Cabbage soup diet is probably one of the best-known diet in the world. I believe that everybody who has ever needed to shed a few or a lot of pounds must have tried it or think about trying it at some point. Cabbage soup tastes awful, but if it would really help and if it would be healthy, heck why not? We can make some sacrifices! Unfortunately, apart from being a fad diet it is also dangerous for your health. Cabbage soup for fast weight loss is a very, very bad idea and here is why.

As today, there isn't an "official" version of this diet - it seems like no one wants to step forward and say they invented this diet - but you can find various cabbage diet plans based around eating huge amounts of cabbage soup, and very (or nothing) little else.
Claims made for the cabbage soup diet range from the cabbage soup itself has fat burning properties to the "you can lose 10lbs in a week". The diet is often described as a quick way to drop pounds for a special event and most proponents advise that it only be followed for a week.

The way of cooking cabbage soup to make it very effective for weight loss is simply to boil it in water, add a pinch of salt and that's it. I have a hard time thinking of anything that can taste more disgusting than this soup.

What can cabbage do for you and what can it not do?

The good news is that cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin K and vitamin C. Have a raw cabbage salad to maximize the intake of vitamin K and C (vitamin C is quickly destroyed at high temperatures so the more you cook the cabbage, the less chances to preserve its important vitamins). Also, one cup of cabbage will provide you with almost 15% percent of your daily fiber needs.

The cabbage diet is (probably) based on the fact that although rich in vitamins, minerals and even the oh-so-great omega 3 fatty acids, the cabbage completely lacks calories. One cup has about 33 calories. And it makes you feel full for a long time. Cabbage will travel very slow through your system and will make it easier for you not to feel hungry.

What happens when you eat cabbage soup and nothing else?

Unfortunately your body will immediately realize that you have a problem and will start to hang onto its fat reserves. A healthy amount of fat intake is vital for the brain to operate, so your brain will shift from consuming fat from food and reserves to consuming fat stored in muscles and major organs. The brain is probably the most "selfish" organ of our body. It will adjust your body's metabolism so it can be sure nothing will jeopardize its good functioning. You will also become a lot less active, because the brain "knows" there is not enough food around and it will slow you down to preserve your energy for as long as possible.

So other than losing muscle tissue and feeling down and depressed, I can think of nothing else. Do you really want that to happen to you?