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The Cabbage Soup Diet - This is a short term, low calorie diet that is not suitable for children or adolescents as it is designed for rapid results.

The Cabbage Soup Diet is a low-fat, high-fibre diet that will help you get into shape fast before you embark on a more moderate long-term eating plan, and if you can stomach eating little other than cabbage soup for a week, the results can be pretty dramatic.

The cabbage soup diet should only be followed for 7 days at a time, with at least two weeks in between.

The idea is to eat as much cabbage soup as you like every day - enough to keep you full so you don't cheat! Additional foods on each day of the seven day diet.

No alcohol is allowed and other drinks are limited to water, and unsweetened fruit juice on days when fruit is allowed. Absolutely no bread allowed either.

• Day 1 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus as much fruit as you like, excluding bananas
   
• Day 2 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus vegetables including 1 jacket potato with a little butter
   
• Day 3 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus fruit and vegetables excluding potatoes and bananas
   
• Day 4 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus up to eight bananas and as much skimmed milk as you like
   
• Day 5 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus up to 20 ounces of beef and up to six tomatoes
   
• Day 6 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus as much beef and vegetables (excluding potatoes) as you like
   
• Day 7 - As much cabbage soup as you like plus brown rice, vegetables (excluding potatoes) and unsweetened fruit juice

In the short term most people would lose weight very quickly. However, the loss of weight will come from loss of water and muscle tissue not from fat reserves.

The cabbage soup diet is no more than a quick fix solution for special occasions when you need to squeeze into something gorgeous.

The Cabbage Soup Recipe

1 head cabbage, shredded or chopped
2 large onions, chopped
16-28 ounces canned tomatoes, chopped
2 green peppers
4 stalks celery
1-2 packages Lipton onion soup mix
black pepper
fresh herbs, chopped
6 carrots, sliced
1/2 pound green beans, sliced diagonally
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (optional)

Put all vegetables in a big pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil stirring in the soup mix, and boil gently for 10 minutes. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until all the vegetables are soft. Stir in the black pepper and chopped herbs of your choice to flavour.

Cabbage Soup Diet: Reasons for

• You will lose weight after following this diet
• Can eat as much soup as you want throughout
• Diet period is only one week
• Perfect if you have an important party to go to

Cabbage Soup Diet: Reasons Against

• Very boring selection of available food
• Side effects can include headaches, weakness and a lack of concentration
• Weight loss is only temporary as very little actual fat is burnt