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Diets
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How Does
Cabbage Soup Diet Compare?
BACKGROUND
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PRO
CON
DIET and NUTRITION
EXERCISE
CONCLUSION
Common Misspellings
Whats better than
Cabbage Soup Diet?
Diets
Calorie Counting
What is it?
Cabbage Soup Diet is a weight loss plan said to be a short term solution for 10 pounds of weight loss in a week. It emphasizes eating an unlimited amount of cabbage soup, and many different websites offer different variations.
Generally, one is allowed to eat certain added fruits and vegetables depending on the day of the diet. It’s unknown who came up it with this plan, but it’s believed to have started in the 1980’s. It’s considered a crash diet, and much like other similar diets is advised only for a few days with no guarantee of long term weight loss. Our experts reviewed many diets and found the 18Shake Diet to be the best solution for weight loss. Discover more about the 18Shake Diet by clicking on the link found here.
Do You Know the Best Diets of 2024?
Cabbage Soup Diet Ingredients and Side Effects
The Cabbage Soup Diet dies not rely on diet pills or pre-packaged foods, all the food eaten have to be prepared. One website that promotes the Cabbage Soup Diet says:
“not suitable for long-term weight loss”
It’s instead intended:
“If you have a special occasion coming up or you simply need to lose weight fast”
Often it will be advised that in order to maintain the diet one should follow these rules:
- Drink a minimum of 4 glasses of water.
- Take a multivitamin.
- Eating as much soup as possible, not starving oneself.
- Introducing different recipes to avoid boredom.
A 2 week break is recommended for people who want to restart the diet. Cabbage isn’t the only produce allowed; one can also add things like onions, celery, asparagus, zucchini, squash, barley, some meats, and many different seasonings.
Though this can be healthy, relying on it solely can potentially lead to nutritional deficiencies. Web MD also adds:
“this crash diet won’t help you in the long run, and it doesn’t give your body the nutrients it needs to stay healthy”
Furthermore, they add:
“Health experts don’t recommend following very low-calorie diets unless you’re under a doctor’s care”
This is due to there being numerous damaging health effects that the diet can have. A list of the highest rated diet plans is found in the link provided here.
The results of this diet are not likely to continue, as Web MD confirms:
“you’ll like regain any weight that you lose”
“It will likely leave you feeling hungry, weak, and bored. You might even feel sick”
This is because there’s a lack of adequate food options. It’s not offered as a long term solution, and instead is said to be a quick weight loss solution. There’s one Cabbage Soup Diet website that admits:
“A lot of people quit because the soup can be a bit bland, and they quickly tire of eating it every day”
There are several considerations to keep in mind. It’s not recommended for long-term use, and it’s believed the only reason one might lose weight is due to water weight and not fat. Live Strong.com adds:
“It’s possible to lose as much as 20 pounds of body weight during one week, most of which is water”
This is likely the reason why one sees any weight loss from this diet, since it’s low in carbohydrates and high in fluids, most water weight is flushed out of the body. As you’ll see in the “Customer Opinions of Cabbage Soup Diet”, many customers regained their weight as soon as they stopped the diet.
One popular variation of the diet allows for the following:
- Day one: Unlimited fruit except for bananas alongside water, tea, and coffee.
- Day two: No fruit, only raw vegetables and one baked potato
- Day three: Unlimited fruits and vegetables except for potatoes and bananas.
- Day four: 8 bananas and unlimited skimmed milk.
- Day five: 6 tomatoes and 565g of beef
- Day six: Unlimited vegetables and beef but no potatoes.
- Day seven: Some brown rice and sugar free fruit juice.
A comprehensive list of the top 10 diet plans is offered in the link provided here.
EDITOR’S TIP: Combine this diet with a proven meal replacement such as 18 Shake for better results.
Cabbage Soup Diet Quality of Ingredients
Many of the ingredients are healthy as it relies on fresh produce and grains. However, there is an issue with boredom as the same basic good groups have to be eaten repeatedly.
