The Cabbage Soup Diet is a short-term weight loss plan centered around the consumption of large quantities of cabbage soup over seven days. It's considered a fad diet, promising rapid weight loss, often around 10 pounds (4.5 kg) in a single week. While proponents claim it can kick-start a longer-term diet plan, health experts caution that the results are often unsustainable and may not promote overall health and wellness.
How the Cabbage Soup Diet Works
The core principle of the Cabbage Soup Diet is a calorie-restricted plan that's low in fat and high in fiber. The diet aims to limit calorie intake by restricting food choices while encouraging consumption of fiber-rich cabbage soup. Daily calorie intake is estimated to be about 1000-1200 kcal per day during the seven-day program.
The 7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet Plan: What to Eat
The diet involves eating homemade cabbage soup for every meal for one week. Along with the soup, you can incorporate one to two additional foods each day, depending on the specific day of the diet.
A number of variations on the cabbage soup recipe have been published, but most include white cabbage, onions, tomatoes or tomato juice, celery, and carrots. Loosely speaking, you can consume unlimited cabbage soup along with the following:
- Day 1: Cabbage soup and raw fruit, but no bananas. Stick with fruits that have lower sugar content, such as apples and blueberries.
- Day 2: Cabbage soup and leafy green vegetables, raw or cooked, but no potatoes. You get to start the day with a baked potato (russet or sweet). I prefer sweet potatoes.
- Day 3: Cabbage soup and as many fruits and vegetables as you can eat, but no potatoes or bananas.
- Day 4: Cabbage soup, skimmed milk, and as many as 8 bananas.
- Day 5: Cabbage soup, 10-20 ounces (280-567 grams) of lean beef or chicken (skinless) and tomatoes (up to six). Drink at least 6-8 glasses of water.
- Day 6: Cabbage soup, unlimited beef and green leafy vegetables. You may substitute beef for broiled fish if you did not do so the day prior.
- Day 7: Cabbage soup, brown rice, and unsweetened fruit juice.
Throughout the diet, you can also use salt (very lightly), pepper, lots of herbs and seasonings, olive oil, and a small amount of butter on potato days. You’re only supposed to drink water, black coffee, or unsweetened herbal tea.
Read also: Weight Loss with Cabbage Soup
The Cabbage Soup Recipe
Homemade cabbage soup forms the basis of this diet. The ingredients for the soup may vary, but here’s a common recipe:
Ingredients:
- 2 large onions
- 2 green peppers
- 2 cans of tomatoes
- 1 bunch of celery
- 1 head of cabbage
- 3 carrots
- 1 package of mushrooms
- 1-2 bouillon cubes (optional)
- 6-8 cups of water or vegetable cocktail, such as V8
Directions:
- Chop all vegetables into cubes.
- In a large stock pot, sauté onions in a small amount of oil.
- Then add the remaining vegetables, cover with water or vegetable cocktail, and add bouillon cubes or other seasonings if desired.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat.
- Let the vegetables simmer until tender, about 30-45 minutes.
You may season the soup with salt, pepper, hot sauce, herbs, or spices. You may add other non-starchy vegetables, such as spinach or green beans.
Does the Cabbage Soup Diet Work for Weight Loss?
The Cabbage Soup Diet has never been studied, so it’s impossible to confirm its effectiveness. While it may result in temporary, short-term weight loss, it is unlikely to lead to sustainable weight loss. Because the Cabbage Soup Diet is very low in calories, it will likely result in short-term weight loss. However, most of that weight is likely to come back as soon as you stop the diet. Because the food choices on this diet are limited, it makes it difficult to eat enough calories to maintain your body weight.
When you severely restrict your calorie intake to lose weight, your body lowers your metabolic rate. This reduces the calories you burn per day. This commonly causes weight loss plateaus (periods of no weight loss) in long-term diets. Your metabolism may diminish as early as 3 days into a very low calorie diet. This slowdown may explain why it’s so hard to prevent weight gain after going off your diet.
Potential Benefits of Very Low Calorie Diets
Very low calorie diets may also have some benefits. Some medical professionals may recommend very low calorie diets, such as a very low calorie ketogenic diet, for 4-12 weeks under a doctor’s supervision before transitioning to a low calorie diet. People may see significant short-term improvements in weight loss and metabolic health.
