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Sacred Heart Diet
The Sacred Heart Diet is a fad diet that has been circulating for many years. The diet was supposedly thought to come from the cardiology department at Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital where it was used for overweight heart patients. However, like most of these diets – this is an urban myth.
The Sacred Heart Diet has been called a number of different names (such as the Spokane Heart Diet, the Cleveland Clinic Diet, Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital Diet and the Miami Heart Institute Diet). The diet also bears a striking resemblance to the cabbage soup diet.
Background of the Diet
The Sacred Heart diet is a soup-based diet, and claims that you will lose 10-17 pounds in the first week. This may be true, but most of the weight will tend to be water – and will be gained right back very soon after the diet.
This diet is very clearly an unsustainable fad diet, but is not as nutritionally unsound as similar diets. Most of these diets claim some magical fat-burning science is involved, or that there is something special about the combination of foods. This is simply untrue – it is nothing more complex than a reduction in calories!
7 Day Diet Plan
- The Sacred Heart Hospital in Montreal Canada (Hôpital Sacre Coeur) issued a press release in 2004 stating that “no nutritionist at the Hospital took part in the development of this diet”.
- The American Heart Association have claimed that the diet is phony (ref).
- The Sacred Heart Medical Center also disclaim any association with the diet (ref).
Day 1
Any fruit (except bananas). Cantaloupes and watermelon are lower in calories than most other fruits. Eat only soup and fruit today.
Day 2
All vegetables. Eat until you are full with fresh raw, cooked or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas or corn.
Eat veggies along with the soup.
A baked potato and dinner time with butter.
Don’t eat any fruits through today.
Day 3
Eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato.
Day 4
Bananas and skim milk: Eat at least 3 bananas and drink as much milk as you can today, along with the soup.
Day 5
Beef and tomatoes: you may have 10 to 20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes, or as many as 6 tomatoes on this day. Eat the soup at least once today.
Day 6
Beef and veggies, eat to your heart’s content of the beef and veggies today. You can even have 2-3 steaks if you like with green leafy veggies but no baked potato. Be sure to eat the soup at least once today.
Day 7
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and veggies, until full (and eat the soup).
You can add cooked veggies to your rice if you wish.
Drinks Allowed
- Unsweetened juices
- Tea (also herbal)
- Coffee
- Cranberry juice
- Skim milk
- Lots of water
Soup Recipe
- 1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes
- 3 plus large green onions
- 1 large can of beef broth (no fat)
- 1 pkg. Lipton Soup mix (chicken noodle)
- 1 bunch of celery
- 2 cans green beans
- 2 lbs. Carrots
- 2 Green Peppers
Season with salt, pepper curry, parsley, if desired, or bouillon, hot or Worcestershire sauce. Cut veggies in small to medium pieces. Cover with water. Boil fast for 10 minutes. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until vegetables are tender.
The soup can be eaten at any time.
Variations
Here is a different version of the diet – alleged to have come from Lehigh Valley Hospital, Pennsylvania.
“Follow the daily plan for 2 consecutive weeks, then take the following week off. You can repeat the cycle for as long as you like or until you achieve your weight loss goal.”
MONDAY
Eat SOUP and all the FRESH FRUIT that you want. Nothing else. (no bananas)
TUESDAY
Eat SOUP and all the FRESH VEGETABLES that you want. Nothing else. (no corn or beans).
WEDNESDAY
Eat SOUP and BOTH FRUIT & VEGETABLES, all you want. Nothing else.
THURSDAY
Eat SOUP all day and 3 BANANAS. 1 GLASS OF SKIM MILK. Nothing else.
FRIDAY
Eat SOUP, up to 8 TOMATOES and ALL the skinless CHICKEN, lean BEEF & FISH that you want. Nothing else.
SATURDAY
Eat SOUP, ALL the skinless CHICKEN, lean BEEF & FISH that you want… nothing else.
SUNDAY
Eat SOUP and all the BROWN RICE that you want. Nothing else.