Also, there’s no science that eating only cabbage soup is healthy and safe. A Dr. Melinda Ratini says:
“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”
“The pounds come off quickly, but mostly you’ll lose water weight”
“chances are, you’ll regain it all back as soon as you start eating a normal diet again”
The diet was made to help one with weight loss in a one week period, but this does not mean it will help with long term weight loss. Health experts also agree it’s likely not a quality solution for weight loss due to its limited food options. A top 10 list of the highest ranked diet plans is offered in the link provided here.
The Price and Quality of Cabbage Soup Diet
The price depends on where one gets their grocery from, as no prepackaged foods are needed.
The diet does advise to get a multivitamin, due to the lack of food options that are high in nutrients. It’s also necessary to eat unlimited amounts of cabbage soup. This means one will have to cook for the full 7 days, as the diet also limits the kinds of seasonings through reducing sodium provided from salt.
Due to the lack of clinical studies proving that this is an effective and safe weight loss solution, it’s a very poor diet. A comprehensive top 10 list features the highest rated diet pills.
The Mayo Clinic also had this to say:
“Fad diets like this one may be tempting, but keep in mind that long-term weight loss depends on making lasting healthy changes”
The changes needed in this diet are too short term to truly be a quality solution for weight loss.
Business of Cabbage Soup Diet
It’s unknown who created this diet, though many websites offer books and tips. Each group offers slightly different advice, with the only key thing being that you can only eat cabbage soup alongside some fruits and vegetables for a total of 7 days.
The diet will often be presented in either a free format via a PDF, or through a book. There are no claims that anyone made this diet, though each book claims it has the optimal guide. There are often recipe books offered as well as tips.
No studies or proof that this diet actually works and is safe is available anywhere. This makes it impossible to determine why the diet was created and suggested in the way it’s displayed. It also allows many different groups to make claims about what to add to the diet, without providing any proof. Our experts compiled a list of the highest rated diet plans in the list featured here.
EDITOR’S TIP: The top 10 list of the best diets is available here.
Customer Opinions of Cabbage Soup Diet
Here are some reviews from users who have used this diet:
“Cabbage soup is not a filler upper”
“I see no real physical weight loss”
“have quite a headache”
“worst heart burn I have ever had”
People did mention they lost weight, but that they often gained it all back one they resumed eating. This makes sense as it’s likely the only reason one is losing weight is due to water weight.
Some also experienced side effects such as gas, bloating, and nausea. There were also concerns from people that they quickly became bored of it, and that they often felt like quitting. A list of the highest ranked diet plans is available in the link provided here.
Conclusion - Does Cabbage Soup Diet Work?
There are many things to consider about the Cabbage Soup Diet. There’s no science or proof that this diet actually works, and that’s why there’s many different variations on it. Many people who tried it say they regained all their weight loss, which is common for crash diets that serve to reduce water weight instead of fat. Health experts on the Mayo Clinic and Web MD website also confirm its likely not safe or effective for real weight loss.
The highest rated diet plan of 2024 was found to be the 18Shake Diet. It combines a high protein, appetite suppressing meal replacement as well as a natural stimulant free metabolism booster. Many customers say it’s effective for weight loss, and that it’s easy to use. There are no added filler ingredients, stimulants, or processed additives. It contains only natural extracts and ingredients clinically shown to help with weight loss. Many users have left glowing testimonials and positive reviews on their website.
The 18Shake Diet offers its supplements with a full 30 day money back guarantee. Returns are allowed within these 30 days with no risk and no questions asked. Learn more about the 18Shake Diet by clicking the link provided here.
- Product Name
- User Rating
- Easy to follow
- Cheap Price
- Fast Results
- High Protein Diet
- 91/100
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- Dukan Diet
- 89/100
-
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- Paleo Diet
- 87/100
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- Plexus Slim
- 77/100
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- Cabbage Soup Diet
- 29 /100
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Wikipedia
The Cabbage soup diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over the time of seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet, in that it is designed for short-term weight-loss and requires no long-term commitment. It has inspired several copy-cats based around similar principles.