Read also: Low-Carb Cabbage Roll Casserole
A small 2021 study evaluated the effect an intermittent very low calorie diet has on managing blood sugar and cardiovascular risk in people with obesity. Results suggest that short-term, very low calorie diets can temporarily decrease insulin resistance, even though the diet period is too short to produce significant changes in body fat.
The Cabbage Soup Diet also includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, which are low in calories and high in fiber. The diet is also cheaper to follow than other fad diets, as you only need to buy low cost soup ingredients and a few other foods.
Drawbacks of the Cabbage Soup Diet
Although the Cabbage Soup Diet may help you lose some weight, its drawbacks may outweigh its benefits.
Unsustainable Weight Loss: One of the main problems with the Cabbage Soup Diet is that it can only be followed for 1 week, which is not long enough for meaningful weight loss. Your body can only burn so much fat per week. In the first week of a low calorie diet, only about 34% of the weight lost is from fat. The other two-thirds of weight loss comes from lost water weight and muscle mass.
Water weight comes from your glycogen stores, which are your body’s quick energy reserves. Typically, glycogen binds to water molecules in your body. When you do not eat enough calories, your body uses the stored glycogen as energy and sheds that extra water. However, as soon as you return to a less restrictive diet, your body will rebuild those emergency stores and take on water weight again.
Read also: Easy Cabbage Soup Recipe
Nutritional Deficiencies: Another big problem with the Cabbage Soup Diet is its lack of nutrients. The Cabbage Soup Diet has so few food choices that it is deficient in many vitamins and minerals and offers no source of protein on most days. Without much protein, preventing muscle loss during the diet will be difficult.
Restrictive and Difficult to Maintain: Moreover, the diet is restrictive, making it hard to stick to for an entire week. It also requires frequent large-batch cooking to prepare enough cabbage soup, which may be a drawback for some people.
Potential Side Effects and Health Risks
The Cabbage Soup Diet is not recommended for more than 1 week at a time because it’s restrictive and nutritionally imbalanced.
Very Low in Calories: Although the Cabbage Soup Diet is not a starvation diet, the foods are so low in calories that reaching 1,000 calories per day would be difficult. This is below the estimated minimum calories needed to maintain a stable weight. The diet includes almost no protein and is very low in carbs, fat, and calories. Additionally, it’s deficient in many vitamins and minerals.
There is not a serious risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies if you only follow the diet for 1 week, especially if you decide to take a multivitamin. But this does not make up for the diet’s lack of calories and protein. People following the Cabbage Soup Diet may experience dizziness, weakness, and lightheadedness.
May Cause Flatulence and Cramping: Because this diet is very high in fiber, you may experience flatulence and cramping as side effects. These may be bothersome enough to stop the diet.
May Cause Gallbladder Issues: There have been a few anecdotal reports of gallstones and gallbladder blockages in people who used the Cabbage Soup Diet long term. Gallstones can be the unintended consequence of any rapid weight loss.
When you eat high fat foods, your gallbladder releases digestive juices to help break them down. However, if you hardly eat any fat, your gallbladder may not empty for extended periods, increasing the likelihood of stone formation.
May Change Your Blood Sugar Levels: The low carb and low calorie diet may cause concerning changes in your blood sugar levels, which can be unsafe for people with diabetes.
That said, the diet is not likely to have serious side effects for most people without diabetes if it is only used for 1 week, which is intended.
Who Should Avoid the Cabbage Soup Diet?
Diabetics and anyone with a blood sugar management issue should discuss the potential implications with their GP and healthcare team before embarking on such a regime. Similarly, anyone who meets one or more of these criteria:
- is under 18 years old or elderly
- has a pre-existing medical condition, including heart disease
- are pregnant or breastfeeding
- has or are recovering from an eating disorder
- or are on prescribed medication
Please note: if you're considering attempting any form of diet, please consult your GP first to ensure you can do so without risk to your health.
Alternatives to the Cabbage Soup Diet
Like other very low calorie diets, the Cabbage Soup Diet will likely cause temporary weight loss. But people who follow it tend to regain most of the weight lost unless they make other permanent changes.
Additionally, eating only cabbage soup is nutritionally unbalanced and not safe. Many people find the diet unappealing and hard to stick to. More balanced options can include the Mediterranean diet or time-restricted eating plans like intermittent fasting.