Gourmet Cabbage Soup Diet

The Cabbage Soup Diet has been around forever and probably most dietiers have tried it at least once. It does work, and now you can lose weight by trying this updated, "gourmet" version!

Why Am I Going on the Cabbage Soup Diet?

I visited my local Sprouts Market recently and found some great bargains on seasonal vegetables, one being a huge head of cabbage for 49 cents! I wanted to lose about ten pounds and the Cabbage Soup Diet flashed though my mind. I decided it was the perfect timing to fill up that soup crock and lose weight!

The Basics of the Cabbage Soup Plan

The Cabbage Soup Diet promises a 10 pound drop in weight and involves the following rules:

>It is a seven day diet
>Eat all the soup you want during the week, at least one bowl per day
>Drink 8 glasses of water

In addition to the soup the following foods are allowed each day during the week:

Day 1 - Any fruit, except bananas, unlimited
Day 2- All vegetables in any quanity, plus just one baked potatoe with butter!
Day 3 - Fruits and vegetables, NO potatoes!
Day 4 - Bananas and 1 glass skim milk, up to 8 each during the day
Day 5 - 20 ounces of Lean beef, skinless chicken or fish, plus up to 6 tomatoes
Day 6 - Same as day 5, no tomatoes
Day 7 - Brown (try Lunberg's California Basmati) rice, vegetables and unsweetened juice

The Cabbage Soup Recipe

The primary component of the Cabbage Soup Diet is, of course, the soup! You can search the internet and find lots of recipes that vary slightly, but I like making it on the "gourmet" side, which suits my tastes better. It is made of a variety of healthy vegetables, most low on the glycemic index. I like the vegetables chopped into larger chunks, much like a stew or minestrone soup. The Balsamic Vinegar adds a sweet-sour twist that is refreshing!

Simmer the following ingredients in a large soup kettle:

• 1 head red or green cabbage, cut into small wedges
• 1-2 large red onions, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 can diced or stewed tomatoes
• 1 can tomato soup
• 3 cups chopped bell peppers, mix green, red, and yellow
• 2 stalks celery, cut diagnolly
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1 package onion soup mix
• 2 bouillon cubes
• Black pepper
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1/3 cup Balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, cilantro or oregano

The ingredients will almost fill a pot to the brim. Add an additional cup of water to the ingredients in the pot and cover. The vegetables will cook down to create more liquid, but if you prefer a soupier soup, add even more water. Add additional herbs or spices such as oregano, basil or cumin, depending on your tastes. This recipe
makes approximately twenty 1-cup servings.

Does the Cabbage Soup Diet Work and is it Healthy?

Most of us have discovered that this short-term diet will help with weight loss, and that the soup itself is delicious and undisputably healthy.

Here are the good points about the soup and diet:
>1 cup of the soup is only approximately 50 calories.
>The soup is low in calories and fat, and high in fiber.
>The main ingredients in this soup are low on the glycemic index, which helps maintain blood sugar levels.
>It is packed with those vegetables your mother promoted, and contains "healthy" carbs.
>The Food Analyzer on Calorie Count website rates this recipe an "A" for nutritional value.
Here are the bad points about the diet:
Most of the weight loss is water-weight
The food choices are limited to certain food groups, and some days are low in protein.
The volume of foods is "unlimited" which discourages eating correct food portions.
The seventh day calls for unsweeted juice. A better choice would be fresh fruit.
As good as the soup is, it gets old eating the same thing for a week!

(Click here to review The Calorie Count Website's Anaylis Breakdown: Gourmet Cabbage Soup)

While a week of the Cabbage Soup Diet may help you zip up those skinny jeans, some experts don't support the idea of a "gimmick" diet. The American Heart Association claims that gimmick diets, such as the Cabbage Soup diet, does not contain any "superfoods" and warns, "We want to inform the public about misleading weight-loss claims. Many of these diets - like the infamous Cabbage Soup Diet - can undermine your health, cause physical discomfort (abdominal discomfort and flatulence [gas] ) and lead to disappointment when you regain weight soon after you lose it."

Obviously this diet is intended for a short term fix to drop a few pounds, and we all know that the best approach is always to eat a healthy, balanced diet every week of the year. However, if you are trying to kick start weight loss, this diet can help!

Update The Cabbage Soup Diet!

I am not in complete agreement with the American Heart Association that the Cabbage Soup Diet is void of the "Superfoods". WebMD lists Superfoods in their article, "Superfoods Everyone Needs" as follows:

• Beans
• Blueberries
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Oranges
• Pumpkin
• Salmon
• Soy
• Spinach
• Tea (green or black)
• Tomatoes
• Turkey
• Walnuts
• Yogurt

From this list, only 3 foods would not be allowed on this diet! It is true that each day is limited to certain foods, but in the course of a week, most of these foods could be included.

You can improve this diet by choosing as many of the "superfoods" as possible. Additionally, alter day five by limiting the meat intake to three 3-ounce servings that total 500 calories with a small green salad. On the "potatoe" day, make it a sweet potatoe! Make this week your start to eliminating all "white" foods from your diet, replacing them with whole grain rice and pasta, and be sure to pick vegetables and fruits from the low end of the glycemic index!

If you treat week two as a modified version of the Cabbage Soup diet, having one cup of soup, adding a 3-ounce portion of meat or a 1/2 cup of beans and brown rice or pasta for meals, you could continue on a path that might lead to sustained weight loss.

Gimmick or not, it's doubtful you need to be concerned about a week of this diet killing you, and you will definitely feel a little lighter after day seven! Bring your thinking up to date by making this "gourmet" version of the soup and updating the diet to fit today's weight loss principles, And on week two, start a balanced diet, but think about portion control on meats and starchy foods. The key thing in losing weight is to just get started, and this Cabbage Soup Diet just might be the springboard to eating better the rest of the year!

What is YOUR experience with the Cabbage Soup diet? I'd love to hear!

Related reading:
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Pasta Alternatives for Weight Loss
Can Hot Chili Peppers Help You Lose Weight?
17 Day Diet Tips Blog

Resources:
Calorie Count Website
WebMd
American Heart Association