Cabbage Soup Diet is one of the famous diet plans with many books written on behalf of it. Its origin is unknown. However, it has been passed down for decades. There are various versions that emerged, sometimes even with different names.



Anatomy of Diet

According to Melissa Payne, registered dietitian at Orlando Health Care, people want quick fixes and a specific program that they can follow. It is not enough to tell them to watch their diet by eating portion sizes of food as well as increase their exercise activity. People need structure, she added.

For Cabbage Soup Diet, the diet structure looks like this:

Day 1: Cabbage soup with all the fruit you can eat (except bananas). Drink water, cranberry juice, black coffee, or unsweetened tea.

Day 2: Cabbage soup with all the vegetables you can eat (except corn, peas, or beans). Also eat baked potato with butter at dinnertime.

Day 3: Cabbage soup with a combination of fruits and vegetables above.

Day 4: Cabbage soup with bananas (only 8 pieces) and 2 glasses of skimmed milk.

Day 5: Cabbage soup with 20 ounces of chicken, beef, or fish. Also eat 6 fresh tomatoes and drink water (only 6-8 glasses).

Day 6: Cabbage soup with unlimited vegetables and 3 beef steaks.

Day 7: Cabbage soup with brown rice (2 cups only), unlimited vegetables and unsweetened fruit juices.

The promise of this diet is losing about 10 pounds of fat in only 7 days. It is important that you do not follow it for a longer time because the nutrients that your body need cannot be found here.

However, experts say that a healthy person will not really be harmed with a one-week diet like this. In fact, it is likened to a modified fast or a detox diet which is also healthy to do once in a while.

The Lure of Diet

Sometimes you would rather follow a diet than the USDA food pyramid guide. Another thing is that people are confused by nutrition experts and they don't know who to follow anymore, Payne said further.

People also like the fact that diets offer an instant recipe for success and they often believe the testimonials attached to it, says Joy Short, assistant professor of dietetics and nutrition in St. Louis University. Majority of people are not very patient, and the balance, variety, and moderation they need for success takes a lot of effort and long-term commitment, she added.

Success with Diet

Another diet authority, Jeanne Goldberg, PHD and nutrition professor at Friedman nutrition science school at Boston's Tufts University, said that losing weight is tough if you like to eat a lot. But there is really some evidence that a lot of people have lost weight on Cabbage Soup Diet. The difficult part is keeping the weight off. And that will be entirely up to you.