What Is Cabbage Soup Diet
The cabbage soup diet is a fad diet that is based on a so-called fat-burning cabbage soup, as well as a very strict 7-day diet plan. Cabbage soup is said to have negligible calories and dieters can consume unlimited amount of cabbage soup during the diet. The more soup you eat, the more weight youll lose. This should sound quite appealing to anyone who is on diet, as you can have unlimited amount of food while still losing weight fast. BUT, this only applies to the cabbage soup and plain water. Other than these two, this diet plan only allows you to have a very little amount of other foods and the choices are very limited too.
Alternative Cabbage Soup Sample Menu
In the meal plan are recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 150g / ¾ cup tomatoes, roughly chopped
- handful pitted black kalamata olives
- ½ red onion, finely sliced
- 50g / ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
- small bunch mint leaves, chopped
- juice and zest ½ lemon
Instructions
- 300ml / 1 ¼ cups hot vegetable stock
- 200g can / 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 200g can / 1 cup chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 50g / ¼ cup frozen broad beans
- zest and juice ½ lemon
- coriander & bread to serve
Instructions
Dinner: Spicy Mediterranean Beet Salad
Nutrition
- 1 tsp crushed red chilli flakes
- mint leaves, chopped, to serve
Instructions
The Cabbage Soup Recipe
Now about this weight loss Cabbage Soup , most websites featuring this diet says you should boil the vegetables in water, uhno maam!! Ive always used chicken broth or vegetable broth with seasoned canned tomatoes, which has never hindered my weight loss. Just try to use the low-sodium versions if possible
Let me just say, there is NO WAY I would be eating this soup every day if I made it with water. Yuck! Throughout the diet, I also use salt , pepper, lots of herbs & seasonings, olive oil, and a tad of butter on potato day. I also add 0-5 calorie flavorings to my water to make sure I get in all my water if needed. These changes have never affected my results.
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Cons Of The Cabbage Soup Diet
Low in calories and unsustainable
If done for a number of days the person could miss out on vital calories, protein, vitamins and minerals essential for the body to function and to allow you to carry out your day-to-day tasks, Nutritionist Jasmine Carbon says. The person following such a diet may see the effects, but a diet like this is not sustainable and should not be practiced for an extended period of time.”
Wreaks havoc on your blood sugar levels
Nutritionist Mina agrees, adding that the diet’s focus on cabbage soup can wreak havoc with your blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar often leaves people feeling faint, weak, unable to concentrate and it’s dangerous particularly for those with diabetes.
Causes flatulence and bloating
The cabbage soup diet is also famous for leaving those who follow it with serious flatulence, an unwanted side-effected backed up by science. It happens because cabbage is high in fibre, which naturally causes wind, and it can cause additional digestive issues for those who aren’t used to eating so much fibre in their daily diet.
Expect to experience some gastro-intestinal discomfort such as bloating , gas build up, nausea and flatulence, adds Jasmine. Diarrhoea is another common side-effect of the cabbage soup diet plan.”
Can I Exercise On The Cabbage Diet Soup
Exercise is not recommended while on the diet, especially moderate to high-level. Why? Because this is a low-calorie diet– one that can leave you weak even without exercising. You’ll likely get around 1,000 calories or less a day which is about half of the 2,000 daily calories that most adults should get.
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What Are The Pros And Cons
Pros:
- Quick weight loss up to 10 pounds or more in only 7 days.
- Body detox and a kickstart to a sustainable diet.
- It may have anti-inflammatory properties, depending on the ingredients. Our diet cabbage soup recipe does have some, such as turmeric, garlic, lemon, and spinach.
Cons:
- If you dont drink plenty of water and start a balanced diet, you may re-gain the weight fast as well.
- It is a fairly boring diet since most of it consists of cabbage soup.
Some Drawbacks Of The Cabbage Soup Diet
Do not go thinking that this weight loss soup diet plan is all PERFECT! There are a few things you should have at the back of your mind before diving into it.
- This diet doesnt guarantee long-term weight loss. It makes you lose weight in a short while. However, the moment you stop the diet and return to your regular meals, you might see the weight bouncing back.
- The cabbage soup diet is extremely restricted and can actually cause health problems and nutritional deficiencies if you keep up with it for a long time.
- Dont expect to have the sweet, tasty, and super delicious meals on this diet. The Cabbage Soup is very bland by nature, which you might probably get tired of over a week. Many people consider this diet boring and a little bit hard to keep up with. This may lead to them quitting or taking some cheat foods that wont make them get the anticipated results.
- It is possible for you to get easily fatigued occasionally while on this diet. This is youre not getting proper nutrition.
