Considered to be one of the most bizarre but at the same time working diets in the United States, the cabbage soup diet is very similar to that of minestrone.

Thought for a fast and last minute weight loss, it seems to have one more advantage over the traditional variant.

That is cabbage, which can be substituted by watercress to get the same benefits but less intestinal fermentation if you suffer from colon problems, for example. Basically it is the cabbage, with its content of vitamins and mineral salts and its anti-inflammatory action, that makes you lose weight, with a strong anti-cholesterol and anti-tumor action thanks to the presence of a glucosinate called sinhydrin.

In America, the cabbage soup diet is very popular , everyone claims to be able to lose weight, approximately 4 to 5 pounds in a week . In order not to take them back, there is even a trick that we will see later.

The disadvantages are similar to those of the minestrone diet: rapid weight loss but which risks being a red herring, unbalanced menu.

Always taking into account that you must consult your doctor before going on a diet, let’s see what the cabbage soup diet consists of.

THE DIET OF CABBAGE SOUP

First you need to cook the cabbage soup. The first tip is to cook it fresh every day, in order to avoid possible fermentation phenomena. Or cook it and then let it cool and freeze it. There are various recipes on the net, I leave you the best one directly.

Cabbage soup, the recipe.

• For 4 servings of soup.
• Half Chinese cabbage or cabbage or kale stump, which can be effectively replaced by a pound of Belgian endive or watercress. If you suffer from irritable bowel, these last two options.
• 3 golden onions to be replaced if necessary with fennel in pieces again for the above reason.
• A large stick of celery
• Plenty of parsley
• Half a green pepper or a courgette (I recommend the second one)
• 2 liters of vegetable broth or meat broth. You can also cook the vegetables in water, drain them well and then blend them directly with a liter of meat or vegetable broth, but not glutamate.
• Optional: a clove of garlic.
• Salt, pepper, paprika and a pinch of turmeric.

After washing them, cut the vegetables into pieces and cook them over low heat in the broth until they flake. You can eat the soup like this or purée it with a blender.
It should not be seasoned with oil.

How is the cabbage soup diet done?

It is done for seven days. I state that, personally, and after consulting a doctor, I only recommend the soft variant and not this one.

First day: breakfast and snacks with a fruit of your choice apart from banana.
Lunch and dinner with free soup.
Free herbal teas, teas, coffees (with sweetener).

Second day .
Breakfast: a boiled potato or a boiled sweet potato. Snacks with raw vegetables.
Lunch and dinner with soup + a side dish of cooked vegetables of your choice with a maximum of one teaspoon of oil. Free herbal teas, teas, coffees.

Third day.
Breakfast with a fruit apart from the banana. Snacks with a fruit apart from bananas, grapes and persimmons or raw vegetables.
Lunch and dinner with soup. Free herbal teas, teas, coffees (with sweetener).

Fourth day .
Breakfast with a smoothie with a banana and a glass of skim or soy milk.
Lunch with a Greek yogurt or skyr or skim quark + a banana. Snacks with a glass of milk or low-fat plain yogurt. Dinner with the soup. Free herbal teas, teas, coffees (with sweetener).

Fifth and sixth day.
Breakfast with a low-fat white yogurt. Free herbal teas, teas, coffees (with sweetener).
Lunch with a slice of meat plus tomato salad with a level teaspoon of oil. Dinner with white fish such as sea bream or steamed cod plus a portion of soup. Snacks with 3-4 slices of bresaola or cooked ham.

Seventh day.
Breakfast with a fruit of your choice. Free herbal teas, teas, coffees (with sweetener).
Lunch and dinner with a plate of grilled or sautéed vegetables + 50 grams of brown rice.
Snacks with raw vegetables or a fruit.
Let’s see the more balanced version, proposed in 2003 by a dietician.