The cabbage soup diet

Has anyone tried this? I just looked up the soup recipe and didn't realize there was a whole diet surrounding it...Not sure how I feel about it.

Just like the name says, the bulk of this diet is fat-free cabbage soup, eaten two to three times a day with other allowed foods assigned each day. Here's what you can add:

Day 1: Fruit, except bananas
Day 2: Vegetables like leafy greens (not starchy), but no fruit
Day 3: Fruits and vegetables
Day 4: Bananas and skim milk
Day 5: Beef (or baked chicken without the skin) and tomatoes
Day 6: Beef and vegetables
Day 7: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices, and vegetables
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Replies

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    Seems to be incredibly restrictive. Likelihood of compliance after a few days would be extremely low. Not a long term solution in any way. Most days would be almost completely devoid of dietary protein and fat which is a terrible idea. Every day would likely be extremely low calories. What happens when you come off the diet? Where is the transition back to "normal" eating? All in all I'd say that cabbage soup diet looks pretty bad.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    :sick:
  • cheslightsey
    cheslightsey Posts: 13 Member
    I did this diet in mid-May to jump start my weight loss. I was about 25 lbs overweight at the time. I was able to pretty easily stick to this and lost 8 pounds. After that, I started tracking on MFP and am now down about 20 lbs. For me, the diet helped me get past my sugar cravings and therefore lower my caloric intake on a daily basis for the long haul...I'm a recovering sugar junkie.
  • NikiaSue
    NikiaSue Posts: 259 Member
    If I had the will power, I would try it.
  • saistarxo
    saistarxo Posts: 14 Member
    I'm one DAY 1 now and will be trying to complete it. My friend has done the diet had got positive results and also said she felt better/different when it was over.

    Will keep you posted!
  • poohbah4
    poohbah4 Posts: 127
    Doesn't it make you fart?
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    I have not used the diet, but I do make a variation of the soup. Very low calorie and delicious.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Has anyone tried this? I just looked up the soup recipe and didn't realize there was a whole diet surrounding it...Not sure how I feel about it.

    Just like the name says, the bulk of this diet is fat-free cabbage soup, eaten two to three times a day with other allowed foods assigned each day. Here's what you can add:

    Day 1: Fruit, except bananas
    Day 2: Vegetables like leafy greens (not starchy), but no fruit
    Day 3: Fruits and vegetables
    Day 4: Bananas and skim milk
    Day 5: Beef (or baked chicken without the skin) and tomatoes
    Day 6: Beef and vegetables
    Day 7: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices, and vegetables
    All those things sound great. Why do they have to be done in order?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Has anyone tried this? I just looked up the soup recipe and didn't realize there was a whole diet surrounding it...Not sure how I feel about it.

    Just like the name says, the bulk of this diet is fat-free cabbage soup, eaten two to three times a day with other allowed foods assigned each day. Here's what you can add:

    Day 1: Fruit, except bananas
    Day 2: Vegetables like leafy greens (not starchy), but no fruit
    Day 3: Fruits and vegetables
    Day 4: Bananas and skim milk
    Day 5: Beef (or baked chicken without the skin) and tomatoes
    Day 6: Beef and vegetables
    Day 7: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices, and vegetables

    This has been around for decades.....google Dolly Parton Diet.

    Ugh!.....stay far, far away from this diet. The soup is tastey....but 7 days worth (blech). You'll be sick of it. No 7 day diet is going to miraculously make you thin. As for a "jump start".....jump start to miserable. You don't have to be miserable.
  • Birder155
    Birder155 Posts: 223 Member
    Has anyone tried this? I just looked up the soup recipe and didn't realize there was a whole diet surrounding it...Not sure how I feel about it.

    Just like the name says, the bulk of this diet is fat-free cabbage soup, eaten two to three times a day with other allowed foods assigned each day. Here's what you can add:

    Day 1: Fruit, except bananas
    Day 2: Vegetables like leafy greens (not starchy), but no fruit
    Day 3: Fruits and vegetables
    Day 4: Bananas and skim milk
    Day 5: Beef (or baked chicken without the skin) and tomatoes
    Day 6: Beef and vegetables
    Day 7: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices, and vegetables
    All those things sound great. Why do they have to be done in order?

    Exactly what I was going to say. Why not incorporate all of these foods in to your daily diet?
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    I'm one DAY 1 now and will be trying to complete it. My friend has done the diet had got positive results and also said she felt better/different when it was over.

