood sugar changes- in case of diabetes, be careful. This is low in calories and carbs and may change the blood sugar. If you are healthy, no worries, just stick to the week only.
BOTTOM LINE:
Do not exceed a week to avoid deficit in nutrients. It might give some side effects, but with a week is not serious.
HOME MESSAGE
Like every low calorie diet, this one makes weight loss adapted for just a week. It is short term and unless you start another diet right away, you will get the weight back.
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