What Do The Experts Think It
Personal trainer and fitness coach Scott Laidler says:
Weight loss is temporary, and most people will regain any lost weight quickly. Because the Cabbage Soup Diet has low-calorie intake and virtually no protein, almost all weight lost on this diet will be water weight and muscle, not body fat. This is a real shame because gaining all that weight back can be crushing psychologically, which can lead to comfort eating and loss of motivation to exercise, which in turn leads to more weight gain.
Theres no denying that cabbage itself is packed with health benefits. A nutritionist at Lifesum, Lovisa Nilsson, explains:
Cabbage is healthy, as it contains plenty of fiber and antioxidants such as vitamin C.
May Cause Gallbladder Issues
There have been a few anecdotal reports of gallstones and gallbladder blockages in people who used the Cabbage Soup Diet over the long term.
Gallstones can be the unintended consequence of any rapid weight loss.
Normally, when you eat high-fat foods, your gallbladder releases digestive juices to help break them down.
However, if you hardly eat any fat, your gallbladder may not empty for longer periods of time, making it more likely that stones will form.
Gallstones may be more common among people following a very-low-calorie diet or a low-fat diet, such as the Cabbage Soup Diet .
Positive And Negative Points Of Cabbage Soup Diet:
- Cabbage soup diet can be beneficial to our body, as it is a fat-free diet.
- This is rich in fiber and which is vital for our eubacteria.
- The incredible benefit of this diet is that you can speedily lose weight
- Cabbage soup diet can lead to a deficiency of vitamins and minerals if consumed more than a week.
- Its a limited and restraining diet strategy that might affect you in the long run.
- You might lose all the energy to carry on your routine tasks as well by lessen your sugar levels.
According to surveys and studies, the Cabbage Soup diet has its pros and cons as well. A few have been given below:
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Key Factors To Success With The Cabbage Soup Diet
Cabbage Soup Diet Results- It Works!
Point blank! The Cabbage Soup Diet WORKS! It helped me to lose weight fast. Once you drop that weight, youll look better, feel better and have some amazing compliments coming your way. I felt really proud of myself once I completed the diet. I did it more than once and found It to be one of the easiest diets because it allowed me to eat. I didn’t feel deprived.
I lost 10 pound in 10 days, that’s 1 pound a day. Boy oh boy! You could really see the difference. My face slimmed down, my waist slimmed down and my thighs got a little slimmer too. it could have been mostly water weight but it was weight gone off my body just the same. It worked…… cabbage soup diet results
How can l I keep the weight off?
Now, the true key is to NOT gain the weight back later, Ok? Don’t let the fear of gaining your weight back hinder your efforts in staying leaner than you were before the diet.
Heres Why I Adore The Cabbage Soup Diet:
- It works!! Its not science. Cut your calories, unhealthy sugar, starches, for a period of time while drinking lots of water and youll lose weight quickly.
- Its quick!! By the morning of my 8th day, the scale is always 7-10 lbs lighter. My clothes fit differently, and my usually bloated gut is flat. I love it!!!
- I cheat!! Ive discovered that I can cheat a bit on this diet. Ive snuck a muffin in a few times. BEST. MUFFIN.EVER!! Ive also used some condiments to spice things up.
- Great for pre-diets! This diet is GREAT for the start of a real diet/eating plan. You know, one where you eat a variety of healthy foods and a decent balance of calories. Sometimes you just need a jumpstart, a cleanse, a boost of confidence on the scale. This diet does it!
Side Note: If youre interested in trying the green monster smoothie, to see how I prep my smoothies!
I know some people HATE these types of quick diets, but I love them! They work well for me, and the weight stays off as long as I eat a balanced post-diet. If you jump back to eating harmful sugars and carbs right away, youre going to gain the weight back quickly.
Pace yourself. I mainly use this diet for quick weight loss for an event, the week before Thanksgiving, or jump-start my spring dieting before swimsuit season.
As always, consult a doc before cutting your calories like this!
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The Cabbage Soup Diet Recipe
The main food on the diet is the special cabbage soup from which you can eat as much as you want. You may encounter a number of recipes for this soup, although the variations are very alike. Here is a common recipe for the cabbage soup:
- 2 cans of tomatoes
- Half a head of cabbage
- 1 2 packages of dry onion soup mix
- 1 bunch of celery
- 2 cubes of bouillon
- Spices to season the soup
- 12 cups of water in which to cook the soup.
