The Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital's Cardiac diet is only one of the many names -- including the Cleveland Clinic diet, the Miami Heart Institute diet and the Spokane Heart diet -- for a weeklong rapid weight loss plan that centers around eating unlimited amounts of vegetable soup daily. The program contains detailed instructions about what other foods and in what amounts you can pair with your daily soup. Proponents of the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital's Cardiac diet say you can lose as much as 17 lbs. in seven days if you strictly adhere to the given menus. However, the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital -- and every other reputable medical institution -- do not endorse the diet, saying it is not a healthy way to achieve sustainable weight loss. Talk to your doctor.
Ingredients
Followers of the Sacred Heart diet are instructed to eat as much vegetable soup as they want daily for the duration of the diet. While the soup's specific ingredients vary slightly with different versions of the plan, the majority consist of chopped celery, green beans, carrots, green pepper and sliced green onions simmered until tender in beef broth and seasoned with a package of dry chicken noodle soup mix and one to two cans of stewed tomatoes. Dieters are allowed to further season the soup with their choice of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, curry or parsley.
Guidelines
On day one, eat the soup and any fruit except bananas. On day two, eat the soup with any vegetables except for corn, peas or beans. Include a baked potato with butter at dinnertime. The third day's menu consists of any fruit and vegetable except for potatoes, paired with soup. Day four includes at least three bananas, skim milk and soup. On day five, eat soup with up to six tomatoes and up to 20 oz. of beef. Day six, consume unlimited beef and vegetables with soup. On day seven, eat the soup paired with vegetables, unsweetened fruit juice and brown rice.
Benefits and Drawbacks
While the Sacred Heart diet may succeed in helping you reduce your caloric intake and potentially lose weight, it fails to give dieters any instruction on how to develop the lifestyle habits that will help them to keep off any of the pounds they lost. The plan does not encourage exercise and may be extremely difficult to continue following for the full week since it severely restricts carbohydrates. The diet may lead to fatigue, weakness, irritability and flatulence. If followed too frequently, the diet's restrictions may result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Additionally, the Sacred Heart diet is not a good choice for people trying to decrease their sodium intake.
Expert Insight
In 2004, Canada's Sacred Heart Hospital denied having developed the Sacred Heart diet, as has the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital in Spokane, Washington. Other medical institutions and health professionals, including the American Heart Association and Pamela Posner, a St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital dietitian, also strongly recommend against using the diet as a weight loss technique since it does not emphasize the two main tenants of sustainable weight loss: a balanced low-fat, low-calorie diet that focuses on fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein, and regular exercise. MayoClinic.com advises that diets like the Sacred Heart diet -- ones that rely on either vegetable or cabbage soup and exclude entire categories of food -- are not healthy.
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