BACKGROUND
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Look up the definition of fad diet and you’ll see a picture illustrating the Cabbage Soup Diet. It should not be followed as a long-term eating plan, as it is dangerously low in calories and could do more harm than good. It is possible to lose 10 pounds in a week when you stick to this uber-low calorie plan.
The Cabbage Soup Diet does offer fast weight loss, but it is completely lacking in nutrition, flavor and variety. You'll consume mostly soups of cabbage, onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms. Nutritionists argue that the pounds shed are more likely attributed to the dramatic and dangerous loss in calories and not the proposed fat-burning power found in the cabbage. This diet deprives your body of essential nutrients and has been correlated to difficulty concentrating, feeling light-headed and weak.
Do You Know the Best Diet Pills of 2024?
PRO
- You will lose weight
CON
- Unhealthy
- Dangerously caloric intake
- Primarily losing water weight
- Will regain lost weight if don't stick to healthy eating and exercise following completion
- Does not promote exercise; would be too weak to do so
DIET and NUTRITION
The one-week Cabbage Soup Diet relies on this simple plan:
Day One All-you-can-eat soup and fruit (no bananas). Consume plenty of water, cranberry juice and unsweetened tea.
Day Two Consume all the soup and vegetables you like (no beans, peas or corn). Have a buttered baked potato with dinner. No fruit today.
Day Three Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you like, nothing else.
Day Four Eat your soup, no more than eight bananas and all the skim milk you want.
Day Five Have at least one serving of soup today. You can also have 10-20 ounces of skinless chicken or beef and no more than six tomatoes. Drink plenty of water.
Day Six Eat plenty of vegetables and your servings of beef. Today is the day you can go a bit overboard with the meat (2 steaks if you like) - just make sure to add salad and vegetables. Stay away from the carbs - no fries, potatoes, etc.
Day Seven Have at least one serving of soup. Only eat brown rice, vegetables and unsweetened fruit juice.
EXERCISE
No recommendations are made. Given the severely low calories you'll be consuming, you likely won't have the strength for physical activity.
CONCLUSION
For rapid weight loss as a jump-start to a more healthy eating plan, the Cabbage Soup Diet could possibly be a solution. However, fasting or liquid diets like Cabbage Soup promising dramatic weight loss results in only a week are typically only helping you shed water weight. This weight will creep right back on once you stop the diet and continue with previous poor eating habits. Finishing the Cabbage Soup Diet and beginning a healthy eating and exercise regimen is the best advice anyone following this unhealthy approach can receive. Be sure to speak with your physician before beginning.
Common Misspellings
cabbge soup diet, cabbage soup deit, cabage soup diet, cabbagge soup, cabbagesoupdiet.com, cabbage diet, cabagge soup diet, soup diet
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Cabbage Soup Diet?
User Feedback
(Page 21 of 37, 727 total comments)allana
hi im allana me and my boyfriend started the diet on monday weve been doing it for 3 days now im struggling little bit im not really a veg person but hes ok i love chocolate so its hard staying away form it i am glad though ive lost 3 pounds so far so here goes
posted May 13th, 2009 9:39 amallana
hi my name is allana this is my 3rd day been struggling a little bit but getting there its the need of sugar i need to phase out lost 3 pounds so happy about that roll on day 4
posted May 13th, 2009 9:25 amSweet tooth
Day 2. Weight lost- none, Weight Gained- 1kg/2.2lbs
posted May 13th, 2009 3:43 amWoke up with a sore throat and nausea and really did not want to eat soup for breakfast. Grilled some mushrooms and baby spinach with a touch of garlic and pepper. Went to the gym for 1 hour and was told not to avoid protein from my diet or all the weight I would loose would be water and muscle and the fat would be left. Have opted to having 1-2 protein drinks a day made with water (130 calories per serve) to ensure my body eats the fat not muscle.
