The origins of the cabbage soup diet are unknown, and it first gained popularity as a piece of faxlore in the 1980s. The cabbage soup diet has many names, usually linking the diet to a mainstream institution, including the "Sacred Heart Diet", "Military Cabbage Soup", "TJ Miracle Soup Diet" and "Russian Peasant Diet".
The cabbage soup diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around the heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet, in that, it is designed for short-term weight-loss and requires no long-term commitment.
Many individuals and medical professionals are critical of the diet. Most of the weight loss is water and not fat, and therefore not permanent. The amounts of calories per day while on the diet is far lower than what is considered safe for long-term consumption.
In addition, the recipe for the soup as often given has an extremely high sodium content, usually to make it palatable, and the diet provides practically zero protein for several days. Many people report feeling weak and light-headed during the course of the diet.
The most common forms of the soup recipe have been criticized as being bland, though spicy variations have appeared. Even so, the blandness of the soup means that few manage the entire seven days, and often report feeling nauseated whenever they smell the soup toward the end of the week-long diet.
It has also been noted that flatulence is a common side effect.