SOUP Ingredients
Soup to be eaten ALL DAY as much and as often as you can
- 2 – 11oz. cans chicken noodle soup (Campbell Healthy)
- 5 stalks of celery
(diced) - 1 lb. pack frozen string beans
- 4 carrots (diced)
- 4 potatoes (diced)
- ½ green pepper (diced)
- 2 onions (diced)
See Also
My Sacred Heart Diet which was just released in 2009 and retails for $19.
I have a wedding to attend next saturday. I am one of the bride’s maids. The dress that I brought few months ago, is not fitting me now. i have joined gym for past month, but doesn’t look like it did anything. This diet is my only hope. I will try it tommorrow and see what happens. If the dress doesn’t fit me by the wedding day, it will be a big embarrassment.
I was cooking the soup as I came across this. It works, and for everyone that says you will gain the weight right back, that is true if you go back to your old eating habits. And if you do that, no diet will work forever. It’s common sense.
The funny part is, I work at Lehigh Valley Hospital and I never heard this diet referred to as that.
Well i tried it and was sick aka puking by the third day and lost ZERO pounds, however my brother did it and lost 10 pounds, which was mainly water
I have been trying this diest for a couple weeks now…in the first week i lost 12 pounds! Sounds great but as soon as i had one day of “normal” eating it all comes crashing back. This is a quick result short term diet results. The numbers may look good on the scale but the pounds immediately come back
This is my fourth day, I like it better today than the first day.
I feel like I lost , but I’m one for not weighing in. I wish we could have a glass of wine once a week. I will go the seven day’s and let you know
I’m on the second day, and I’ve already lost a few pounds. It’s kind of annoying to eat almost the same thing every day, but it’s really worth it.
I am on my 3rd day of the diet and I have lost 8 pounds. The only problem is that I am so tried of smelling and eating the soup. Today I have maybe eaten a cup, but I’ve eaten a lot of fruit and veggies. Tomorrow will be the worst for me just banana’s and skim milk and soup. I started this and I will finish good luck to everyone that is doing this diet it works. I have a lot of weight to loose so I will go off for the two days and back on. I will do this twice a month. Big Ups to a healthier life:).
In the past I tried this diet..it worked i lost 8 lbs in 1 week….the only reason i stoped was because i got tired of it…now i am going to try it again..hopefully it still works!!
This is a very strange and unscientific recipe:
* 1 or 2 cans of stewed tomatoes (1 or 2? That’s a huge range)
* 3 plus large green onions (Seems like a tiny amount of onion)
* 1 large can of beef broth (no fat) (Nasty salty oily stuff)
* 1 pkg. Lipton Soup mix (chicken noodle)(Nasty salty chemically stuff)
* 1 bunch of celery (That is a huge amount of celery)
* 2 cans green beans (Why cans? Why not fresh?)
* 2 lbs. Carrots
* 2 Green Peppers
Anyway, I made it as follows:
* 2 cans of diced tomatoes
* 3 bunches green onions
* 1 large can of beef broth (no fat)
* 1 bunch of celery
* 2 lbs. green beans
* 2 lbs. Carrots
* 2 Green Peppers
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. It is actually very nice, like minestrone without the beans, I’ll make it again with beans when I am off the diet. I will skip the beef stock in future. I skipped the lipton packaged soup. Maybe half as much celery next time. What I ended up with is pretty thick. I have a big pot of it and I take a smaller pot at a time and add quite a lot of water to make it more like soup and less like stew. It is still very flavourful.
I have just completed day 2. No ill effects or cravings. The worst part is the skim milk in my tea. I’m drinking my coffee black which isn’t bad at all. Perhaps that will be a permanent change.
Strange it isn’t more specific about which fruits and vegetables to eat and to not eat. It just does not seem like a diet put together by someone with a very logical or scientific mind!
Anyway, I’ll do it for 2 weeks and then see where I am. I do not want to get to the stage where I start burning muscle instead of fat which is one of the possible consequences of losing too much weight too quickly.
All things in moderation.
The most important thing though is to not return to your previous eating habits when you finish the diet. Eating healthy will have to become a fulltime occupation or the weight will return. Good news is that you can eat healthy and eat very well at the same time. It will just take being always conscious of what you are eating, but not to the point of obsession. Ice cream and cookies and chocolate cake and french fries IN MODERATION can be part of a healty diet once you are at your ideal weight.
