The Cabbage soup diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around heavy consumption of low-calorie cabbage soup over the
space 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. Indeed, it was arguably the first short-term diet to become popular
[citation needed], and inspired several copy-cats
based around similar principles.
The typical claimed intent of the diet is to lose 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of weight in a week, though nutritional experts point out
that it is impossible to lose that much fat within a week.
The origins of the diet are unknown, and it first gained popularity as a piece of faxlore in
the 1980s. The cabbage soup diet has many names, usually linking the diet to a mainstream institution, including the "Sacred
Heart Diet", "Military Cabbage Soup", "TJ Miracle Soup Diet", and "Russian Peasant Diet". All of the institutions named have
denied a link with the diet[1].
As a general rule, most if not all forms of the diet emphasize that the dieter can consume as much cabbage soup as he/she wants.
On some original documents mentioning the diet, it was claimed the diet is designed for obese heart-surgery patients, so they
could lose weight quickly and therefore be at lower risk of complications during surgery.
Many individuals and medical professionals are critical of the diet. It's claimed that most of the weight lost is water, and
therefore not permanent. In addition, the recipe for the soup as often given has an extremely high sodium content, usually to make it palatable, and the diet provides practically zero protein for several days at
a time. Many people report feeling weak and light-headed during the course of the diet.
On a practical level, the most common forms of the soup recipe have been criticized as being bland, though spicy variations
have appeared. Even so, the blandness of the soup means that few manage the entire seven days, and often report feeling nauseous
whenever they smell the soup toward the end of the week-long diet. It has also been noted that farting is a common side effect of the diet. A frequent comment on the soup is that it makes a good
low-calorie filler meal, but is not substantial enough to be relied upon as a dietary staple. The newer, healthier versions of
the cabbage soup diet however take the fact of missing protein into account and add protein (dairy and protein shakes) to the
diet plan while decreasing sodium.
External links
Sources
Margret Danbrot: The New Cabbage Soup Diet, 1997-2004, Lynn Sonberg Book Associates
Madeline Cooper: Ultimate Cabbage Soup Diet, 2003, Blake Publishing
Marion Grillparzer: Die magische Kohlsuppe, München 2002 ISBN 3774249504 (German book about cabbage soup)
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