There are a lot of trends when it comes to dieting. You can follow a program, use supplements, and juice vegetables for you to lose weight. But have you heard of the Cabbage Soup Diet? I was skeptical when I first heard it. That is why I wanted to look further into this diet that has become popular.
The cabbage food diet has been discussed because it says that it can help you lose weight up to 10 pounds in just a short time. So let us find out in this cabbage soup review if it can help you lose weight. What are the benefits of having a cabbage soup diet, and what are the risks if you try it? If you are considering the cabbage food diet, then you stumbled into the right article.
What Is a Cabbage Soup Diet?
The Cabbage Soup Diet is a rapid weight loss diet as it can give you quick results in just seven days. According to its proponents, you’ll lose up to 10 pounds, that’s a fantastic result.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is also known as the Mayo Clinic Diet because the hospital developed it to help their heart patients to lose weight before their surgeries, but then the hospital says it didn’t come from them and denied this fact. Nobody knows where the diet originated from, but people have been using this diet since the 1980s.
The diet is so easy as you need to eat homemade cabbage soup for one week using other foods such as fruits, vegetables, and skim milk. It should just be for seven days or a week to help you slim down, that could help you to prepare for a long-term diet plan.
It is just good for a week because it is low in vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and protein.
Why Try The Cabbage Soup Diet?
The Cabbage Soup diet is considered a trendy one. It requires you to eat numerous cabbages in a week for you to lose weight. Unlike other diets like juice diets, you can eat other food like fruits, vegetables, and even meat and rice as long as it is on the schedule.
According to the people who used the diet, the diet works quickly and says it is one of the diets that can slim down fast. It limits the calories you take, and you will likely lose the weight, which is more water and fat and can even include your muscles.
The cabbage soup diet is a crash diet that is a short-term fix that will help you crank up your weight loss journey.
What You Can Eat During The Cabbage Soup Diet
The cabbage soup diet's goal is to eat as much cabbage as you can to help you lose weight, but it doesn’t mean that it is the only thing you should eat. The best thing about the diet is you can eat other food that will help you lose weight. You won’t get sick just by eating one type of food, and won’t let you crave it because it supplements your hunger.
Take note that you need to eat cabbage soup two to three times a day and have some other food throughout the day.
Here is the list of the food that you can include in your Cabbage Soup Diet for a week.
Day 1
Fruits (except bananas)
Day 2
Vegetables, especially leafy greens (avoid starchy vegetables)
Day 3
Combination of fruits and vegetables
Day 4
Skim milk and bananas
Day 5
Choose between beef or chicken, add some tomatoes (Don’t eat the chicken skin)
Day 6
Beef and vegetables
Day 7
Brown rice, vegetables, and fruit juice (make sure it is unsweetened)
How To Make A Cabbage Soup Diet?
Now that you know what you can eat during your cabbage soup diet, here is your diet's main star-- the cabbage soup.
The cabbage soup is just easy to make, and you can do it with no problem in your kitchen. There are various recipes of the soup, but it should have the following ingredients:
- Tomatoes
- Green peppers
- Mushrooms
- Onions
- Bouillon
The Cabbage Soup Recipe
In making your cabbage soup, you can start with this recipe.
Prepare the following ingredients:
- Two onions
- Two green peppers
- Two tomatoes (canned)
- Bunch of celery
- A full head of cabbage
- Three carrots
- One pack of mushrooms
- 1 or 2 bouillon
- 6 cups of vegetable stock or water
Cooking Directions:
- Chopped all vegetables into cubes.
- Saute the onions with oil in a large stockpot.
- Add the rest of the vegetables, then put the water or vegetable stock.
- Add bouillon and any other seasoning that you want.
- Wait for the soup to boil and set it to medium heat.
- Let it simmer for about 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are all tender.
- You can season the soup with salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices that you may desire.
Cabbage Soup And Weight Loss
The Cabbage Soup Diet is a fast-track diet that can be part of your short-term goal for losing weight. So how will it help you lose weight?
