The Cabbage Soup Diet: Is it a Good Idea?

The Cabbage Soup Diet has been one of the best known weight loss solutions in the past few decades. The diet is easy to practice; for one week, you need to drink lots of water, and have as much soup as you want - cabbage soup, that is!

With The Cabbage Soup Diet, you can eat certain types of boiled vegetables and brown rice, but milk and carbonated drinks are a no-go. Advocates of the diet claim that it's a fail-safe way to lose as much as 10 pounds in a given week.

What's the science behind this diet - and why cabbage, as opposed to another, perhaps more palatable, type of vegetable soup? Well, the diet works on the principle that it is low in calories, and that you end up burning more calories in the preparation than you actually consume when you eat it. In addition to this, cabbage contains antioxidents and phytochemicals, which work to rid the body of toxins.

Cabbage Soup Diet Dangers

The Cabbage Soup Diet is not meant to replace traditional nutrition; it is meant to be followed for 7 days, at which point dieters should resume a healthy, balanced eating schedule. A failure to recognize the parameters of the diet can cause severe health problems; the Diet does not provide much in the way of protein and nutrition.

If someone were to stay on the diet for more than the suggested 7 days, they would be depriving themselves of good nutrition. If used properly, it can provide a great "quick fix" loss of a few pounds - though it certainly does not guarantee long-term weight loss.

Some people have found that the diet is easier to adhere to when using a weight loss patch, which can suppress your appetite.