Cabbage Soup Diet Information

The cabbage soup diet goes hand-in-hand with the '80s, like Pat Benatar and leg warmers. Most fad dieters tried this one, probably because of its promise to help shed 10 pounds in a week. The diet is still around, although it's undergone some modifications.

What Is It?

The cabbage soup diet involves seven days of near-fasting, with the soup as the core food, and a limited variety of additional items for each day. Dieters can have as much of the soup as they like, with a combination of other foods on specified days. However, many dieters find that they can't stomach the soup by the end of the week, having consumed countless bowls.

Origins

The diet has been given many names, including the "General Motors Diet," but no one has come forth to claim it as their creation. It was passed around by fax machine, in the days before group email lists, as well as by copies made on the sly in the office. Now, it's being reviewed on numerous diet information websites, and no doubt circulated by email.

What You Can Eat

Although there are variations on the diet, the main ingredients have remained pretty static: onion soup mix, bouillon, cabbage, celery, tomatoes (and sometimes V8 juice), onions, peppers and carrots. On the first day, as much fruit as desired is allowed, except for bananas; on the second, vegetables, including a baked potato with butter, can be eaten, and the third day allows for a combination of fruits and veggies, excluding bananas and potatoes. The fourth day includes up to eight bananas, enough to please a monkey, plus unlimited skim milk. Large amounts of beef are allowed on the fifth and sixth days, as well as tomatoes on the fifth and all veggies but potatoes on the sixth, and on the final day, brown rice and veggies, as well as unsweetened fruit juice, are acceptable.

Pros

Since few calories are consumed, water weight loss can be substantial in a short period of time. For special occasions, the cabbage soup diet might work. Users of this diet also consume a lot of fruit and vegetables; in fact, most Americans will probably take in quite a bit more produce than they normally eat.

Cons

Since the soup base includes both onion soup mix and bouillon, its sodium content is very high. The diet also includes very little protein, with the exception of the two days when beef is allowed. Some dieters have experienced light-headedness and dizziness, possibly due to these factors or the calorie shortage. Gas can be a problem, considering all the cabbage involved, but adding Beano to the soup during cooking can help alleviate that.

Updates

One current version of the diet allows only two bowls of the soup per day, rather than the old-school unlimited amount, most likely due to the sodium content. Other updates include mushrooms in the soup, but the bulk of the recipe has remained the same over the years. Some people now include protein shakes to compensate for the lack of meat.