Woman credits 1950s 'Cabbage Soup' diet for short-term weight loss but dietitians warn against long-term use

A British columnist who followed a strict, short-term “Cabbage Soup” diet said she lost about 5lb after seven days and a total of roughly half a stone (7lb) after continuing careful eating for a fortnight, but nutrition experts cautioned the plan is low in calories and nutrients and is not suitable as a long-term weight-loss strategy.

Helen Carroll, writing for a national outlet, described restarting the diet after holiday indulgences and following a seven-day regimen dominated by large quantities of a vegetable-based soup, limited fruit and vegetables, and progressively reintroducing lean protein, then maintaining a week of cleaner eating afterward. Carroll said the week of soup and restrictive meals left her feeling lighter around the waist and allowed her to move her body-mass index from 24 to about 22.7 after two weeks.

The diet, which Carroll and others trace to the 1950s when versions were reportedly used in U.S. hospitals to help very obese patients prepare for surgery, rose to broader public attention in the 1980s and 1990s. It typically prescribes unlimited servings of a cabbage-heavy vegetable soup and restricts or staggers intake of fruit, starchy vegetables, protein and milk across different days. Carroll published the soup’s ingredients and a day-by-day outline she followed, reporting that the low-calorie content — rather than any specific metabolic ‘‘secret’’ — is what drove weight loss.

Priya Trew, a registered dietitian at Dietitian UK, told the outlet that the diet forces the body to use carbohydrate stores in muscle and liver because it cuts out major food groups that are primary energy sources. "You're bound to be very hungry because you're missing out on major food groups and not giving your body everything it needs," she said, adding that no dietitian would recommend it and that it lacks many nutrients. Trew advised limiting such an approach to no more than seven days and warned it does not encourage sustainable eating habits.

Carroll, 57, framed her choice as a short-term reset rather than a long-term plan and contrasted it with the growing use of GLP‑1 receptor agonist drugs such as semaglutide products, often marketed under brand names like Ozempic and Mounjaro, which have become popular for treating obesity and for off-label weight loss among older adults. She wrote that she intended the soup week to retrain appetite cues and said friends using medication dismissed the need for self-imposed deprivation.

Her account details day-by-day restrictions: the first day allowed cabbage soup and unlimited fruit (except bananas); the second allowed soup and a variety of vegetables with a large baked potato for dinner; the third reverted to soup, fruit and vegetables; the fourth permitted up to eight bananas and skimmed milk; the fifth and sixth introduced measured amounts of beef or poultry alongside soup and vegetables; and the seventh allowed brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and vegetables. Carroll also provided a simple recipe: chop onions, green peppers, celery, cabbage, carrots and mushrooms, add two cans of tomatoes, bouillon and stock, sauté the onions briefly, then simmer the mixture for 30–45 minutes.

Throughout her week she reported common side effects described in anecdotal accounts of very low-calorie, mono-diet plans: persistent hunger, reduced energy for strenuous exercise, altered sleep patterns and heightened sensitivity to rich foods after reintroduction. She wrote that she and her partner both participated and that he lost more weight overall despite veering from the plan near the end of the week.

Health professionals generally regard rapid weight loss on restrictive, short-term diets as primarily the result of a calorie deficit and water loss, rather than sustained fat reduction. Registered dietitians and medical bodies caution that diets which eliminate entire food groups or rely on single-food frameworks can lead to nutrient shortfalls, muscle loss if protein intake is inadequate, and rebound weight gain when normal eating resumes.

Short-term, medically supervised very-low-calorie diets do have specific clinical roles — for example, in preparing certain patients for surgery under medical guidance — but experts stress that such interventions are not the same as consumer fad diets and should not be adopted without health professional oversight. The columnist acknowledged the differences and said she viewed the cabbage-soup week as a personal, time-limited experiment to reset habits rather than a prescription for sustained use.

Carroll’s experience adds to ongoing public debate about how best to lose weight and whether short, strict dietary resets have a place alongside or instead of pharmacologic approaches and lifestyle changes supported by clinicians. Medical guidelines typically recommend balanced approaches that include appropriate calorie reduction, regular physical activity, and attention to long-term behaviour change; clinicians often evaluate patients individually to determine whether medical therapies, structured diets or multidisciplinary programs are indicated.

Readers considering major dietary changes or rapid weight-loss methods are advised to consult a health professional, particularly those with pre-existing medical conditions, and to seek guidance on how to meet essential nutrient needs while reducing calorie intake.