THE DIET: The New Cabbage Soup Diet by Margaret Danbrot
THE CLAIM: "Lose up to 10 pounds in seven days . . . and never feel hungry!"
WHAT YOU EAT: As much cabbage soup, fruit, caffeine and tea as you want, but little else.
HEADS UP: According to the book, "the Cabbage Soup Diet is strict, low in calories and not meant to be a substitute for lifetime good nutrition." Because it isn't nutritionally sound, the writer urges you to stop after seven days. In fact, Danbrot feels so strongly about it that she reminds you five times within the first 10 pages and twice in the same paragraph to give up this diet after seven days. She also prints the same warning right after the title page.
SHREDDED EVIDENCE: A close look at the unlimited amounts of caffeine from coffee and tea shows that you're mostly losing water weight, not fat. In addition, Howard Flaks, M.D., a bariatric physician (weight loss specialist) in Beverly Hills, California, says, "A certain amount of what you lose on extreme diets [such as the cabbage soup diet] is vital muscle tissue. If you haven't been exercising, you'll gain the weight back as fat — not muscle — and hence, become fatter." Not exactly what you wanted, is it?
WHY BOTHER? Like most fads, this one won't break the cycle of yo-yo dieting, or help you lose weight for good by teaching you how to eat healthfully.
This article was obtained from: http://www.phys.com/b_nutrition/02solutions/diet_debunker/cabbage.html
