The Cabbage Soup Diet is designed to help followers lose weight fast. It has become one of the more popular diets over the years, simply because of it’s week-long time frame and proven effectiveness.
As with all of the more extreme diets, it is vital to understand what the core principals of the diet are before you begin. Find out everything you need to know about the Cabbage Soup Diet below!
What is The Cabbage Soup Diet?
The Cabbage Soup Diet is fairly simple. You spend only a week following the diet plan, consuming food that you prep and cook yourself at home.
There are no processed, store-bought foods allowed on the diet plan except for sugar-free fruit juice.
Each day you should consume the homemade cabbage soup whenever you are hungry. This soup in incredibly low in calories as well as vital nutrients, but is designed to fill you up.
As you progress through the diet, there are other foods that can be added daily to your list of foods to eat.
It is important to remember that The Cabbage Soup Diet is not meant to be a lifestyle. This diet is meant to be a quick-fix solution, not a prolonged experience.
The Cabbage Soup Diet Meal Plan
The meal plan for the Cabbage Soup Diet is basic and is as follows:
Day 1: Unlimited amount of cabbage soup and fruit (except bananas) are acceptable.
Day 2: Unlimited cabbage soup and some vegetables. One baked potato with butter is allowed for dinner. No fruit on this day.
Day 3: Unlimited cabbage soup plus any fruit and vegetables with the exception of potatoes and bananas
Day 4: Unlimited cabbage soup and skim milk. Allowed up to eight bananas
Day 5: Unlimited cabbage soup, 15-20 ounces of chicken, beef or fish and 6 tomatoes. Urged to drink at least 8 glasses of water on this day.
Day 6: Unlimited cabbage soup, beef and vegetables excluding potatoes
Day 7: Unlimited cabbage soup with brown rice, vegetables and sugar-free fruit juice
After the seventh day, you are meant to return to your normal diet.
The Side Effects of the Cabbage Soup Diet
If The Cabbage Soup Diet really lead to unlimited weight loss it would probably already be hailed as the number one diet in the world.
The fact is that it isn’t, and for good reason. This diet is considered to be a “quick fix” solution for those who want to drop weight quickly and is not a diet that should be followed longer than seven days.
The nutrition in this plan alone is not enough to sustain healthy functions or energy levels.
There is little protein and healthy fats, which are essential parts of proper, healthy bodily functions.
Most followers of this diet have complained of migranes, low energy levels, mood swings, and low levels of concentration.
The number one complaint as a result of this diet however, is the unavoidable gas that comes with consuming a high intake of cabbage and vegetables.
The diet is low calorie and yet high in fiber, which means that it won’t always agree with your stomach.
Following the Cabbage Soup Diet for longer than the seven days it suggests can lead to an intensification of the side effects.
This diet is not a well-rounded meal plan and should thus be treated as such.
If you are going to follow the plan, then only follow it for the prescribed seven days before returning to a wholesome, complete diet.
Is It Effective?
There have been claims of weight loss as much as 10 pounds in the prescribed seven days on the Cabbage Soup Diet.
This is to be expected of course, with the Cabbage Soup Diet reducing caloric intake to roughly 800 to 1,000 calories a day.
This type of weight loss however, is typically not life-long, which is what makes this diet the perfect “event” diet.
The weight that is lost is most likely not fat loss, which means that the dieter will probably gain the lost weight back within a few weeks once they return to their normal diet.
While this diet might be effective at incorporating more vegetables into the diet and providing a few quick pounds of weight loss, it is no miracle diet.
The Cabbage Soup Diet can be used as sort of a “spring board” diet if you follow it up with a more wholesome diet and lifestyle.
Use the weight loss from this diet as motivation and find continued success by switching to more whole foods and less processed foods.
While the Cabbage Soup Diet shouldn’t be a diet you follow for the rest of your life, it can be what you need to jump start your weight loss.
The Cabbage Soup Recipe
There is no one cabbage soup recipe that is required for the Cabbage Soup Diet, which is helpful as cabbage can be quite bland.
There are several cabbage soup recipes to choose from, all that involve different vegetables and spices. Try different recipes until you find one that is flavorful and enjoyable.
Ingredients:
- 6 onions, chopped
- 2 green bell peppers, chopped
- 2 cans tomatoes, diced
- 1 bunch celery, chopped
- 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 1 package dry onion soup mix
- additional spices
- 12 cups water
Directions:
1. Cook chopped onions in a large pot until translucent.
2. Add bell peppers and heat for one minute.
3. Stir in the cabbage, carrots, celery and tomatoes.
4. Sprinkle in onion soup mix and spices
5. Add the water, stirring until everything is mixed
6. Cook until vegetables are tender
Should You Try It?
As long as you understand that the Cabbage Soup Diet is an extreme diet that should only be followed for the designated seven days, then it should be safe to try the diet.
Those with serious health conditions need to address their doctor before starting this as it is extremely low in calories and nutrients, and could adversely affect their condition.
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