The cabbage soup diet may be the oldest fad diet still in use -- it seems to pop back up every few years with a different name. The model diet, the TWA stewardess diet, the Dolly Parton Diet, the Sacred Heart Medical Center or Memorial Hospital Diet -- all are basically the same. Promises of rapid weight loss without hunger or exercise from eating a special "fat-burning" soup. Cabbage has no magic fat-burning abilities and this low-calorie, protein-deficient diet will actually slow your metabolism -- not speed it up.
Metabolism
Your metabolism is the rate your body uses energy; and calories supply that energy to your body. The higher your metabolism, the more calories you use. The best way to boost your metabolism is to build muscle, which uses more energy at rest than fat. Changing your body composition through strength training to create muscle mass will speed up your metabolism, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. You'll also need to ensure adequate protein intake -- at least 18 percent of your calories should come form protein, suggests ACSM. Drastic calorie reduction will actually slow your metabolism, as your body tries to conserve energy for survival. Eat 1,200 to 1,500 calories daily to sustain metabolic function.
Cabbage Soup Diet
The cabbage soup diet is a one week program that relies on a vegetable soup combined with a rigid daily meal plan for weight loss. The soup recipe varies, but usually includes cabbage, canned tomatoes, celery, onions, bell peppers and carrots. Vegetables are chopped and added to a combination of water, beef broth and chicken bullion. The broth and bullion are high in sodium, as are canned tomatoes. You can eat as much of the soup as you'd like as often as you like whenever you like.
Meal Plan
In addition to the soup, you follow a very specific diet that changes daily. For example, one day you may be allowed to eat all the fruit you care to, except for bananas; on another day you may only eat bananas and skim milk. The last day includes brown rice -- the only grains allowed the entire week and only two days of the week include additional protein -- days five and six require you eat up to three steaks and extra tomatoes. You're also encouraged to drink water, but there is no exercise component to the cabbage soup diet.
Warnings
The cabbage soup diet lacks essential nutrients. It is too low in calories, protein, healthy fat and fiber. Most of the weight you lose will be water weight and quickly regained. You could possible lose muscle mass, which which slow down your metabolism. The Mayo Clinic notes that this one week diet should be followed by two weeks of a balanced diet to ensure proper nutrition because of the inadequate vitamins and minerals on the cabbage soup diet.
References
- Diet.com: Cabbage Soup Diet; Rebecca J. Frey
- Every Diet: Sacred Heart Diet
- American College of Sports Medicine: Metabolism od Modifiable with the Right Lifestyle Changes; March 2009
- MayoClinic.com; Cabbage SOup Diet -- Can It Help With Weight Loss?; Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D.; January 2011
- Medline Plus; Tips for Losing Weight; David Zieve, MD, MHA; October 2009
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