Can cabbage soup diet promote weight loss?

As per the diet, you can have as much cabbage soup as you want for seven days.




As the name suggests, cabbage soup diet, which is designed for short-term weight loss, involves consuming the soup in large quantities. Those who advocate this diet claim that having cabbage soup for seven days can help you lose up to 10 pounds or 4.5 kg.

According to Healthline, the diet was supposedly developed in a hospital for quick weight loss before surgery for heart patients.

Cabbage soup recipe

As per the diet, you can have as much cabbage soup as you want for seven days. Here’s the recipe that is followed:

Ingredients

2 – Large onions
2 – Green peppers
2 cans – tomatoes
1 bunch – Celery
1 – Cabbage head
3 – Carrots
1 packet – Mushrooms
6-8 cups – Water or vegetable cocktail

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Method

* Chop the vegetables.

* In a pan, saute onions in little oil.

* Add the other vegetables. Pour water or vegetable cocktail and any seasoning as desired.

* Bring to boil and reduce to medium heat. Cook for 30-45 minutes.

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How to follow cabbage soup diet

The diet allows you to have one or two calorie foods daily in addition to the soup. The diet may be low in some nutrients so a daily multivitamin is recommended. You can eat as many fruits and vegetables as you want. But baked potato, beans, corn, peas and bananas should be avoided for the first three days. Added sugar needs to be avoided. The diet should not be continued for more than seven days at a time.

Is cabbage soup diet healthy?

Experts, however, are not convinced about the health benefits of the diet, arguing it promotes weight loss only because it restricts calorie intake. So, although the diet may help you shed those extra kilos, most of it is likely to come back as soon as you stop the diet. Miami nutritionist Julie Rothenberg was quoted as saying by Everyday Health, “This diet ‘works’ merely because it’s super restrictive in calories. It markets itself to people who want to lose weight for a special occasion or event coming up.”

Since the diet deprives you of some essential nutrients, it can also leave you hungry, weak, bored or sometimes sick, mentions WebMD. The other concern here is the loss of metabolism. The body usually responds to low calorie intake by lowering the metabolic rate, which, in turn, can result in difficulty in weight loss after going off the cabbage soup diet.

In a WebMD article, family medicine specialist Dr Melinda Ratini further pointed out that the diet may be harmful for those undergoing diabetes treatment. It may not have a lasting positive impact on heart disease, cholesterol and high blood pressure since one is likely to gain weight soon after stopping the diet.

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