The Big Healthy Soup Diet: Nourish Your Body and Lose up to 10lbs in a Week. Linda Lazarides
people say they feel less hungry throughout the morning if they do skip breakfast. However, this is because several hormones are working to conserve your blood sugar and slow down your metabolism. The hunger you may have experienced after eating breakfast was probably caused by eating the wrong kind of breakfast. A bowl of cereal or toast and coffee for breakfast is mainly carbohydrate. It will raise your blood sugar levels quickly, but the faster they rise, the faster they will also fall and the sooner you will feel hungry again. On the other hand, if you eat a more substantial breakfast which includes more protein and a little good quality oil or fat, you should feel satisfied and energetic until shortly before lunchtime On the Big Healthy Soup Diet you may find you need a little top-up mid-morning, but that doesn’t matter; you can eat as often as you like as long as it’s only soup!
SUPPLEMENTS TO AID WEIGHT-LOSS
Supplements of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)—a substance found in dairy fat—have been found in clinical trials to help improve body composition. After dieting, the test subjects who were taking CLA supplements put weight back on mostly in the form of lean tissue, whereas the control subjects (those not taking CLA) put weight back on mostly in the form of body fat.
Another useful supplement is the amino acid carnitine. This regulates the rate at which the body burns fat. Your body makes carnitine from lysine and methionine, with the help of vitamin C and iron, but if you are not making the maximum amount which your body can use to aid fat-burning, it will do you no harm to get a little extra in the form of supplements.
As with all other supplements. CLA and carnitine should be taken in accordance with the directions on the product label.
POWER SOUPS TO AID WEIGHT-LOSS
SOUP DIET PROGRAMMES
The two soup diet programmes in this book have been devised for you depending on your needs. If you want to clean out your system, shed some water retention and start getting into a more healthy state, Programme 1: the four-day Mini-detox, is for you.
If, on the other hand, you have some weight to lose, you can go straight to Programme 2: the 10-day Big Healthy Soup Diet. (This starts off with the same four-day Mini-detox.) You can repeat the diet as often as you like until you have reached your target weight. Alternatively, after the 10 days just begin to sample the other delicious soup recipes in this book. They are all designed to help you shed pounds.
Programme 1: Mini-detox
This is designed to
Cleanse and begin to regenerate your digestive system
Balance your blood sugar
Reduce stress on your adrenal glands
Re-hydrate your blood after too much alcohol, tea and coffee—but at the same time release unhealthy water retention from your tissues
Eliminate excess acidity caused by too much meat, fat and sugar
Provide extra antioxidants to combat toxins
Start off the fat-burning process
The most essential part of any detox diet is to consume plenty of liquid. While cold liquids can actually cool and slow down some people’s metabolism, warm liquids and hot soup can energize you and provide all the special ingredients that help to clean out your system. Unlike most detox diets, this one provides protein in the form of nuts, tofu, beans and avocado, so it is also safe to follow for longer periods and can be repeated up to four times (a total of 16 days).
FOUR-DAY MINI-DETOX
IMPORTANT
Since you should not eat any other foods during these four days, make extra quantities of soup to eat as snacks. But don’t overload your stomach! Part of the detox process involves not giving your stomach so much food that it has difficulty digesting it. Never continue eating beyond the point of feeling satisfied. You should also drink plenty of plain water (2 litres/4 pints a day) to carry away the dissolved wastes in your blood. This water must be plain and unflavoured, otherwise it will have a reduced capacity to absorb wastes and toxins. In addition to plain water, you may also drink fresh fruit juice diluted with water, and the herbal teas listed in the box on page 25.
HERBAL TEAS FOR USE WITH THE MINI-DETOX
Chamomile: Promotes good digestion and helps you sleep
Dandelion root coffee: Helps to drain wastes from the liver
Fennel: Promotes good digestion
Ginger: Aids digestion and warms the circulation
Ginseng: Boosts vitality in older women during and after the menopause
Peppermint: Aids the flow of bile and promotes good digestion
Sage: Helps to relax blood vessels and promote circulation
If you have ajuice extractor, try making juices from a mixture of carrot, radish, broccoli stems and celery. Drinking a wine-glassful of this juice twice a day will help to rejuvenate your liver and aid the release of unhealthy water retention. You can flavour the mixture with lemon juice, which contains ingredients that help to dissolve gallstones. Whizz in some parsley for extra benefits. Better still, dilute the juice with a large glass of water and whisk in a level tablespoon of psyllium husks. Drinks made in this way will help to sweep out your intestines, where toxins can become embedded if you don’t normally have regular bowel motions.
You can stop at the end of the four days if you feel you have achieved the desired results. But if you feel good on this detox it will do you no harm to continue for longer.
Detox effects
All detox diets have side-effects, and this one is no exception. Be especially prepared for a day or two of headaches caused by withdrawal from caffeine. You may also feel a little tired and nauseous. These symptoms should pass as your body adjusts.
THE 10-DAY BIG HEALTHY SOUP DIET
IMPORTANT
During the 10 days, eat only soups as directed. If you feel hungry between meals, snack on soup, if necessary taking one or two vacuum flasks of hot soup to work with you, or a container of ready-made soup which you can heat up at work if you have a kitchen.
If you wish to carry on losing weight after the 10 days, just continue on a soup-only diet, using the recipes in this book. Provided that you eat a soup from either the ‘Cabbage Soups’ or the ‘Substantial Soups’ sections at least once a day, you should not go short of protein. (Alternatively, to protein-enrich any of the soups in the ‘Starters’ section,