Dolly Parton's Cabbage Soup Diet is just one more name for the cabbage soup diet that has been around in some form or another since World War I. Also known as the Sacred Heart Diet, the Miami Heart Institute Diet, the TWA Stewardess Diet or the Models Diet, it's all a variation on a seven-day diet that includes unlimited amounts of a cabbage and vegetable soup combined with a very specific eating plan that varies greatly from day to day. Although some claims say you can lose between 10 and 17 lbs. in a single week, this fad diet is not healthy and doesn't promote long-term weight loss. In a 2002 interview, Parton does admit to trying "every diet there ever was," including the Atkins, Scarsdale and Optifast Diets, but says she now maintains her weight by eating small portions of her favorite foods.
Diet Overview
The Dolly Parton Cabbage Soup Diet is a low-calorie diet; it's also low in nutrients, protein and healthy fat. It's high in sodium and has a diuretic effect -- most of the weight you lose will be water weight. The Mayo Clinic says the diet doesn't provide adequate nutrition and can leave you feeling weak and tired. The Mayo Clinic also notes that although cabbage might not have any special fat-burning powers, this diet will increase flatulence. Thus, if you're looking for a diet that will make you hypoglycemic and gassy -- this might be the perfect plan.
Day by Day
You may eat unlimited amounts of the soup, made from bouillon and dry soup mix, cabbage, peppers, onions, celery, tomatoes, water and spices. On the first day of the diet, you can also eat all the fruit you'd like, except for bananas. The second day is soup and vegetables, and the third day is soup and fruits and vegetables. The fourth day, you may eat soup, bananas and skim milk; the next two days, you may eat the soup and up to 20 oz. of animal protein -- the only two days of protein in the entire week. The last day of the diet allows brown rice, vegetables and fruit juice in addition to the soup.
Warnings
This diet is too low in calories and might slow your metabolism, making weight gain easier once you resume your normal eating habits. The lack of nutrients can compromise your immune system, making it harder for you to fight infections or ward off illness. The program is boring, difficult to stick with and causes low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Symptoms of hypoglycemia include hunger, often with a craving for sweets; headache; dizziness; an inability to focus; and mood swings. The Dolly Parton Cabbage Soup Diet is not recommended for diabetics, people with heart or kidney disease and women who are pregnant or nursing.
Weight Loss
You will lose weight on this diet -- but you probably won't lose fat. Healthy weight loss should be fat loss; the cabbage soup diet will cause mostly water weight loss and perhaps some loss of muscle mass. In the absence of readily available energy, your body has the choice to convert muscle or fat into fuel. It's easier for your body to use muscle mass for energy when you're following a low-protein diet such as this one. If you were consuming an adequate amount of protein, your body would use stored fat for energy. Loss of muscle tissue also slows your metabolism, making future weight gain more likely.
References
- Diet.com: Cabbage Soup Diet
- MayoClinic.com; "Cabbage Soup Diet -- Can It Help With Weigt Loss?"; Katherine Zeratsky; January 2011
- Every Diet: Sacred Heart Diet
- FamilyDoctor.org: Nutrition for Weight Loss -- What You Need to Know About Fad Diets
- "More" Magazine; "Dishing wth Dolly"; Degen Pener; May 2002
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