The cabbage soup diet, which basically involves eating cabbage soup, can be a short-term weight loss diet.

Its proponents believe that this diet can help you drop 10 pounds in just one week.

However, the cabbage soup diet severely reduces your calorie intake. Thus, several health experts see this diet as an unhealthy and unsustainable one.

Here we determine whether the cabbage soup diet is recommended for weight loss..

What Is the Cabbage Soup Diet?

Diets that involve severely reducing your calorie intake, like the cabbage soup diet, can eventually lead to a rapid weight loss.

The cabbage soup diet promotes eating almost nothing but homemade cabbage soup for one week. It only allows you to have 1–2 other foods, like fruit or vegetables, each day.

Thus, this diet has been believed to cause a 10-pound weight loss in just seven days. This short-term weight loss diet is only supposed to last for a week just for the purpose of slimming down or starting a long-term diet plan. Overdoing it may only cause some serious side effects.

Preparing the Best Cabbage Soup

Here’s how to make the best cabbage soup diet for weight loss.

Cabbage Soup Recipe

Ingredients

1 head of cabbage

2 cans of tomatoes

1 bunch of celery

3 carrots

2 large onions

2 green peppers

1 package of mushrooms

1–2 bouillon cubes (optional)

6–8 cups of water or vegetable cocktail

Instructions

1. Chop all vegetables into cubes.
2. In a large stock pot, sauté onions in a small amount of oil.
3. Add the remaining vegetables and cover with water or vegetable cocktail and add bouillon cubes or other seasonings (optional).
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat.
5. Let simmer until vegetables are tender.
6. You may season the soup with salt, hot sauce, pepper, spices, or herbs. You can also add other non-starchy vegetables, like green beans or spinach.

For this diet, you should consume as much cabbage soup as you want every day.

7 Day Diet Plan for Weight Loss Cabbage Soup

The cabbage soup diet allows you to have 1–2 other low-calorie foods, on top of the soup, every day. Drink only water or unsweetened tea or any other calorie-free beverages.

This diet may lead to nutrient deficiency; thus, taking a daily multivitamin is recommended. Here’s a 7-day diet plan for weight loss cabbage soup:.

Day 1: Eat as much cabbage soup as you want, plus a fruit on the side—except bananas.

Day 2: Only soup and raw or cooked vegetables like leafy greens. No corn, peas, and beans. One baked potato with oil or butter is allowed.

Day 3: Eat as many fruits and veggies as you can, on top of the soup. Avoid bananas or baked potatoes.

Day 4: Eat unlimited bananas, cabbage soup, and skim milk.

Day 5: Six fresh tomatoes and 10–20 ounces of beef are allowed and drink at least 6–8 glasses of water.

Day 6: Soup, vegetables (leafy greens), and beef or broiled fish. Avoid baked potatoes.

Day 7: You can eat brown rice, vegetables, and unlimited fruit juice with no added sugar.

Following the diet for more than seven days at a time is not recommended. You can repeat at least 2 weeks before starting again.

Cabbage Soup Diet for Weight Loss

No studies can confirm the cabbage soup diet’s effectiveness for weight loss.

However, the fact that it severely reduces calorie intake is enough to say that it can potentially cause weight loss. Plus, its food choices are very limited, making it almost impossible to maintain your body weight.

Although this very low-calorie diet can cause rapid weight loss, you are also more likely to experience weight regain as soon as you stop the diet.

Severely reducing your calorie intake and losing a lot of weight can lower your metabolic rate and subsequently reduce the number of calories you burn per day.

It can be noted that lower metabolism is likely to cause weight loss plateaus.

Still, very-low-calorie diets can be beneficial.

In fact, people who follow very-low-calorie diets for 4–12 weeks under the doctor’s supervision have been indicated in studies to cause significant short-term improvements in metabolic health and weight loss.

Additionally, short-term, very-low-calorie diets, like the cabbage soup diet, have been shown in a few studies to temporarily decrease insulin resistance.

The cabbage soup diet has other potential positives as well aside from rapid weight loss. It involves eating fruits and vegetables, which are nutrient-dense and low in calories. Plus, it’s very cheap to follow, requiring only low-cost ingredients for the soup and other basic foods.

Its Potential Drawbacks

While the cabbage soup diet for weight loss is effective, it has some other potential drawbacks as well.

First, it cannot be followed for more than 7 days, which is too short for meaningful weight loss.

Second, you may be losing weight from water and muscle mass instead of fat. It should be noted that water weight stems from your glycogen stores—your body’s quick source of energy.

Reduced calorie intake causes your body to utilize the stored energy and shed those extra water. Your body will however restore the stored energy used and take on water weight again as soon as you shift to a less restrictive diet.

Third, the diet is nutrient-poor, having only a few food sources. It is unfortunately deficient in many vitamins and minerals. What’s more, it does not provide a real source of protein on most days, which is a very important macronutrient for muscle loss prevention during the diet.

And finally, the cabbage diet soup is extremely bland, making it difficult to endure for 7 consecutive days.

Its Potential Side Effects

The cabbage soup diet is very restrictive and nutritionally imbalanced; thus, it is not recommended for more than 7 days at a time.

It can cause nutrient deficiencies

Physician-recommended low-calorie diets typically provide adequate nutrients.

However, the cabbage soup diet has very limited and unbalanced food choices, making it deficient in several essential vitamins and minerals.

Plus, it is very low in fat, carbs, calories and almost no protein. That is why taking a multivitamin is recommended for those following the cabbage soup diet for one week.

Just make sure to follow the diet for not more than one week to avoid serious risks of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Several people following the cabbage soup diet for weight loss experienced feeling weak, dizzy and lightheaded.

It can alter blood sugar levels

Since the cabbage soup diet is low in carb and calorie content, it can cause alterations in your blood sugar levels.

So if you are interested in following the cabbage soup diet but you have diabetes, make sure to speak with your doctor first.

The diet, when followed for just one week, is not likely dangerous for most healthy individuals.

It can cause cramping and flatulence

The cabbage soup diet is a fiber-rich diet. Thus, many people experience flatulence and cramping as major side effects.

Conclusion

The cabbage soup diet is a very-low-calorie diet that can cause rapid weight loss when followed for one week.

However, you are more likely to regain the weight you lost as soon as you stop the diet, unless you make permanent healthy lifestyle changes.

In addition, eating only cabbage soup and a few other foods for one week is nutritionally unbalanced and absolutely unhealthy, making it unappealing and unsustainable for many people.

Although the diet can help you lose weight in no time, there are several other healthier and better options if you want to achieve long-term weight loss and improved overall health.