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How Are The Cabbage Soup Diet Results
You can find claims online that the Cabbage Soup Diet can help you lose up to 10 lbs in a week. Unfortunately, most of this quick weight loss is likely to be water weight.
Hot tip! The general recommendation for safe weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week.
Since its a short-term diet, you wont see long-term benefits to your cholesterol, blood pressure, or heart health. Also, you are likely to regain any weight you lose on the diet after you go off the diet.
Most health professionals would consider the cabbage soup diet to be a rigid fad diet. The diet is too low in protein and calories for most people. It’s also low in carbs, though low carb diets work well as a weight loss strategy for some.
In summary, I dont recommend using this diet without medical supervision. This is especially true if you have a medical condition that is influenced by diet changes. Your health team may have better suggestions to lose weight.
How To Prepare And Use The Cabbage Soup Diet For Weight Loss
The cabbage soup diet is easy to make. The ingredients used in the diet can vary based on the source, and heres a simple basic recipe of the soup.
Ingredients
How to Prepare
- Wash all the veggies properly, and they chop them into bite-size pieces
- Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onions in it for a couple of minutes
- Then, add your celery and pepper and also sauté with the onion for another 4 to 5 minutes
- Cover the veggies with water and V-8 Juice. Then add the bouillon cube, hot sauce, and tomatoes
- Boil for few minutes and then reduce the heat and leave to simmer till the veggies become soft
- Finally, shred your cabbage and add it to the soup and cook your soup for another 10 minutes. Adding the cabbage at the last stage helps to restore and preserve its nutritional value.
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What To Eat During Cabbage Soup Diet
The cabbage soup diet has a seven-day meal plan that allows specific foods only on certain days, plus at least one serving of the soup. While there are many different versions of the diet, here is one example:
Day 1: Unlimited fruit
Day 2: Unlimited fresh, raw, or cooked vegetables, except for dry beans, peas, and corn. Large baked potato with butter for dinner.
Day 3: Unlimited fruit and vegetables.
Day 4: Up to eight bananas and unlimited skim milk.
Day 5: Between 10 ounces and 20 ounces of beef or poultry and up to six fresh tomatoes.
Day 6: Unlimited beef and vegetables.
Day 7: Unlimited brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice, and vegetables.
Aim for several bowls of soup and at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. Avoid real and artificial sugar and alcohol for the weeklong plan.
All About The 7 Day Cabbage Soup Diet Plan
The cabbage soup diet, which has been believed to help people lose up to 9 lbs in a week.
The cabbage soup diet was first developed to help patients who undergo major operations lose weight quickly before surgery.
With its success, the original cabbage soup expanded and it has become popular as a general weight loss diet.
The 7-day cabbage soup diet plan, which provides strong and fast fat burning, includes foods such as skim milk, raw or cooked vegetables, and fruits.
We admit that this diet is not very diverse. One of the most important points you should pay attention to is that this diet, in general, should not be continued for more than 1 week.
If you want to continue losing weight, you have to take a 15-day break and start over. Of course, with the approval of your doctor.
Read Also: Diet According To Body Type
What Is The Cabbage Soup Diet
If you have not heard of the cabbage soup diet before and want to know what it is all about then here is the details:
The cabbage soup diet is a 7 day diet plan that helps you lose 10 pounds in a week. It is a very strict calorie-controlled diet that is very low carb. Ideal for people like me that retain a lot of water and tend to gain weight quickly when carbs are eaten.
The biggest confusion with the cabbage soup diet is that it has a zillion different names and hyped up quotes associated it. What many people dont realise is that these are all one of the same.
Here are just a few of the names given to the cabbage soup diet:
- Wonder Soup Diet
- Surgery Soup Diet
And OMG I feel like I need a sleep after that long list, and I am not even 10% in on all the different names that have been given over the years to what is technically the 7 day cabbage soup diet.
Back when I used to sell it on eBay it was sold back then as the heart diet soup. That surgeons gave it to patients before surgery. Can you believe that? Yet back then I saw a lot weirder things being sold on eBay compared to what I was selling. I think I was rather normal!
What Dr Melinda Ratini Says:
Does It Work?
You’ll lose weight, but only in the short run. This is strictly a lose-weight quick scheme.
You’ll likely get less than 1,000 calories a day on the limited menu. That’s far fewer than the 2,000 daily calories recommended for most adults.
Since you’re getting so few calories, the pounds come off quickly, but mostly you’ll lose water weight. And chances are, you’ll gain it all back as soon as you start eating a normal diet again.
Health experts don’t recommend following very low-calorie diets unless you’re under a doctor’s care. A better bet is to aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds each week on a healthy, well-balanced diet.
Is It Good for Certain Conditions?
Because it includes so few carbs, this diet could wreak havoc with any diabetes treatment plan.