You will lose weight because you can only get about 1,000 calories a day because of the diet's limited menu. An adult has a recommended 2,000 daily calories a day far less than you will get if you go with the cabbage soup diet. The body will likely lose the water weight due to the few calories you had in a day.
Currently, no study can back up the effectiveness of the cabbage soup diet. The weight that you’ll lose can easily be back again if you come back to your regular diet. It won’t also help in your metabolism because it can slow down instead of boosting it.
One positive note about the cabbage soup diet is it can help you suppress your craving, so you are not technically starving yourself. You can eat other food that will help you not to crave different foods. Since you are eating mostly fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber and low in calories, it is suitable for losing weight.
Benefits Of Cabbage Soup Diet
Here are the benefits of the cabbage soup diet that you should know.
Help You Lose Weight Quickly
The cabbage soup diet can help you lose weight quickly for a week. You will just be consuming cabbages and some other fruits and vegetables that have low calories but are very high in fiber for a week.
Cheap Diet
If you compare the cabbage soup diet with other diets out there, it will be on the cheaper side because you only need to cook cabbage soup in your kitchen. Also, you need to buy some fruits and vegetables from your local market, and you won’t need to purchase supplements just to help you lose weight.
Side Effects Of Cabbage Soup Diet
Cabbage is an effective way to help you lose weight quickly, but it has many side effects.
Here are some side effects that you should be aware of:
Can Only Be Used For Short Term
The cabbage diet can only be taken for a week, making it unreliable for a long-term weight loss plan. The diet can help you lose your water weight, but that weight can be back again once you go back to your regular diet unless you have other diet plans that can help you lose weight.
Lacks Nutrients
Eating just cabbage and other fruits and food won’t give you enough nutrients to support your body. You will be deficient in many vitamins and minerals, and the food won’t give you enough protein.
Very Low Calories
The cabbage soup diet offers meager calories, which is why it can help you lose weight quickly. However, the low-calorie count is way below your needed calories in a day for you to maintain a stable weight. You can only get about 800 calories a day with the diet compared to the average recommended 2,000 calories a day for adults.
May Cause Cramping and Gas Buildup
There are reports that people who took the diet have experienced cramping and gas buildup because of their high fiber content. It can also cause some dizziness and weakness.
May Cause Gallbladder Issues
If you are going to use the cabbage soup diet for the long term, one of the health issues would be gallstones and gallbladder blockages which is not suitable for your health. The diet can cause stones because your gallbladder is empty because you don’t consume fat that’s why stones will form.
May Change Your Blood Sugar Levels
The Cabbage Soup Diet may cause your sugar level to decrease, that's why you may experience dizziness and weakness. If you have diabetes, you need to be careful or consult your doctor's advice first before proceeding.
The Pros And Cons Of Cabbage Soup Diet
Pros
- It can help you lose weight quickly
- A great help to start with a long-term diet
- It won’t starve you
- You can eat other food aside from the soup
Cons
- You will only lose water weight
- You may experience weakness
- Meager calorie count
Final Thoughts
If you want to lose weight quickly, then the cabbage soup diet is the right one for you. Unlike many other diets that will make you starve and won’t help with your cravings, this is the opposite.
Even if the diet has low-calorie count, you can still munch on other things, and you will have a variety of food that you can eat as long as you follow the proper schedule and won’t eat any other food aside from the list. If you follow the diet correctly, then you will lose weight in a week.
The diet consists of fruits and vegetables, which are high in fiber but have low calories. You can also eat meat and add some skim milk to the diet. Take note you need to eat as much cabbage as possible with the cabbage soup that you made.
The cabbage soup diet won’t cost you a lot of money because you can easily make your soup and won’t take any supplements along with it. The drawback of the diet is that it is only for short-term use, and doing it for a long time can cause you some health issues. You can also get sick of overeating cabbage and will make you weak because of the low calorie that you’ll be getting.
The cabbage soup diet is best if you want to start with a long-term diet. You will be able to lose your water weight, which will help motivate you to do another long-term diet and the right diet plan and regular exercise if you are keen to start with the diet you need to consult your doctor first, especially if you have underlying conditions.
I hope this cabbage soup diet review will help you decide if this is the right one for you.