The Cabbage Soup Diet

Nutritionists and dieticians are almost universally agreed that cabbage is an amazing food. It’s rich in iron, folic acid and vitamin C, contains oodles of beta-carotene, potassium and glucosinates and, perhaps most importantly, has very few calories per serving. Because of this, the cabbage soup diet is often touted as an excellent approach to immediate weight loss.

However, the experts agree that the cabbage soup diet plan has nutritional limits and should only be followed for a limited time. This is because the diet excludes nearly all foods apart from the cabbage soup itself. Though the plan encourages dieters to take a multivitamin supplement, many people are essentially starving themselves while on the diet due to a lack of essential carbohydrates, fats and other key nutrients.

The key food for this diet is cabbage soup – you make this yourself and though the recipe varies from region to region, the general ingredients are:

1 head of cabbage, shredded or chopped.
2 large onions, chopped.
2 green peppers, chopped.
4 stalks celery, chopped.
1 to 2 cans of tomatoes, diced or chopped.
4 carrots, sliced.
1 package onion soup mix (optional).
Season with salt, pepper and any herbs of your choice to taste.

The idea is, throw all the vegetables in a big pot, cover with water and boil gently for about 10 minutes, reduce heat and simmer until all the veggies are soft, then add black pepper and herbs to taste.

You then follow the daily eating plan specified below, consuming as much of the soup as you wish along with eight glasses of water and ONLY the foods listed here:

Day 1: Any fruits, but no bananas.

Day 2: Any vegetables, raw or cooked, including potatoes.

Day 3: Any fruits or vegetables, but no bananas or potatoes.

Day 4: Up to eight bananas and up to eight, 8oz glasses of skim milk.

Day 5: Up to 20oz of beef and six tomatoes. You can substitute skinless chicken or fish in place of the beef.

Day 6: Beef, skinless chicken, or fish and vegetables. Drink 8 glasses of water and eat at least one bowl of soup.

Day 7: Brown rice, vegetables, and unsweetened fruit juice.

There are a number of variations to the cabbage soup diet recipe as well as the specific foods that should be consumed on each of the seven days in the plan. It is recommended that dieters do not follow the cabbage soup diet plan for more than seven days. If dieters wish to follow the cabbage soup plan for a longer period, they are generally advised to eat a normal, balanced diet for one week and then spend a week on the soup – alternating between the two to guarantee a steady supply of the vitamins and other nutrients required for a healthy lifestyle.

The cabbage soup diet is well known for producing dramatic results for some people, however, health professionals advise that the dramatic weight loss reported by participants is typically down to loss of water and muscle fibre rather than any lasting fat reduction.