Anyone who has tried to lose weight in the last few years is aware of "extreme" or "fad" diets. Some of these have you eating no fats, no carbs, or very little protein. One of these kinds of diets is the Cabbage Soup Diet, also known in a variant form as the Sacred Heart Diet or the TJ Miracle Soup Diet.
What is the Cabbage Soup Diet, exactly? Well, Wikipedia gives it to you in a nutshell:
"The Cabbage soup diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over the time of seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet, in that it is designed for short-term weight-loss and requires no long-term commitment. It has inspired several copy-cats based around similar principles.
"The typical claimed intent of the diet is to lose 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of weight in a week, though nutritional experts point out that it is nearly impossible to lose that much fat within a week. This has lent credence to claims that much of the weight lost is water.
"On some original documents mentioning the diet, it was claimed the diet is designed for obese heart-surgery patients, so they could lose weight quickly and therefore be at lower risk of complications during surgery. However, these claims remain unverified."
It's just like that with most "extreme" or fad diets. Someone on a diet like this is asked to avoid whole categories of foods for days on end. This is a problem on the original cabbage soup diet.
For example, on Day 4 of that diet, the dieter can eat as much of the soup as he wants - and the rest of the day's caloric intake is "up to 8 bananas and as much skimmed milk as you like." Wikipedia also gives you the cabbage soup recipe itself. This recipe is mostly cabbage, herbs and canned tomatoes.
How can this kind of diet be healthy? That's just not enough protein, and there's a lot of sodium there as well. Human bodies need proteins, and we need carbs, as well as sufficient intake from every food group, every day. Most Americans need to reduce their sodium intake as well.
Cutting out essential nutrients makes the body drain water and go into a "hoarding" mode. This is when the body's metabolism tries to save itself from starvation, so it slows down drastically in order to use less calories. Another problem is that cutting out most of the protein from a person's diet can cause the body to start metabolizing its own lean muscle mass.
Is this what the dieter wants? No, of course not. A dieter wants to reduce fat of course, keep the metabolism running quickly, and build up lean muscle mass. And for long-term health, human bodies need to maintain a healthy, varied diet as well.
A new mother looking to reduce her postpartum belly fat, or someone who is very overweight or obese, or might be tempted to use one of the fad diets in order to get quick results. The best idea, however, is to focus on long-term vitality, and fad diets don't help with that at all.
For the best results in long-term health as well as loss of fat, dieters should keep away from any fad diet as all the weight-loss pills that keep coming on the market. Dieters should be sensible, even if that may mean somewhat slower progress. They should eat raw fruits and vegetables in place of processed snacks and other processed foods; increase their water intake, and use moderate exercise and focused weight training to increase lean muscle mass.
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