Salt is not addressed on the plan, so if you’ve been told to cut back on the sodium, you’ll have to hold back on using the salt shaker and bouillon when making the soup or cooking your food.
Since you’ll likely regain any weight that you lose, the diet won’t have a lasting positive impact on heart disease, cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
The Final Word
Though this diet is fast, cheap, and simple, it’s not easy to stick with. It will likely leave you feeling hungry, weak, and bored. You might even feel sick. And if you follow the Cabbage Soup Diet for more than a week, you could run short on key nutrients.
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The Cabbage Soup Diet Does It Work Get The Recipe Pros & Cons And More
Are you looking to drop some weight for an upcoming event, to fit back into a favorite dress, or just to give yourself a kickstart into a healthier lifestyle?
You may be considering the Cabbage Soup Diet. Its trending right now and its likely youve seen it talked about among weight loss and fitness forums. Usually a fad diet like this is started by a particular organization, but the origin of the Cabbage Soup Diet is still unknown. It goes back as far as the 1980s and 1990s.
Does The Cabbage Soup Diet Work For Weight Loss
You can lose weight rapidly with it, but this will only last a short-time. It is a lose-weight quick scheme.
Because many soup recipes are under 100 calories unless you add substantial amounts of other foods to them, it is likely youll consume less than 1000 calories a day with little variation in the foods.
Adult females are recommended 2000 calories a day, whereas men are recommended 2,500 calories a day.
Since you the number of calories eaten is dramatically lower than these, youll lose weight quickly. However, rapid weight loss in the beginning is due to the loss of water and glycogen.
This means you arent actually cutting as much fat as you think you are. And when you stop the diet and return to your usual eating habits, your weight will come back again.
Extreme low-calorie diets arent recommended by health experts unless under a doctors supervision.
For general weight loss you can do yourself, its better to choose a sustainable, well-balanced diet plan that can be followed healthily. This way you can lose 1-2 pounds each week and not regain that weight over the long-term.
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The Top Foods Rich In Vitamin C
Another study, published in April 2014 in the British Journal of Nutrition, found that adults who ate soup regularly for five years had healthier weights and overall nutritionally balanced diets. Still, its important to note here that the study looked at soups overall, not just cabbage soup. Study subjects also didnt face any dietary restrictions as are seen in the cabbage soup diet.
The authors of the study above also noted that eating too much soup may negatively affect your blood pressure due to its typical high sodium content. Therefore, they recommend choosing low-sodium soups.
Raw Cashew Ranch Dip With Vegetables
TO MAKE: Soak 1 cup of raw cashews in water for 2 hours. Drain water and place cashews in a food processor. Add in 3/4 cup water, 1 teaspoon garlic, 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon dill weed, 1 1/2 teaspoons parsley, 1 teaspoon chives, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder . Blend until creamy. Season with sea salt and black pepper to bring out the taste. Store in fridge. *NOTE* You can season this any way you like, you can make it sweet with cinnamon and stevia or savory. If you dont like ranch then just add your favorite seasonings. Its that creamy base youre going for!
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Does Cabbage Burn Belly Fat
The cabbage soup diet may be popular, but it turns out that its weight-loss claims are bogus. Cabbage is actually a good vegetable to eat while on any low-calorie and healthy weight-loss regimen because of how high in fiber the veggie is! You cannot spot target weight loss. You must be in a caloric deficit primarily, and slowly it will work its way to the belly. Many factors come into play here that determine your fat loss speed, including height, weight , Insulin sensitivity, and genetics.
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Is The Cabbage Soup Diet A Healthy Choice For You
A short-term severe calorie restriction from the cabbage soup diet may help you lose weight quickly, however, it may not be body fat you’re losing. Because there’s no instruction on how to transition off the cabbage soup diet, at the conclusion you are likely to return to old habits and gain the weight back.
While you may lose weight initially, it’s not a long-term weight loss solution or a healthy eating plan. The cabbage soup diet lacks dietary fat and protein which are essential for optimal health and a healthy body weight. Plus, the cabbage soup diet does not teach skills like meal planning, proper portion sizes, or how to make healthy food choices and navigate emotional eating, which are essential for healthy weight loss.
Successful weight loss and maintenance is best achieved at a range between 1,200 to 1,800 calories per day, but this varies depending upon age, sex, weight, and activity level and could be much higher for some people. The U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines recommends the following nutrient-dense foods as part of a healthy diet:
- Dark, leafy greens
- Beans and legumes
Because the cabbage soup diet recipes vary, there isn’t one standard set of nutrition facts for cabbage soup, but on average, a bowl has about 50 to 100 calories. Use this calculator to determine the right number of calories for you and your weight loss goals.
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