If you are planning to lose weight, you must have heard of the radical changes you are supposed to implement in your diet. One popular diet for people seeking to lose weight is the soup diet.
Many people laud the soup diet for a tremendous effect on their weight loss journey. However, it is imperative to note that it would not work for everyone since everybody is different.
If you are here, it means you want to know it is all about. We will therefore get on it immediately.
What is the Soup Diet?
A soup diet is a type of weight loss eating plan where one mainly consumes soup and restricts their food intake for about 7 to 10 days. Although there are a few foods that one eats during that time, soup is the main dish.
It is known to work for some people helping them lose several pounds since they will be eating nothing. However, its sustainability over a long time is not proven since it is just a short-term plan.
The first such soup plan involved cabbage soup, but now there are so many other soup diet plans one can use.
Soup eating for weight loss has been around for decades. The original soup diet plans were in the early 80s and have grown in popularity over time as more people seek ways to cut down their weight.
How Does It Work?
The soup diet will involve you having to restrict yourself to eating soup alone for about a week. There are many types of soup you can choose from to complete the diet plan.
What Are the Types of Food Diets?
1. The Cabbage Soup Plan
The cabbage soup plan is one of the most popular soup plans. It has been around for decades and involves consuming chicken or vegetable broth with cabbage or any other suitable vegetable with little carbs.
You can also decide to add some low-calorie foods like skim milk and leafy vegetables. The plan claims to help you lose up to ten pounds in a week if you closely follow it.
2. Bean Soup Diet
The bean soup diet plan is Michael Greger’s brainchild, a prominent health book writer. In a book he wrote, he advises users to consume bean soup twice a day. You can also eat any foods free of oil and plant foods in addition to the soup.
The plan also advises one to ditch calorie-dense foods such as nuts and focus on low-calorie foods. It is not a short-term plan, unlike other soup diets, but rather a way to shift to plant foods.
Its proponents claim it can help one lose up to 16 pounds a week. Although there is no concrete proof, plant foods are usually a great help in aiding weight loss.
3. The Chicken Soup Diet
This diet plan involves you having to eat nothing else but chicken soup for all meals of the day except breakfast for a week. The diet allows you to consume low-calorie foods such as milk and yogurt for breakfast.
For the rest of the day, you are supposed to take small portions of chicken soup frequently. The frequent small potions help prevent the cravings and stave off hunger pangs.
This diet works by restricting one’s intake of carbs (especially complex carbs) thanks to low caloric and non-starchy foods. Such foods include carrots, broccoli, and collard greens.
4. The Sacred Heart Soup Diet Plan
The sacred heart also involves one exclusively eating broth soup from non-starchy vegetables. The diet is very particular regarding what foods one can include in the plan.
When applied to the maximum effect, the diet claims it can help you lose up to 17 pounds in one week.
5. The Keto Soup Diet
The keto soup draws inspiration from the ketogenic weight loss diet. It is a low carb diet that claims to help users lose 10 pounds in just a few days.
Like all the other soups, the soup is a low carb eating plan that includes moderate proteins. You are limited to eating just 20 grams of limited carbs from either nuts or dairy products.
The plan advises one to eat the same breakfast every morning. The breakfast should consist of butter, bacon, eggs, avocado, and bulletproof coffee free of sweeteners. You can snack on one low carb and a high fat snack.
You should drink about 4 cups of keto soup for the other hours of the day that you have to split between lunch and supper. The soup’s ingredients include products like bacon, olive oil, chicken.
Does the Soup Diet Aid in Weight loss?
According to studies, people who drink soup are less likely to have higher BMIs (Body Mass Index). Therefore, they are less likely to develop obesity or be overweight than people who do not drink soup.
Soup is said to increase the feeling of fulness for a person and reduce the number of calories they consume in a day. That is why soup is usually one way people try to lose weight. Eating less equals fewer calories.
However, it is not a proven way to lose weight since some people who drink soup regularly, did not see much change in their weight.
For the particular soup diet plans we have discussed so far, there is no scientific proof that they will help to lose weight or keep it in check. However, due to the lower number of calories you ingest, they will likely help you lose some weight.
You have to keep in mind that any weight you lose in the first few days of using the soup diet will be more likely due to water reduction than fat.
Final Thoughts
We hope our write-up helps you know more about the soup diet and how to eat healthily. Despite being scientifically unproven, the soup diet helps to lower your calorie intake. This, in turn, will help you lose some weight.
Go try it out!