Weight-loss soup diets date back to at least World War I and have been a popular weight-loss method ever since. The diets are all variations on the cabbage soup diet and start with a cabbage vegetable soup that is the mainstay of your week-long program. Cabbage is not a miracle fat-burning food and although you may lose weight on the plan, it's not healthy or sustainable weight loss, any drastic reduction in calories results in weight loss.
Weight Loss
It takes a 3,500-calorie deficit to lose a pound. To lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than you need, creating a calorie deficit. Then your body uses stored energy -- either breaking down fat, which is good, or muscle mass -- which you don't want. You can help your body burn fat rather than muscle by eating adequate protein and not cutting calories too drastically. If you don't consume enough calories, your metabolism slows down and your body uses muscle mass for energy because it takes less work to turn lean tissue into energy.
Soup Diets
No matter what soup diet you're following -- the Sacred Heart diet, the TWA Stewardess Diet, the cabbage soup diet, the Mayo Clinic diet, the Model diet -- the premise is basically the same. Eat as much vegetable soup as you'd like and follow a very rigid daily meal plan for one week and you'll lose as much as 10 lbs. in seven days. Please note that although this diet may rename itself after a famous medical center or hospital, it is not associated with any of these renown institutions, many of which have released statements disavowing this unhealthy fad diet.
Diet
The soup is made with a variety of vegetables, such as cabbage, canned tomatoes, bell peppers, celery, carrots and onions. The broth is a combination of tomato juice, beef broth, dry chicken soup mix or boullion and water. You may season the soup as you'd like, although garlic, pepper, Worcestershire or hot sauce are common recommendations. Don't add salt since the boullion, beef broth and canned tomatoes are already high in sodium. Each day you're allowed to add a specific combination of food. The first day it's fruit -- as much soup and fruit as you'd like -- except for bananas. On the fourth day, you may eat soup, bananas and skim milk, which is the only day dairy is added to the program. The last day is soup, vegetables and brown rice, which is the only grain you eat during the entire week.
Conclusion
Low-calorie soup diets do not promote healthy eating habits or help you make lifestyle changes that could have a positive effect in the long run. Most of the weight you lose will be water weight and regained quickly when you start to eat normally again. The inadequate protein, fiber and nutrient content probably won't do any lasting damage in just one week, but Mayo Clinic cautions that you should follow the soup diet with at least two weeks of healthy eating to ensure proper nutrition. You may experience low blood sugar on the soup diet, leaving you hungry, tired and shaky or causing a headache.
Member Comments