The Grapefruit Diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet

The Grapefruit Diet has been around a long time -- since at least the 1930s. A short-term, quick weight loss plan also known as the Hollywood Diet or the Mayo Diet (not associated with the Mayo Clinic), the Grapefruit Diet surprisingly has survived the test of time, being circulated by word of mouth, online and in book form -- yet no one claims ownership of the plan.

The premise of the Grapefruit Diet is based on an alleged "magical" ingredient in grapefruits, that, when eaten with protein, theoretically triggers fat burning and causes weight loss. With this plan you eat half a grapefruit before every meal, and calorie intake is usually restricted to around 800 calories a day. This is a dangerously low amount, especially when combined with the program's suggestion that you drink large amounts of caffeine-based drinks. The diet is designed to promote fast weight loss; unfortunately, the weight lost is primarily from fluids and not fat and generally returns as soon as the dieter goes off the diet. Long-term weight control is not part of the diet plan.

"There is no evidence that grapefruit has fat-burning enzymes nor is it a magic bullet for weight loss" says American Dietetic Association past president Connie Diekman. Grapefruit is a good food, but so are other healthy foods like whole grains, vegetables, and other fruits.

The limited variety of foods is so restrictive it does little to help dieters improve their eating habits or behaviors, and such a limited variety of foods in small portions is a prescription for boredom, monotony, and taste fatigue. It's exactly the formula that causes most dieters to throw in the towel, disgusted with trying to lose weight.

So why bother? Sure, you will lose weight, but it will be primarily fluids and not the fat associated with health risks. And most people regain it as fast as they lost it. It sounds to me like a miserable 12 days for no reason.
Healthy weight loss is a process not a promise. "If you want long-term success, don't waste your time on the Grapefruit Diet," Diekman says.

Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD/WebMD Expert Review/"The Grapefruit Diet"

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The Cabbage Soup Diet is another in an endless procession of "quick fix" miracle weight loss diets that become popular for a season. It is a weight-reducing program designed for short-term use, calling for strange combinations of food to be eaten each day, while allowing the dieter as much cabbage soup as desired.

Apart from the disgusting taste, the next most notable feature of the Cabbage Soup diet is that, over a 7 or 14 day period, you will lose quite a bit of weight. Your body will not be losing body fat, however. Rather it will be dehydrating as the weight lost is almost entirely water. The glycogen in your muscles will be drained as your body cannibalizes itself in search of nutrients. If you do last beyond 7 days and try for 14, don't be surprised if you get dizzy spells or even faint as your blood glucose levels fall too far. The Cabbage Soup Diet is really just an ultra-low calorie endurance test, little more than fasting.

What this dieting plan offers is quick weight loss that overemphasizes one particular type of food. This infringes the first principle of nutrition. If you want to lose weight you need to eat a well balanced diet. The soup recipe used cannot provide the body with all the nutrients it requires, and many people report feeling weak and lightheaded after a few days. Besides, there is absolutely nothing magic about cabbage soup. The diet likely started out from someone trying to make a buck off of their favorite soup recipe.

Contrary to claims made by this particular diet, it’s physically impossible to lose 10 to 15 pounds of fat in a week — that’s roughly equivalent to 40 to 60 sticks of butter! Anyone claiming that kind of dramatic result is losing mainly water weight that will come back after a short time. Weight loss of one pound per week is generally considered a safe and achievable goal.

The major disappointment to this harmful dieting plan is that you regain weight back as soon as you stop following the directions that are suggested. It is so droning and boring that it is nearly impossible to stay on it for a long period of time. It violates the second important principle of good nutrition. Eating should always be enjoyable but with this diet it is not. At the conclusion of this diet you will have damaged your metablism so that in addition to gaining back all the water weight lost you will also gain body fat as your body remains in starvation mode and holds on to every calorie you consume, putting it into storage in case you deprive it again.

If you want a short term quick fix fast weight loss that is accompanied by weakness, bloating, gas, loss of strength, the frustration of hunger, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and a shut-down of your metabolism - followed by regaining the lost weight and more just as fast or even faster than you lost it, then the Cabbage Soup Diet (and similar silly short term fad diets) is for you.

If you want permanent and meaningful weight loss in a healthy and sustainable way while developing better lifestyle and dietary skills that are maintainable in the long term, then stay well away from the Cabbage Soup Diet.

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The Grapefruit Diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet,

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The Grapefruit Diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet