It's very easy to describe the cabbage soup diet - FAKE. There's really no need for further explanation. But for those who insist here is more.

The origins of the cabbage soup diet are nebulous. It first appeared in the early 1980s, faxed from person to person like a chain letter. There were many names for the diet, sometimes a well-known institution such as St. Jude's diet. Needless to say, the diet has no relation to any of the institutions, nations, or people used in these names.

Most people on the cabbage soup diet drink nothing but water or unsweetened fruit juice. In general this is the diet.

Day one -- cabbage soup and any fruit except bananas.

Day two -- cabbage soup plus vegetables, which could include a half baked potato with no butter.

Day three -- add vegetables and fruit to the daily cabbage soup, but no bananas or potato.

Day four -- cabbage soup +8 bananas and skimmed milk.

Day five -- cabbage soup and as much as 20 ounces of beef, as well as 6 tomatoes.

Day six -- cabbage soup and as much of beef and vegetables as you can eat, no potatoes.

Day seven -- unsweetened fruit juice, vegetables except potatoes, brown rice, and of course our friend cabbage soup.

According to the cabbage soup diet you could lose 10 pounds in just a week. While it may be possible, most of that weight will be water weight. A week is simply too short a time in which to lose 10 pounds of fat. What the cabbage soup diet could accomplish in a week is to make someone sick from eating poorly.

The other problem with the cabbage soup diet is that it's a very difficult diet to follow. In general this isn't because it's difficult to understand but rather because cabbage soup isn't a lot of fun. It was common for people to last only a couple of days before quitting. Even as more exciting cabbage soup recipes, including some with various spices, made the rounds people still quit early.

In general nothing quite as extreme as the cabbage soup diet is needed to lose weight. A program of exercise plus cutting down calories than what you normally eat on a day-to-day basis can be very effective.