    Will keep you posted!
    02f.gif
  • ValGogo
    ValGogo Posts: 2,168 Member
    I like cabbage. It gives me stinky farts. hee hee

    This diet is old as hell. Been around since my moms time.
  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
    Yuck.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Doesn't it make you fart?

    Of course it does.....cabbage. All the acid in the tomatoes is hard to stomach too.

    And low fat........this is a product of the 70's. Low protein for most days....boy this sounds healthy doesn't it? :noway:
  • eimaj5575
    eimaj5575 Posts: 278 Member
    Sounds ridiculous! Eat whatever you want within your calories. Geez how does anyone think these diets are good ideas?
  • spade117
    spade117 Posts: 2,466 Member
    I like day 6.
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    It's a very low calorie diet that's extremely low on protein intake. Great, you'll lose weight but a large portion of that will be muscle and not just fat. I never want to jump start muscle loss so I'll never do this age old fad diet.
  • I like cabbage soup, but not a diet of it.

    You know what works? A calorie deficit.
  • Lose_It_Leo
    Lose_It_Leo Posts: 91 Member
    I once unintentionally ate cabbage soup every day for 1 week because I literally only had enough money for 1 cabbage, 1 pack of onions and stock cubes... it was probably only 100 kcal a serving. I lost 3lb. :/ I wasn't even on a diet at the time.
  • howardheilweil
    howardheilweil Posts: 604 Member
    Of course you will lose weight... While you are actually following the diet. How long will that be?
  • mallyboo3533
    mallyboo3533 Posts: 41 Member
    i love the soup, i make my own variation for dinner sometimes but i only make it to day 4. i felt light headed and sick and i had no energy.. your not eating enough calories in this diet for your body to function. i would say try the soup but i personally wouldnt put my body through that again. my husband made meat at day 4 of something other then that cause i was getting weak
  • yah i agree
  • tabicatinthehat
    tabicatinthehat Posts: 329 Member
    Of ALL the meats it could add, it has beef? Wut. Still. I'll do it if I can start at day 5.
  • zchastain
    zchastain Posts: 55 Member
    Wow, my now deceased grandmother and great grandmother did this diet together back in the mid '90s. My grandma's house reaked of cabbage soup for weeks. They both lost weight but were miserable in the process. And they did NOT keep it off. Severe calorie restriction by eating amost nothing but cabbage broth is not sustainable.
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    I like the soup and have made the soup for an extremely low calorie snack - never actually followed the diet before. It's a very, very low calorie diet if done per instructions and therefore wouldn't be sustainable or healthy, but if you like vegetable soups then the soup can be made pretty tasty.

    I've also used the whole diet plan to make one big soup (omitting the fruit, of course, but adding the tomatoes, beef and other vegetables) - at that point it's a much more well rounded soup and can be delicious. I did that a few times when I was really broke - cheap beef/cabbage soup and a pot of beans - om nom.

    This diet plan is not one that I would recommend because of the restrictive nature of it but if you're into soups and like cabbage the soup's recipe can make a pretty good pot 'o snacks.
  • wheird
    wheird Posts: 7,963 Member
    This is a diet that is usually promoted by the Pro-Ana crowd. It is short sighted at best. A week does not affect your long term weight goals and doing this diet long term is a bad idea.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
    I love cabbage soup so much that it's my "go to" lunch during the winter. But...I'm sure my recipe has far more calories than this "diet" (think cabbage, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, ham bone or other smoked meat, maybe some beans, etc.). Cheap, filling, and nutritious.

    As others have said, this diet is as old as dirt. Mom has done it, Grandma's done it. I'm sure Great Grandma has as well. They're all still fat (or died fat--RIP, dear Nana--I love you). If it worked, today's weight loss industry would be dead. We'd all be eating cabbage and be slim.

    Imagine--My Cabbage Pal :laugh:
  • hearthwood
    hearthwood Posts: 794 Member
    I had a friend that did it, she lost some weight at first, then when she started eating normal she gained it all back, plus another 20 or so pounds.

    IOW don't do it. All weight loss is--is calories in versus calories out. Simply meaning, eat less --move more.
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
    Hey if you want to smell like a midget, more power to ya
  • runningagainstmyself
    runningagainstmyself Posts: 616 Member
    I can't believe this diet is still making the bloody rounds. My mother did this when I was young. Guess what? Didn't help. Revamping your diet and re-learning how to nourish your body does.