The Cabbage Soup diet is a quick weight-loss plan that promises to help you lose up to 10 lb. in seven days if you adhere to the diet's specific guidelines. Also known as the Mayo Clinic diet, the Miami Heart Institute diet and the Sacred Heart Hospital diet, the Cabbage Soup diet's meals are centered around a homemade cabbage soup. Followers are instructed to eat the soup in unlimited amounts daily, paired with strict amounts of other foods. You might achieve temporary success on the Cabbage Soup diet, but health professionals warn that the fad-style plan is not healthy and is not a long-term weight loss solution.
Cabbage Soup Diet Guidelines
Each of the seven days of the Cabbage Soup diet contains a different set of meal-time instructions. While you are allowed to eat as much of the cabbage soup as you wish, on the first day of the program you may only accompany it with any fruit other than bananas. On the second day, the soup is paired with vegetables and a baked potato -- nothing else -- and on the third day, any fruit and vegetable with the exception of potatoes can be eaten with the soup. Day four features bananas and skim milk and day five puts tomatoes and beef with the soup. On the plan's sixth day, you're instructed to eat the soup with more vegetables and beef, and on the diet's final day, you can eat brown rice, vegetables and fruit juice with the soup. Followers are not allowed carbonated drinks, alcohol or bread during the week and are told that any food substitutions may keep them from losing the optimum amount of weight.
Ingredients
Different versions of the Cabbage Soup diet contain slight variations on the soup recipe, though all contain one large head of chopped or shredded green cabbage. According to the diet's proponents, cabbage can boost your metabolism of fat and stimulate weight loss. The most basic cabbage soup recipe used in the diet contains chopped green peppers, canned diced tomatoes, green onions, celery and cabbage simmered in water and optional V-8 juice that has been seasoned with a package of dry onion soup mix and bouillon cubes. Pepper, parsley and Worcestershire sauce can be added if desired.
Success on the Cabbage Soup Diet
According to the Mayo Clinic, you need to use 500 to 1,000 calories more a day than you consume in order to lose between 1 and 2 lbs. in a week. The Cabbage Soup diet may help you achieve this in the short-term, but Diet.com warns that the majority of weight lost while on the program is water weight that will inevitably return when the plan's seven days are completed. Additionally, the diet's restrictions are such a drastic change from the eating habits of most people, it is difficult for many to make it through the week without giving up or experiencing unpleasant side effects like dizziness, fatigue and bloating.
Expert Insight
Pamela Posner, a St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital dietitian, told the "New York Times" that following the Cabbage Soup diet for seven days isn't harmful for healthy adults. However, she argued that the diet was detrimental because it does not encourage the two things that medical institutions like the Mayo Clinic recommend as the keys to sustainable, long-term weight management and enhanced health: a low-fat, low-calorie diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins and regular moderate-intensity exercise. The American Heart Association and the Sacred Heart Medical Center have all publicly condemned the diet and the hospitals whose names have been connected to it deny any part in its creation or endorsement. The diet can be dangerous for people with a history of eating disorders or who suffer from hypertension and should never be followed for longer than seven days. Before you begin the Cabbage Soup diet, talk to your doctor about its safety and effectiveness.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Cabbage Soup Diet - Can it Help With Weight Loss?
- Every Diet: Cabbage Soup Diet
- Diet.com: Cabbage Soup Diet
- Mayo Clinic: Weight Loss - 6 Strategies for Success
- Mayo Clinic: Weight-Loss Goals - 10 Tips for Success
- "The New York Times"; Melt Pounds With Cabbage Soup, a Diet From Nowhere Says; Monique P. Yazigi; March 1996
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