Soups are becoming increasingly popular not only in Germany, but throughout Europe. During the lunch break, people now go to the soup bar, where they can choose from a wide variety of soups. However, a visit to the soup bar is worthwhile not only for the health-conscious, but also for anyone who is on a diet. Because some soups are excellent for losing weight. For this reason, soup diets are becoming more and more common today. Such soup diets entice with high weight loss, but also have some disadvantages.
Soup diet: vegetable soups are well suited
As the name “soup diet” already reveals, the diet during the diet consists mainly of various types of soup. To lose weight, vegetable soups are particularly recommended, as they contain few calories. Soups with fatty ingredients such as dumplings or cream, on the other hand, should be avoided, otherwise the soup is not suitable for losing weight. As a rule of thumb, the soup should not have more than 100 to 150 calories in total. In addition to vegetable soups, depending on the soup diet plan, fruit, vegetables as well as various protein foods such as fish, lean meat, eggs or dairy products may also be consumed. As a rule, a soup diet should be carried out over a period of no more than seven days. To purify the body in between, individual soup days can also be inserted throughout the year.
Cabbage soup diet as a “magic bullet”?
During a soup diet is particularly often resorted to cabbage soups. They are always touted as a ‘magic bullet’, as they supposedly boost fat burning. Thus, one is supposed to be able to lose up to five kilograms of weight through a cabbage soup diet within just one week. However, this weight loss is not due to increased fat burning, but to other factors. For example, cabbage soup is extremely low in calories. In addition, very few minerals and proteins are consumed during the cabbage soup diet, so the diet is quite one-sided. Therefore, just as with the emphasis on the consumption of other vegetable soups, additional supplementary foods should be consumed during the cabbage soup diet. In conclusion, the cabbage soup diet is not suitable for a long-term diet. However, if you want to lose some weight quickly, you can calmly eat cabbage soup for a few days. However, since this form of diet does not change the diet, you can expect a yo-yo effect after the end of the diet.
Advantages of losing weight with soups
In general, the advantage of a soup diet is that vegetable soups contain only a few calories and thus weight loss can be recorded after only a few days. In addition, the vegetables in the soups provide the body with many vitamins and minerals. Since vegetables contain many alkaline minerals, the body is also purified by the soup diet and a possibly disturbed acid-base balance is restored. Therefore, it is especially recommended to use the soup diet to detoxify the body. Weight loss, on the other hand, should not be the top priority.
Disadvantages of a soup diet
Among doctors and nutritionists, soup diets, just like other crash diets, are controversial. This is because when soups are used specifically to lose weight, there is no fundamental change in eating habits. The weight loss during the soup diet comes mainly from the fact that extremely few calories are supplied to the body. In addition, the low intake of proteins causes muscle breakdown. The lack of carbohydrates also means that the body’s carbohydrate stores have to be tapped, which leads to severe dehydration of the body. So during the soup diet, in addition to fat, the body loses water, protein and carbohydrates. Since these stores are replenished after the soup diet ends, a yo-yo effect must be expected.
Risks and side effects during the soup diet
Due to the low calorie intake during the soup diet, there may be problems with concentration, poor performance, headaches as well as physical fatigue. Those who frequently resort to cabbage soups for weight loss during their soup diet must also expect flatulence. People who are sensitive to white cabbage should therefore avoid cabbage soups.Another problem with the soup diet is that the one-sided diet can lead to a nutrient deficiency. During the soup diet, the body is supplied with too little fat and protein. If the body is supplied with too little protein, this can lead to deficiency symptoms such as hair loss, muscle weakness or lack of drive. If the body has hardly any protein available in the long term, this can even be fatal. Therefore, during a soup diet, care should be taken to supply the body with protein in addition to the vegetable soups. For this purpose, protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs, tofu or dairy products are particularly suitable.
Soup diet plan
A soup diet should generally be followed for a period of no more than seven days. During this time, soups should be consumed predominantly, but not exclusively. When choosing appropriate foods, the following soup diet plan can be used for guidance:
- Day 1: vegetable soup, fruit (except bananas and honeydew melons).
- Day 2: vegetable soup, raw vegetables (except corn and peas); evening: baked potato with low-fat cottage cheese.
- Day 3: vegetable soup, fruit and raw vegetables.
- Day 4: vegetable soup, three bananas, a glass of skim milk and a cup of low-fat yogurt.
- Day 5: vegetable soup, 200 grams of poultry or fish, six unpeeled tomatoes.
- Day 6: vegetable soup, a lean steak, green vegetables and salad without dressing.
- Day 7: vegetable soup, brown rice, vegetables, a glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice.
In addition, during the soup diet should drink a lot, recommended about three liters of still mineral water per day. Alcohol, sodas and sweetened fruit juices are prohibited, coffee and black tea should be avoided. To prevent protein deficiency, milk consumption can be increased if necessary.
Recipe for a cabbage soup
The following ingredients are needed for a delicious and healthy cabbage soup:
- 1 head of white cabbage
- 6 onions
- 2 peppers
- 1 kilogram carrots
- 8 peeled tomatoes1 stick of celery
- Herbs and spices
Wash the vegetables for cabbage soup, peel and cut into small pieces. Then boil the vegetables in five liters of water for eight to ten minutes and then infuse for 20 minutes. Before serving, refine the soup with herbs and spices.
Soup diet conclusion
If the soup diet is used once or twice a year as a one-week fast or as a single day of fasting, the diet will do no harm. However, the focus should be on detoxifying the body and not on weight loss. People who suffer from morbid obesity and metabolic or circulatory diseases should rather change their diet permanently instead of a soup diet. On the other hand, it is urgently not recommended to carry out the soup diet for a longer period of time.
