As its name suggests, the soup diet is a weight loss method based on the almost exclusive consumption of soups for a week. The weight loss is fast thanks to a low energy intake, and high intakes of water and vegetables.
What is the soup diet?
The Soup diet consists of eating soup every day, at all meals, for 7 days. Very few ingredients are allowed in addition to the soup. Weight loss is promoted by the high consumption of vegetables, water and a low calorie intake.
How does the soup diet work?
The soup diet is said to have originated in the 1980s in an American hospital named Sacred Heart (but this has never been confirmed). It was originally intended for obese patients to make them lose weight before heart surgery. There are several variations of the soup diet today, but the best known is the cabbage soup diet. The latter consists of eating cabbage soup (main ingredient of the recipe) for 7 days, at all meals (even at breakfast) for a weight loss of 4 to 5 kg. The soup can be accompanied by other foods, but the choice is very limited because they must be low in calories.
The cabbage soup diet then led to the emergence of other less strict soup diets in which more foods are allowed and offering different soup recipes (vegetable soup, tomato soup, chicken or beef soup, etc.).
The classic soup diet (that of the Sacred Heart) is based on consuming a soup made with beef or poultry broth, peas, celery, tomatoes, onions and carrots; for 7 days. In addition to the soup consumed at all meals, other low-calorie foods can be added: unsweetened fruit juices, brown rice, potatoes and tomatoes but only on certain days of the week and in limited quantities. .
The cabbage soup diet consists of eating soup made with cabbage as the main ingredient for 7 days and with all meals (it can even be used as a snack). The soup can also contain tomato, onion, carrots, parsley, peppers, garlic and either poultry or beef broth. There again, other low-calorie foods are allowed during the diet: beef, skinless poultry, skimmed milk, fruits and vegetables, unsweetened fruit juices.
This diet does not recommend any particular physical activity and does not provide for a transition stage to be adapted as a healthy lifestyle. This method cannot last longer than a week. It can be repeated if the weight loss obtained is not that expected, provided you take a two-week break between two periods of diet.
What can I eat?
Recommended foods
Apart from soups, the foods allowed in this diet are:
Prohibited foods
Foods to moderate
Is the Soup Diet easy to follow?
Cost of the Soup diet
The Soup diet is one of the least expensive diets. Soup being a very affordable dish.
Effectiveness of monitoring related to the Soup diet
The Soup diet can lose 5 to 7 kg in a week if followed to the letter.
What type of physical exercise should accompany the Soup diet?
The Soup diet does not recommend any particular physical activity. But in general, the practice of sport on a regular basis is always strongly recommended (whether you are on a diet or not), so as not to regain the pounds lost as soon as the diet is stopped. Some specialists still point out that physical activity should not be too intense as part of the Soup diet because the energy intake is low.
Is this diet dangerous for health?
Are the contributions of this diet sufficient?
Vitamin supplementation is strongly recommended in the Soup diet.
What type of meal does this diet offer?
There are many variations on the original soup diet. In most, three daily meals are provided (breakfast, lunch, dinner). Several of them require you to eat soup with each meal (with other foods in limited quantities), breakfast included. Others allow one normal meal per day, the other two being soup or at least one meal per day with soup. As for snacks, some soup diets allow them, others do not.
Cabbage soup diet: example of a typical day
Breakfast
Cabbage soup + fruit
Lunch
Cabbage soup + skinless beef or poultry and vegetables
Snack (if hunger arises)
Cabbage soup
Having dinner
Cabbage soup + unlimited vegetables (cooked without fat)
Soup diet: example of a typical day
Breakfast
150 g of 0% cottage cheese and two plums
Lunch
200 g of cod accompanied by a pan of steamed vegetables
Having dinner
Leek and potato soup and an orange