Does Cabbage Soup Really Work For Weight Loss
The cabbage soup diet functions surprisingly once it is followed strictly. During this diet week plan, you will consume 1200 or 1000calories per Day instead of a regular routine, you should drink at least 200 calories.
This works to run out of energy and gain the power you will consume proper diet, and then again, you will gain fat.
According to studies, the cabbage soup diet will imbalance your metabolism as there will be a considerable reduction in lean body tissue, which regulates your metabolic function.
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How Does The Cabbage Soup Diet Work
The concept is fairly simple: you make and eat as much cabbage soup as you want. Generally people eat between two and three bowls per day – and because it contains virtually no calories, this leads to weight loss.
The idea behind the diet is that you feel full while losing weight due to being in an intense calorie deficit.
While the cabbage element is naturally essential for this diet, you can eat other low-fat foods while on the plan. Mina, founder of Formulate Health , says, The soup doesnt only contain cabbage. Many recipes include green peppers, onions, mushrooms and other vegetables.”
“As well as cabbage soup, the diet allows you to start incorporating different fruits and vegetables in the first few days, and slowly reintroduces lean meats, dairy and rice towards the end of the 7 day program.”
Cons To Following The Cabbage Soup Diet
You might lose a few stubborn pounds, but the CSD has drawbacks too. Here are some potential ways this old-fashioned fad diet could backfire.
- Weight loss likely wont last. Again, the CSD isnt a long-term solution. It doesnt pack enough nutrition to be a permanent lifestyle change. Research shows that even with a super low calorie plan, youre lucky if a third of that weight loss is from fat. The rest is lost water, muscle, or other tissues.
- Its not well rounded. Cabbage is great. Its packed with nutrients like magnesium, potassium, and tummy-loving fiber. But look closely at the CSD and youll notice that key nutrients are MIA. Theres not much protein. And youre waving buh-bye to healthy fats for a week.
- Itll bore you to tears. Variety is the spice of life, right? Its bad news when a diet tempts you to rip open a bag of Doritos the minute it ends. Moderation is key to health-promoting eating habits.
- Youll spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Keeping up with the CSD means a lot of pot-stirring. Its great to cook fresh veggies like cabbage and celery, but prepping gallons of soup might not be your cup of tea.
The CSD can cause damage if you have an underlying health condition. Here are the red flags.
Also Check: Is Chicken Noodle Soup Good For Weight Loss
Does The Cabbage Soup Diet Work
The cabbage soup diet is effective only if you understand how its supposed to work and respect all the given rules. Cabbage is a vegetable with a very low content of calories and when you eat a low amount of calories, two thing happen: your body has nothing to store as fat and it starts to burn its adipose tissue to produce the energy it needs. In addition, cabbage, especially prepared in a soup, makes for a very watery dish to consume. This controls your appetite and fills up your stomach, so you wont overeat.
It will also control other aspects, such as the potassium levels in your body and blood pressure. In addition, cabbage lowers cholesterol levels and boosts cardiovascular health. It is also good for the liver, helping it get rid of unwanted substances or anything thats in excess.
The liver is one of the most important organs when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight. Cruciferous vegetables, cabbage included, also fight inflammation in the body and have healing effects in case of tumors. Their effects on cancer cells are being researched. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects were already proven.
Pros Of The Cabbage Soup Diet
The only real positive of this diet is that it can cause rapid weight loss.
While there are no specific studies on the cabbage soup diet, similar restrictive diets have been looked at. One study from Karolinska Hospital in Sweden looked at three groups of obese patients over 6 weeks, on diets ranging from 420 calories per day to 880 calories. They found that all the diets were equally effective in the long-term treatment of obesity, however the slightly higher calorie diets had fewer side-effects.
Another looked at weight loss as a result of a 800-calorie diet over three months and a 458-calorie diet over one month.
One 2006 study looked at weight loss as a result of the 800-calorie diet over three months and a 458-calorie diet over one month. Researchers found that both sets of participant lost substantial amounts of weight over time periods. However, over half of all participants suffered trivial complications during this time, with gastrointestinal issues and anxiety coming up as the two most common.
The cabbage soup diet aims to cut calories to an even lower level than any of the diets in these studies, leading to the natural conclusion that it’s not a healthy way to lose weight.
