When looking to drop a few (or a few dozen) pounds, there may be no better choice than the cabbage soup diet. Considering how straightforward, simple, and rapid the results are, it’s no wonder that many dieting experts consider it one of the most popular diets in the world.
But that’s not to say it’s the only diet out there. From Atkins to The Zone, there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of diets to choose from. And while trial and error will get you some insights, it’s going to be months (or perhaps even years) until you find the best diet for you. On the other hand, if you compare and contrast your goals with the pros and cons of certain diets, you can take a nice little fat loss “shortcut”.
For our first article in our series taking an unbiased look at the cabbage soup diet and how it fares against some of the most popular diets of the day.
In a nutshell, the cabbage soup diet itself could be considered low-fat. With the cabbage diet soup predominantly being made up of low-fat items like veggies, grains, and fruits, it’s definitely lower fat than most Western style eating patterns. But just because the food is low in fat doesn’t mean that it’s a low fat diet -not by a long shot!
The cabbage soup diet is much lower in calories than most low-fat diets. Even if you adhere to a 10% fat diet, that doesn’t mean that you’re cutting calories. Foods like pasta, rice, and grains are incredibly high in calories unless eaten in very tiny amounts. On the other hand, the low-fat foods on the cabbage soup diet can be eaten in large quantities without ending up in your belly.
On the other hand, a traditional low-fat diet has a few distinct advantages over the cabbage soup diet. For example, the cabbage soup diet, even if tweaked, is a temporary dieting plan. At the most, it can be followed safely for 7-10 days. That’s enough time to drop some fat, but not to make any sort of long-term meaningful lifestyle change. Low-fat diets like those proposed by the late Dr. Atkins are meant to last for a lifetime.
Finally, there’s the issue of scientific evidence. Since the 1970′s, low-fat diets have been put under the proverbial nutrition microscope. While the results have been inconclusive, there have been some promising data showing that low-fat diets do work. In all fairness, the more recent evidence has cast some serious doubt on low-fat dieting in general, but that’s another story for another day. The cabbage soup diet, despite being tried by millions, has yet to go through the scientific ringer. That means that it’s benefits are simply anecdotal and may not stand up to the scrutiny of nutrition and dietetics.
Even with this laid out, the question remains: which diet is best for you? It’s entirely dependent on your goals. If you’re looking to torch off some body fat before your date next week, the cabbage soup diet is the obvious choice. But if you’re looking to lower your risk of chronic disease, stick to a low-fat diet.
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