 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, 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.
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 highsodium
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 flatulence 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
(diary and protein shakes) to the diet plan while decreasing sodium.
Diet Recipe Ingredients:
6 large green onions
2 green peppers
1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
3 Carrots
1 Container (10 oz.) Mushrooms
1 bunch of celery
half a head of cabbage
1 package Lipton soup mix
1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)
1 48oz can V8 juice (optional)
Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc.
Directions:
Slice green onions, put in a pot and start to saute with cooking spray.
Cut
green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane
out. Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.
Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.
Slice mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot.
If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now.
You can use beef or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings. These have all the salt and flavors you will need.
Use
about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put heat
on low. Let soup cook for a long time - two hours works well. Season to
taste with salt and pepper.
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Diet Reviews 
