With cold winter months approaching, you’re likely naturally craving a piping hot bowl of soup. That makes the soup diet perfect for this time of year, right? To help you answer that question, here are the things you need to know before you turn in your plates and exchange them for a bowl.

The Basics

The title is pretty self-explanatory in that your meals on this plan involve eating soup and only soup, (usually cabbage but some contain a multitude of vegetables); however, there are some additional foods that you are ‘allowed’ to eat while on the diet. Be prepared for them to be in small quantities as soup is going to be your primary staple.

The recommendation is that you only follow this diet one week at a time. It is intended to cleanse your system during the seven days you are on it so not allows you to lose weight, but it also rids your body of toxins that are preventing it from functioning as efficiently as it can.

Does the Soup Diet Work?

If your goal is to lose weight, then you will definitely do that using the soup diet. It is so low in calories, there is no way you wouldn’t. However, the weight that you do lose is generally water, so go back to eating regular food and you’ll likely gain it all back.

Additionally, since this diet isn’t long term, it doesn’t teach you how to eat in a way that maintains any weight loss. You will likely return to your normal eating habits once the seven days are over which can also result in regaining all of the weight you lost – and probably more.

The Bottom Line

You’re better off learning how to eat in a healthy manner and avoid any fad diets, soup diet included. It may take you more time to reach your goals, but that also means that the results are more permanent, which makes it a good trade-off.