The Sacred Heart Healthy Diet is a seven-day fad diet that requires consumption of a "sacred heart" soup to help facilitate weight loss. The concoction of ingredients used to make the soup is supposed to help you burn fat and lose weight quickly. The diet has been around for several decades, and has also been known as the Miracle Soup Diet, Miami Heart Institute Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, Spokane Heart Diet and the Cleveland Clinic Diet.
Sacred Heart Soup Ingredients
The Sacred Heart Soup is made with chopped vegetables combined with a beef broth and chicken noodle soup mixture. The vegetables include carrots, stewed tomatoes, green onions, celery, green beans and green peppers. You can also add salt, pepper, curry powder, hot sauce or Worcestershire sauce for extra flavor, if desired. All ingredients are combined in a pot, covered with water and boiled for 10 minutes. The soup is then reduced to a simmer and cooked until the vegetables are tender.
Additional Foods Allowed
In addition to the soup, the Sacred Heart diet also allows of other foods. The diet instructs dieters on the quantity allowed and the days those foods can be consumed. All fruits and most vegetables except corn, peas and dry beans are allowed. Baked potatoes with butter, up to 20 ounces of beef, steak and brown rice are allowed. Drinks allowed include skim milk, cranberry juice, water, coffee, regular and herbal tea and unsweetened juice.
Potential Weight Loss
The Sacred Heart Diet claims that you can lose up to 17 pounds during the seven-day dieting period. According to the Mayo Clinic, reduced calories in fad diets often lead to temporary weight loss. Unfortunately, dieters tend to gain the weight back once the diet ends. This is largely due to dieters not changing their eating and exercise habits, instead resuming unhealthy behavior.
Considerations
There has not been a scientific study published on the effectiveness and safety of the Sacred Heart Diet. The diet has been named a fictitious diet by the American Heart Association and the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash. Both have reported that the diet is not nutritionally balanced and promotes rapid weight loss, which can be unhealthy. The American Heart Association recommends that people lose weight safely by reducing fat intake and making healthy food choices.
Tips
Before choosing a weight-loss program, the Cleveland Clinic recommends that dieters thoroughly research the program. Programs that promise rapid results or are not supported by scientific research are most likely fad diets. Diets created to help sell weight-loss products may also be fad diets. According to the Cleveland Clinic, weight-loss programs that ban food groups or allow only one food could also be fad diets. Before beginning any weight-loss program, consult your physician.
