The Cabbage Soup Diet is a fad diet for short-term weight loss and is unlikely to result in sustainable weight loss.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is a short-term weight loss diet.
Proponents of the diet say that it can help you lose up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg) in a single week, but many health experts warn that the diet does not promote health and wellness, and results are unsustainable.
Keep reading to learn about the possible benefits and drawbacks of the Cabbage Soup Diet.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is referred to as a rapid weight loss diet. Proponents’ anecdotal claims include following the diet for 7 days can lead to weight loss of up to 10 pounds (4.5 kg), which they believe can jump-start a longer-term diet plan.
The diet involves eating homemade cabbage soup for every meal for 1 week. You’re allowed 1–2 additional foods — such as fruit, vegetables, or skim milk — based on the diet variation you choose to follow.
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 (1, 2).
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 (1, 2).
Very low calorie diets may also have some benefits.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is very low in calories, so it should cause short-term, temporary weight loss. This weight loss is unlikely to be sustainable unless followed by another low calorie eating plan.
While there is no research on the Cabbage Soup Diet, very low calorie diets may be unsafe for certain people. These can include:
Before beginning any new diet, consider talking with a medical professional, especially if you have other health concerns.
Homemade cabbage soup forms the basis of this diet.
To start, you need to prepare large batches of soup to eat for the entire week.
Keep in mind that specific ingredients for the soup may vary.
Ingredients:
Directions:
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.
Every day, you should eat as much cabbage soup as you want — at least for several meals.
These are the guidelines for each day of the Cabbage Soup Diet.
You should not continue the diet for more than 7 days at a time. However, you may repeat the diet if you wait at least 2 weeks before starting it again.
While on the Cabbage Soup Diet, the guidelines note that you can eat 1–2 other low calorie foods daily in addition to the soup. You can drink water or other calorie-free beverages, such as unsweetened tea.
Because the diet is low in specific nutrients, you may decide to take a daily multivitamin.
While following the Cabbage Soup Diet, you may need to avoid foods that are not part of the meal plan. This includes calorie-containing beverages along with many foods.
Proponents of this diet recommend not making any substitutions.
SummaryTo follow the Cabbage Soup Diet, you need to prepare large batches of cabbage soup to eat multiple times per day. You can also eat 1–2 other foods each day.
Although the Cabbage Soup Diet may help you lose some weight, its drawbacks may outweigh its benefits.
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 (6).
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 (6, 7).
However, as soon as you return to a less restrictive diet, your body will rebuild those emergency stores and take on water weight again (7).
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.
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.
SummaryThe Cabbage Soup Diet is restrictive, hard to stick to, and deficient in many nutrients. Since it lasts only a week, most of the weight you lose is only water weight that will return once you stop the diet.
The Cabbage Soup Diet is not recommended for more than 1 week at a time because it’s restrictive and nutritionally imbalanced.
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. That minimum is typically 1,500 calories for women and 2,000 calories for men, on average (8).
Very low calorie diets under 800 calories per day are only recommended for some people with obesity under a physician’s close supervision.
The food choices that the Cabbage Soup Diet requires are limited and unbalanced. 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.
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.
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.
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.
SummaryThe Cabbage Soup Diet is not suitable for long-term use because it lacks key nutrients. Despite some uncomfortable side effects, trying it for 1 week will probably not lead to significant side effects for most people without health concerns.
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.
While this diet may help you lose weight quickly, it is more beneficial to consider choosing more proven options to support long-term weight loss and your overall health and wellness. If you have questions about weight loss, talking with a healthcare professional can be helpful.