Nutritional information and calories in cabbage soup

Curious about the cabbage soup diet? This restrictive program has been popular with dieters for years. Some sources say that you can lose more than ten pounds in a week. So does the cabbage soup diet work? Here are the facts.

Does the Cabbage Soup Diet work?

The Cabbage Soup Diet is a fad diet that requires users to eat cabbage soup several times a day.

When you follow the program, you can also eat some other low-calorie foods, such as any fruit (except bananas), beef, vegetables, and skim milk. As a result of the diet, your calorie count will decrease to reach the caloric deficit needed for weight loss.

The diet promises a ten-pound weight loss by the end of the week. But it’s not clear how many dieters actually stay on the diet long enough to enjoy that result.

How to follow a cabbage soup diet

You can find many different versions of The Cabbage Soup Diet online. You’ll find cabbage soup recipes and a list of specific foods to eat each day in addition to soup. You can stock up on food to prepare for your slimming down.

Every day you will consume multiple bowls of fat free cabbage soup and some of the allowed low calorie foods. You’ll be able to choose from small amounts of skim milk, fruits, vegetables, and lean meat, depending on the version of the plan.

Meals must be prepared and eaten at home, as it would be difficult to order the foods required in the plan at a restaurant.

Cabbage Soup Calories and Nutrition

Since soup recipes vary, there is no perfect set of nutritional information for cabbage soup. If you use a specific recipe, you can use a recipe analyzer to get a complete set of nutritional data.

However, if you’re just curious about the calories in cabbage soup, imagine you’ll be consuming 50-100 per cup. The serving size will make a difference and the thickness of the soup will make a difference. Keep in mind that cabbage soup can be very high in sodium, providing nearly 100 percent of your daily recommended amount if you consume multiple bowls.

The good news, though, is that because the soup is made with lots of vegetables, you’ll get a few grams of fiber in each bowl. Most recipes provide 3-5 grams of fiber per cup, which can help keep you full longer. Most recipes also provide a little protein (about 5 grams), about 13 grams of carbohydrate, and only about 1 gram of fat.

Cons of the Cabbage Soup Diet

You are likely to get bored with The Cabbage Soup Diet. Not many people like cabbage soup enough to enjoy it every day for an entire week. And you can’t eat the foods you like best.

Unfortunately, the diet plan is not based on any nutritional or medical science. There is no scientific proof that cabbage or cabbage soup has any of the fat-burning properties often advertised in the diet description.

Additionally, the diet plan does not provide any advice for dealing with emotional eating or developing skills necessary for long-term weight loss, such as changing eating habits or controlling portions.

So after the diet is over, you will likely gain back all the weight you lose.

And finally, most versions of the diet generally don’t include any advice on exercise. However, anyone following a plan like this is unlikely to have enough energy to exercise due to low calorie intake.

The dangers of the cabbage soup diet
The biggest concern expressed by weight loss experts is that many versions of The Cabbage Soup Diet allow as little as 1,200 calories a day. That is the minimum amount of calories that is generally recommended for weight loss. In fact, the calorie count in some versions of the plan is so low that they could be considered a fasting program instead of a diet.

In general, no one should follow a diet plan with less than 1,200 calories without the involvement of their health care provider. Therefore, any plan that provides so few calories should be avoided. Doing so could lead to serious health problems and, at the very least, may cause your weight to regain when the diet is complete.

Conclusion
Some people will lose weight on the cabbage soup diet. But it is the extremely low calorie intake that is responsible for the weight loss experienced in this short time. There is nothing magical or special about cabbage soup that makes weight loss happen.

When you lose weight this fast, you’re usually losing water weight, not fat. As soon as cabbage dieters go back to eating normally, they regain all the weight and in some cases even more.

The cabbage soup diet doesn’t work for most people and is of little use to someone who has more than a couple of pounds to lose. Worse yet, many versions of the cabbage soup diet may be unsafe. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before starting this or any other restrictive diet plan.