Straight out of the Cabbage Patch Posted by Maddison Carter 30 June, 2009 - 10:39 AM

What is it?
Cabbage Soup Diet

Who’s tried it?
Jaime Pressly (photographed below at the SAG Awards - Getty Images)


The Gist:
The Emmy Award winner and “My Name Is Earl” star swears by the Cabbage Soup Diet for weight loss. After giving birth to son Dezi James, Ms Pressly slurped on the soup to get back into shape.  An oldie but a goodie, the Cabbage Soup Diet is simple…consuming a bucket load of cabbage soup.  

It’s a strict 7-day weight loss/detox plan. Ironically, you consume cabbage soup constantly, as much as you like actually.  The theory behind using cabbages as the main source of food is that they are extremely low in carbs and detoxes for your insides.  

There are many variations on the cabbage soup diet (so make sure to do your homework to find out which one best suits you), but the main idea behind the diet is to consume soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner, for 7 days.   Some variations on the diet will allow you to add a couple glasses of skim milk and a bunch of bananas.  

At the end of 7-days you can go back to your old eating habits (this will vary depending on which variation of the diet you choose to follow). When Jaime Pressly finished her 7 days on the diet she added food groups back gradually, for example, fruit was added the first day, vegetables the next, and by the end of the week meat and dairy could be consumed.  

It wasn’t just dipping into the cabbage-patch which made this starlet red-carpet ready; she also worked out at the gym 5 days a week. Exercise is an important component of any diet and should be included in all weight loss programs.   

Does it work?
The rationale behind the diet is that it will somehow “flush” the fat from your body.  The advantages to this diet are you can lose weight extremely quickly, it’s low-cost, and you can chow-down as much soup as you like. Disadvantages can include rapid regaining of weight once the diet is finished, lack of nutrition and variety, and dizziness. And all the cabbage will make you a quite gassy, so it’s not the most glamorous diet either.

So if your doctor has no objections, cabbages are in your “favourite” food group, and your family and workmates don’t mind wearing a face mask when your around, then go for it...otherwise you’ll probably be better of following a diet which includes a variety of nutritious foods.

Leave your comment

• trish says

  i don't think it is very healthy, i have been on diets like this before , and have found myself with no energy

  Posted Monday 31 August, 2009 4:15 PM
• Savannah says

  i'm going to try this and some of the others over a few weeks...its guna be hell but i want to see which is best 4 me. =] ill let ya know

  Posted Tuesday 15 September, 2009 5:27 PM