Almost felt like I did not even have the energy to walk after visit to the gym. Not side effects of toilet trips or gas yet, hopefully it stays that way!
Changed the soup today, steamed up 1/2 cauliflower added it to some of the soup and blended it. Added some curry powder, topped with chives and fresh cracked pepper, was yummy and did not taste like yesterdays soup. Tonight I will do the same but with Broccoli and will have a side serve of steamed vegetables covered in Lemon juice.
The original soup I made did not have beans, mushrooms or capsicums in it. I also only made 1/2 the quantity and will make a fresh batch tomorrow without tomato..
I am craving carbs and would love some chocolate.. just remind myself that it is tough and I don't want to put to waste the time I have already sacrificed... Hopefully some weight drops off and I don't have another gain tomorrow.
Sweet tooth
I am starting on day 1 today and will keep a diary each day to let you know how it is going. I am 5"6 /168cm and 145lbs or 66kg. I have a 5month old baby and have already lost 26kg /58lbs and wanting to drop another 9kg/19.8lbs. I have lost the weight with a healthy eating 5 meal a day plan based on protein and salads/vegies.
posted May 12th, 2009 7:56 amToday was not as bad as i thought it would be, the soup is fine and it was all I ate. I drank hot water with fresh lemon and cold water. I didn't feel the need to eat any fruit and just used the soup to fill me up. I have made a basic version of the soup and each day will add something different to keep the variety. I unfortunately was made very busy this afternoon and didnt get to eat for 6 1/2 hours, by then I felt extremely tired and short tempered. Slightly dizzy too, but that was most likely due to not eating enough. I will weigh in each morning and fingers crossed I can stick to this. I did try it many years ago and gave up at about day 5, i remember I lost a bit of weight though.
I just have to beat my night cravings for sugar!
Wish me luck!
Time_to_start
How's it going Shy? Hope you're getting on better this time. It's been four weeks since we finished the diet, I've put on two pounds overall and my boyfriend has stayed the same. The bit we're noticing is that now we're exercising more and eating healthily, our bodies are changing shape. So much so that I bought a pair of jeans a size smaller yesterday!! So it's not all about how much weight you loose, listen to your bod and how it's feeling too.
posted May 1st, 2009 8:17 amKeep healthy! :o)
shy
thanks time to start...im actually thinking about going back on the diet because since, my stomach is flat, the weight i loss, never came back so im more shapely now, i bet if i give it another go, ill lose me, now i know what to do(sneak in a glass of muscle milk) lol. ill let yall know how that goes....
posted Apr 29th, 2009 6:49 pmtrying it again....shy
DL
+My last day was Sunday ( I actually enjoyed Day 7) total weight loss 9 lbs. Disappointed it wasn't more, but am happy with the way my clothes fit. I do recommend this diet, however, maintenance is the key. If you go back to your old ways, the pounds will creep back on. Good luck everyone!
posted Apr 21st, 2009 3:54 pmT.P
I STARTED THE DIET YESTERDAY & I LOST 3 POUNDS IN ONE DAY. I FELT BETTER. ON YESTERDAY IT GAVE ME A BURST OF ENGERY.
posted Apr 21st, 2009 11:01 amTime_to_start
+Thought I'd give a little update, as it's been a couple of weeks since we finished the diet and I think it's always good to know what happens to people after.
posted Apr 20th, 2009 11:28 amWell my boyfriend and I both put 2lbs back on the week after we finished but that wasn't suprising seeing as we had a wedding to attend! My boyfriend lost the 2lbs again last week and I stayed the same, so no gain or loss for me.
We're both still feeling great, and have noticed that our clothes are fitting better and looser. We've started doing a lot more exercise and changed our way of eating really, as ultimately we know this is the way to a long-term healthy bod. We're going to try hard to keep it like this and still have the odd treat, as life would be soooo boring without!!
Sorry to hear it didn'tt work out for you Shy, I guess everyone is different and some bodies can cope better than others. Hope you're feeling ok now.