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Level Of Effort: Medium
Limitations: Your menu options are severely limited on this diet. It gets very boring, very quickly. If you want to try it again, it’s recommended that you wait 2 weeks first.
Cooking and shopping: Get out your soup pot. You will need to make the cabbage soup and cook some of the vegetables recommended in the plan. Your shopping list will be very short for the week.
Packaged foods or meals? No.
In-person meetings? No.
Exercise: The cabbage soup diet doesn’t include exercise, and working out at high levels isn’t a great idea on such a low-calorie diet. Your body just won’t have enough gas in the tank for exercise.
Traditional Recipe For Cabbage Soup:
Cabbage soup can be made by adding up different vegetables and meat as well.
Ingredients:
- Cut all the vegetables and wash them properly.
- Oil the saucepan and fry onions.
- Add all the vegetables into the pan along the water and other seasonings as well.
- Let the water boil, turn the flame low, and let the soup be ready, and the vegetables get soft and smooth.
- It might take 20 to 25 minutes, then you can sprinkle salt and pepper also.
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The Best Cabbage Soup
I dont know much because I didnt make this soup to be a part of any diet. I just decided to eat a little healthier and it just so happens that healthy cabbage soup is a part of this so-called wonder.
Youll have to let me know if it works
What I do know is that as far as cabbage soup recipes go, at least all veggies cabbage soups, this is one really good soup.
I like to add cabbage towards the end so it keeps a crispy snap while eating. It is the texture and the broth that brings this soup alive. That and seasoning which is kind of like a choose your own adventure.
And feel free to serve it with a slice or two of crusty bread. Bread paired with a flavorful vegetable soup makes the perfect meal in my eyes.
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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Cabbage Soup Diet Ingredients
Heres what you need to make the cabbage soup diet recipe:
- Lean ground beef
- Cilantro or parsley, chopped
Quantities of all ingredients are listed in the recipe card at the end of the article!
As mentioned above, one of the most significant changes I made to the original cabbage soup is that I added more protein! The bone broth here and lean beef add flavor as well as protein to help you feel satiated. This cabbage soup just got an upgrade from a side dish or snack to a full entrée.
Using some flavorful bone broth allowed me to nix the ultra-processed foods in the original recipe. The balsamic vinegar also adds deliciousness to the soups broth. So goodbye, powdered onion soup mix and chicken bouillon cubes, there is no need for you here.
There is also no need to purchase special Cabbage Soup Diet spice blends like youll find for sale on the web. Regular dried herbs will work just fine.
Another change I made was to adjust the vegetables to improve the flavor. I love onions, but six seemed like a lot to put in a soup .
Is It Effective For Weight Loss
Some anecdotal sources say that people following the cabbage soup diet may lose 10 pounds per week or more.
People who follow the diet strictly will likely lose some weight, potentially 10 pounds per week or more. This is because it involves eating so few calories each day.
However, in most cases, people quickly regain this lost weight once they return to their regular diet.
It is important to note that only around 34% of weight loss that occurs during the first week of following a very low calorie diet is from body fat. The rest of the lost weight will likely come from muscle tissue and water from reserves inside and outside cells.
There is no scientific evidence to suggest that the cabbage soup diet is safe or effective for weight loss. No health authorities recommend following the diet.
Proponents of the cabbage soup diet also encourage people not to exercise while following it. However, getting enough exercise is very important to good health overall. Regular exercise is also far more likely to lead to meaningful, long-term weight loss.
Crash dieting can also reduce someones rate of metabolism, which can cause weight gain or prevent weight loss.
When the body does not receive sufficient calories, it has to break down muscles for energy. The lower the muscle mass, the slower metabolism is, as muscle burns more calories during rest than fat.
The cabbage soup diet has many drawbacks.
- passing out or losing consciousness
Read Also: Can Eating Soup Help You Lose Weight
What Does The 7
The 7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet claims to provide clear directions and meal plans. It is very specific as to how consumers should ingest on a daily basis. Fortunately, consumers will not only be consuming cabbages, as other sources of proteins and vegetables appear to be present.
For instance, on one day, consumers are advised to consume beef and tomatoes, and 6 to 8 glasses of water and the soup. For those who are not accustom to cooking a specific type of meat, the 7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet also suggests substitutes that are appropriate.
