Cabbage soup will make you lose weight, but you'll get sick of it.

by Tina Paradise
(Tempe, AZ, USA)

I tried to do the cabbage soup diet for a while, and it did work. Cabbage soup is great, and you will love it for the first 3 days maybe, but after that my cravings came back for other things, exactly as if I wasn't eating at all.

Once I thought I couldn't take it anymore I ended up trying it almost like the Slim Fast plan - replacing breakfast and dinner or something like that. It actually worked pretty well!

Also, this diet is a lot healthier than some others, since you can add whatever veggies you want to the soup (I added spinach since it's got tons of vitamins and protein).

Anyway, I lost like 5lb in a week, put 2 back on immediately, and now I don't like cabbage soup anymore haha! Good concept, a lot healthier than other diets, but tough to stick to.

Note from Dr. Dan

Tina,

You highlight some important points here.

One, the cabbage soup diet is tough to stick to. But you have a variation that can be helpful. That is your "Slim Fast" method -- basically substituting cabbage soup for 1-2 meals per day.

You can use this same idea with any staple food. And soup -- any kind of soup, not just cabbage soup -- can be ideal.

Why? Well, you can make up a big batch of soup at the start of the week. It can be whatever you like, but lentil is a good choice. Put in plenty of vegetables. Add your lentils or beans to give it some substance.

You just put a container of it in your lunch box and you're all set.

Remember, soup in general has low calories density (meaning you get to eat a lot of it without overdoing your calories.) And if you choose healthy ingredients it should be very high in nutrition.

Dr. Dan