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Cabbage Soup Diet

By Charlotte Gunn on Friday 4 December 2009

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Whatever your feelings are on a diet comprised predominantly of cabbage, there’s little doubt this week-long plan will help you slim.

How The Cabbage Soup Diet works

It's quite self-explanatory. You spend a week eating unlimited amounts of low-calorie cabbage soup, which you cook yourself at home. The soup makes up your staple diet for the week but you are also allowed a small selection of other foods, all designed to help you shed fat fast. If you follow the rules, people claim to have lost 10lbs in a week on this quick-results diet plan.

The pros

This diet is super-cheap and a great quick fix for a special event or holiday. You only have to stick to it for one week to see good results and so it's easy not to stray.

The cons

Critics believe that you are in fact losing water, rather than fat, on the plan which can result in you gaining weight again very quickly.

Others have felt light-headed due to a lack of protein and some have reported severe flatulence! This really is just a quick-fix diet and not suitable for long-term weight-loss goals.

The cabbage soup recipe

6 large onions, chopped
2 green peppers, diced
2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch celery, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 or 2 cubes bouillon (optional)
Salt and pepper
For added flavour: Cayenne pepper, curry powder, mixed herbs or any other seasoning.

1. Use spray oil to sauté the chopped onions in a large pot.
2. Add the green pepper pieces and heat for a minute.
3. Add the chopped cabbage leaves, sliced carrots, celery and mushrooms.
4. Sprinkle over a little cayenne pepper or curry powder.
5. Add 12 cups of water and any additional stock cubes.
6. Cook over a medium heat until the soup is the vegetables are tender and the soup is the right consistency.

Cabbage Soup Diet meal plans

Day 1: Unlimited cabbage soup and fruit (excluding bananas). Water and sugar-free fruit juice to drink.
Day 2: Cabbage soup and additional vegetables. One jacket potato with butter for dinner. No fruit at all.
Day 3: Unlimited cabbage soup plus any fruit and vegetables you choose (excluding potatoes or bananas).
Day 4: Unlimited cabbage soup and skimmed milk. Plus up to eight bananas.
Day 5: Unlimited cabbage soup and 565g of beef and 6 tomatoes. Drink 6-8 glasses of water today to flush extra uric acid from your body.
Day 6: Unlimited cabbage soup and limitless beef and vegetables (excluding potatoes).
Day 7: Unlimited cabbage soup with a little brown rice, vegetables and sugar-free fruit juice.

Have you tried The Cabbage Soup Diet? Tell us how you got on in the comments section below.

ATKINS DIET
CAMBRIDGE DIET
BABY EATING DIET

Words by Charlotte Gunn, Friday 4 December 2009

Have your say ...

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Doesn't work if you are already a healthy eating vegetarian like me- followed it to the letter for two whole weeks, and only lost 2lbs.Felt well with no side effects, but put weight back again following week with simple pasta and home made curry.
Comment by Leah on December 05 17:27

regarding the cabbage soup diet,I went on the cabbage soup diet for a week.I lost a staggering 14lbs and never put it on again. this was a few years ago. I weighed 13.5 stones. After that I just ate a bit less and now for the past 3 years I've weighed 9.5 stones.It most certainly worked for me!
Comment by Judith Woodward on December 05 23:21

I was wondering if I could substitute the beef for something else as I'm a vegetarian. Does anyone know if it will work using quorn or tofu? Cheers
Comment by amanda weeks on December 28 14:13

I always do the cabbage diet before a holiday -it really works - I usually lose 4 or 5 pounds in a week, then I eat healthily for a week & then do it again for 1 week. I never put in the onion soup mix (too salty!!)one of the days I have chicken instead of beef & I use tinned tomatoes in chilly, for a nice spicy flavour, and I blend the soup really well (no lumps! and I carry some of it around with me in a flask - so no need to be hungry!!- I have never had any side effects from it at all!!!

Comment by EILEEN on February 10 16:56

just going to try this diet - ill let u know how it goes! Bit scared about the flatulence!
Comment by Charlie on April 05 17:33

Have used the cabbage soup diet a number of times and right before my wedding. It's a great kick start to lose weight but you do need to combine it with long-term better eating habits and exercise for best results. I didn't see any weight gain when I went off it but also after seeing myself lose the weight it motivated me to change to healthier eating habits all round, so you win either way!
Comment by Desiree on April 07 06:19

I have done this diet last week and I lost 5 lbs of holiday weight gain in a week which I was really happy with.
I did make a few subtle changes like had chicken instead of beef as im not a fan of beef. I ate unlimited quantities of the soup and fruit and never went hungry.
Comment by Fiona on September 19 19:18

Amanda, its more about introducing protein on that day, so if i was you I would substitute the meat for Fish....most fish is low in fat and high in protein so this would be a better substitute than quorn or soya
Comment by Lynne on January 20 14:15

I completed seven days gabbage soup diet plan, it is really effective, i lost 5kg, i have plan to repeat after 3 weeks.
Comment by AMINA SAIDI on February 04 08:21

I didn the CSD 6 years ago. 1 week on, 1 week off. I lost 70lbs in a year and never regained it.
Comment by julia on February 17 14:44

Tried this and lost 10lb. It kick started a slimming world programme - which seemed like a feast after this, so have stuck to it now for the past 8 weeks quite easily ! Should note that I combined it with an exercise plan. It definately motivates you to carry on with a healthy eating regime and have totally stopped coffee/tea drinking which was needed as part of the CSD. As part of the helthy eating plan I havent put any of the intital CSD weight loss back on. Definately worth it for me!

Comment by Geoff Henshall on March 16 15:32

Does anyone know if you can have tomatoes on both the fruit and veg days - ie as a salad on a veg only day and as a fruit on the fruit only day? And any breakfast ideas? don't think I could stomach soup at 6.30am!
Comment by gina on March 22 18:30

I started this diet on Monday 18th April 2011 and have already lost half a stone. I followed the receipe by the book and blended it. To be honest it's probably one of the best soups I have made! I intend on doing this diet for another week to get down to a weight that I can then manage with sensible low calarie foods. I have tried diets all my adult life, and this is by far the best one I have tried. I weighed 189lb on Monday and now weigh 181. My apetite has diminished and I don't crave foods like I used to, so I am one very happy bunny :-)
Comment by Sarah on April 21 11:56

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