Cheers for now guys!
jessica
SOOOOO im getting ready to start my CSD today its day one and im kinda worried i dont care for cabbage soup that much but i am really sick of feeling tired all the time because of being over weight im only 20 sooo they say the younger you are the faster you lose well i guess we will see i hope to lose 15lb.s soo wish me luck
posted Apr 20th, 2009 9:22 amshy
-made it to day 3, that morning was fine but later on in the day i passed smooth out! i had a massive migrane. and i followed everything to the T. i did lose 5 lbs but that was the worst feeling in the world. i quit, im done, and will never try this again....im sticking to the gym and muscle milk.(also eating right). but now im 153...i guess. good luck to all the rest. i felt like i was going to die, and to have my two sons(6 and 4) find me on the floor was horrifying in itself...
posted Apr 17th, 2009 7:51 pmDL
Does anyone know if unsweetened fruit juice is the same as "no sugar added" fruit juice.
posted Apr 15th, 2009 5:10 pmI'm on Day 3 - so far, so good....although i am kind of hungry...again!
shy
+day 2 was hard cause i dont like the raw veggies, but i got on the scale today(day3) and i weigh 153!!! im so excited. i do feel a bit weak but im in it til the end! im pushing for 145lbs.
posted Apr 15th, 2009 2:20 pmshy
I started the diet yesterday (4/13/09) and its going okay. Im 5'5 and 158lbs. i love cabbage and soup so this is perfect for me. i dont like raw and dry vegetables though. ill keep yall posted. i model and i have an event saturday...shy
posted Apr 14th, 2009 6:14 pmnina
hi im going to start this diet tomorrow. my birthday is coming up and i really need to lose a few pounds to fit in my dress. i hope this works.
posted Apr 13th, 2009 10:54 pmKaytee
+I just started the CSD and am on my second day! The fruit day was more difficult than I though. I actually was sick of fruit after awhile. The vegetable day is worse lol. But I am looking forward to my baked potato.
posted Apr 8th, 2009 2:58 pmI like how I feel; in control. I get hungry easier but I am sure that this will go away in time. I hope I lose something but if not, at least it is something new to try and get your body on a healthy track again.
Time_to_start
+I've finished the diet and lost 6lbs overall with my boyfriend loosing 8lbs. I did put 2lbs back on after my weekend break, but lost that and a further 2lbs on the second week. I have to say I couldn't bare the soup by the end of it but we're both feeling great and it's given us the incentive to watch what we eat going forward, as we'd like to loose a bit more. This diet isn't something I'll be continually doing but I'd definitely do it again if I want to loose some weight before a special occasion.
posted Apr 6th, 2009 6:53 amKatie - Well done, you're doing brilliantly! I think if you're not going to watch what you eat for a week, then you will inevitably put some weight back on. Everything in moderation, so keep that in mind and I'm sure you'll be fine :-)
Katie
+So, I completed the cabbage soup diet about a month ago, lost 6 pounds joined weight watchers and lost another 7 pounds. I want to do it again next week because I feel that I am starting to plateu and want to reach my goal weight by the end of May for a cruise.
posted Apr 1st, 2009 7:53 pmMy question - I will return to weight wacthers right after i finish the soup diet for the second time. I will remain on weight watchers till the end of May and take a week break for my cruise. On my cruise, if I eat how I would like (not weight watchers), will I gain back the weight i lost on the cabbage soup diet 2 and a half months and a month and a half before?
Please help!
Time_to_start
+Just to update anyone who is thinking of splitting this diet, as I have.....I completed the first four days, lost 4lbs (my boyfriend lost 5!) and am feeling a lot better in myself. We had a weekend off and now continuing with day 5-7. I know you're not meant to do it this way but I have a wedding on Friday, so will see how I go for this week. :-)
posted Mar 30th, 2009 11:47 amNatalie
I didn't want to eat meat and tomatoes either for breakfast on days 5 and 6 so I opted for an orange on both days.
posted Mar 25th, 2009 5:54 pm