Ads Top

How Many Calories Are in Cabbage Soup?

The main ingredient in cabbage soup is cabbage, but it also contains other nutritious vegetables. Cabbage soup is very low in calories, and it contains essential vitamins and minerals.

An 8-oz. cup of cabbage soup contains 71 calories. Five of those calories are from fat.

Predictably, cabbage soup is made with a lot of cabbage. Other ingredients in cabbage soup are onions, celery, carrots, vegetable broth, tomato juice, water and garlic.

One cup of cabbage soup supplies you with 110 percent of your daily value of vitamin A and 90 percent of your daily value of vitamin C. Cabbage soup also contains calcium and iron.

Cabbage soup can be incorporated into your diet for weight loss. If you want to lose weight, you have to take in fewer calories than you burn. Cabbage soup can help you cut down on calories because it is a low-calorie soup that will fill you up so you eat less.

Cabbage Soup Benefits

Cabbage soup is featured in a popular fad diet calling for a seven day restrictive meal plan that includes copious amounts of a soup prepared according to a specific recipe. The American Heart Association points out that fad diets, like the cabbage soup diet, offer only short-term solutions with the potential for disappointment when the weight lost inevitably returns. The diet plan itself is rather restrictive and may not result in a promised 17-pound weight loss. The cabbage soup recipe, however, does offer some positives.

High Nutrition

The cabbage soup recipe calls for many vegetables including cabbage, diced tomatoes, onions, carrots, green bell peppers, celery and sometimes mushrooms. Cabbage is high in fiber, and contains a good amount of vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, potassium and manganese. If you use red cabbage, you may benefit from specific compounds that stabilize insulin levels and reduce cravings.

Quick Weight Loss

Eating the soup as your primary food for days on end will result in quick weight loss. This may lead to boredom and nutritional deficiencies, however. If you add small servings of lean meat and whole grains to round out the nutritional profile, you will still take in very few calories and promote some weight loss.

Taste

Those who like cabbage find the soup rather tasty. It contains flavorful ingredients like onion soup mix and vegetable juice. The taste profile may be adjusted to match your personal preferences by adding chili powder, curry or Italian seasonings.

Appetite Suppressent

Even if you only enjoy a cup of the low-calorie cabbage soup as part of a regular healthy diet, it may deter you from overeating more calorie-dense foods at your main meal. Consuming soup before a meal significantly reduced overall calories consumed---by as much as 20 percent.

How to Lose Weight With Cabbage Soup

Cabbage soup is the primary feature in the cabbage soup diet, a 7-day program that purportedly helps people lose 10 to 17 lbs. in just 7 days. The soup can easily be made at home and is used in conjunction with other foods. The diet induces weight loss because it is essentially very low in calorie and restricts food options. While the soup itself contains high amounts of vitamin C and fiber, there is no clear reasoning behind the food combinations on the diet.

Things You Will Need
  • Green onions
  • Green peppers
  • Canned, diced or whole tomatoes
  • Celery
  • Cabbage
  • Onion soup mix
  • Bouillon cubes (optional)
  • Vegetable juice, like V8
  • Salt and spices like garlic powder, curry or chili powder

Step 1
Set aside a week in which you can eat at home for most meals. Avoid times in which you have travel obligations, multiple social engagements or long work days.

Step 2
Prepare the soup. Chop 2 green peppers, 6 green onions and a bunch of celery. Shred ½ to 1 full head of cabbage. Put the vegetables in a large soup pot with just enough water to cover them. Add 1 to 2 cans of diced or whole tomatoes, a package of onion soup mix, a cube or two of bouillon--if you desire--and 48 oz. of vegetable juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are of desired softness. Let cool and store in the refrigerator for the week.

Step 3
Eat cabbage soup for all your meals on day one of the diet. Include fruit on this day, except for bananas.

Step 4
Enjoy only vegetables and the homemade soup on day two. Bake a potato for dinner and serve with a pat of butter. Do not eat potatoes on any other day.

Step 5
Eat cabbage soup, fruits and vegetables on day three. Avoid bananas and potatoes. Stick to fresh produce, rather than canned.

Step 6
Continue consuming the cabbage soup at meals and have up to six bananas throughout the day on day four. Enjoy non-fat milk with your meals.

Step 7
Add in meat or fish on day five and six. Have cabbage soup, up to six tomatoes and 16 oz. of protein during the day. Make sure you take in at least one serving of soup and enjoy some leafy greens during day six.

Step 8
Prepare brown rice to have with the cabbage soup on the final day of the diet. Drink 100 percent fruit juice and other vegetables to complement the soup.

Tips and Warnings
- Some recipes for the cabbage soup include mushrooms, greens like spinach or watercress and carrots. Feel free to experiment with these additions as they add minimal calories but may enhance the flavor and vitamin content. If you find the soup bland, add curry, Italian spices, chili powder or other seasonings to punch up the flavor.
- There is no scientific evidence that supports the promises made by this soup diet. The American Heart Association warns against fad diets like the cabbage soup diet because it does not promote good nutritional principles and may set you up for ultimate weight loss failure. The soup itself is high in sodium due to the canned tomatoes, vegetable juice, optional bouillon and French onion soup mix---if you are on a restricted-sodium diet, consider seeking out low-sodium ingredients. You may experience significant gas and bloating due to the high fiber content in the soup.

No comments:

Powered by Blogger.