Good luck everyone, I will report back at the end of week 1.
Hi! I am on my 4th day on this diet, and i am finally getting the energy back again. I lost 4 lbs as of this morning. I do like the soup but i can only eat so much. I did not eat any yesterday. I am not sure if that matters. I hope i can lose another 5 that would be wonderful. I also cheat a little. I ate ranch with my carrots. This takes alot of will power especially if you work at a job like me. Everyone loves potlucks, so there is ALWAYS food in the break room. Did well yesterday! Good luck!!
I just started this diet. Uhhh….I’m not sure if i like it or not. I’m going on day 3 (tomarrow) Lost 3 to 4 lbs so far. But I havent ate the soup very often does that matter? I eat about 1/2 bowls a day. I am about 40 lbs overweight ( thanks to the sweet lil babe) I hope this works I am getting really frustrated with how fat I feel all the time. I am feeling better in the first 2 days. Well see. I will keep you updated………
I’m wondering how much weight each of you had to lose to begin with? I am about 30 pounds overweight and wondering if I will lose weight as rapidly on this diet as others seem to have. I can’t imagine losing as many as 17 pounds in one week if I’m 30 pounds overweight. For those that lost 5-7 pounds, how overweight are you?
Ive known many people to succeed on this diet. The first time i tried it years ago, i quit during the 3rd day. But now i am on my 5th day. I thought the 1st & 2nd days were the most difficult, until today, since i dont eat meat or fish. I feel better overall, but dont know what I have lost. With only 2 days left, i can stick with it. Ive heard its good to do on a montly basis, for weight loss or maintenence.
I’m getting ready to start this diet recommended cowork who lost 6lb in two day.
hey it work
My daughter’s friend’s mother tried this diet in November and has stuck with it. She does the diet every two weeks. She has lost 60 pounds! I’m going to try it.
I’m getting ready to start this diet recommended by a coworker who has lost over 30 lbs in a month. She looks great and I do a double take every time I see her. This will be day one for me and she recommended the Lipton onion soup (chicken noodle).
What I have saved on junk food, I have spent on toilet roll!! Seriously, these kinds of foods can only be beneficial to you health. I have had many friend’s use this diet and all seem to thrive on it.
Can u eat the fruit everyday? I have brought loads of fruit and then realised that it is not mentioned from day three.
are u suppose to do any kind of exercises?
This is my 4th time doing this diet. I have always lost 5-10 pounds. In College I did this diet for 3 months straight and lost over 30 pounds. I have never felt better. It takes will power to stay on it. Most diets are so complex this one is easy. I urge everyone to do it. It works!!
I am interested in doing the diet, but I’m a very picky eater. Can you use any soup (i.e. french onion or Campbell’s plain chicken noodle) or is it a must that you follow the recipe?
can you use other soups? like french onion or just plain campbell’s chicken noodle?
i plan on starting the diet on monday but what i need to know is can i switch soups if i can’t handle one soup if i switch to the other one will it still work im 100lbs. overweight i have high bp and just had my 4th c-section i need help
When I went to the Navy (knowing prior i would be over their weight restrictions) they reccommended this diet. They told me they recommend this diet to any new recruit, for two reasons. 1. you will lose weight and detox your body very quick. 2. once your in the Navy (leading an active lifestyle) you will keep the weight off.
I have been on the diet for 4 days and so far only one lb. It does work but I don’t see how people are loosing 10-17 lbs in a week. I have did everrything without cheating. I even walk 3-5 miles a day but I will finish out the rest of the week and see what happens. What am I doing so wrong.
I lost a total of 8lbs.
I call this the miracle diet. I lost 17 pounds on this plan. I have a lowgrade hunger all day but I lose about 1 pound a day for is. I got really sick of the soup. ;love the chicken one. I use hot sauce in the original one to spice it up. I swear by this. It is a no brainer, few choices every day is new and diferent. You can do it. Set your mind up to think you had the bypass surgery and this is your food until your surgery heals.
I do agree that it does make you look at the food choices you make. I lost 7lbs through the week and am now hopefully going to have a different relationship with food. I’ve now got a bag stocked with fruit. I thought I’d miss bread a lot but it was only one evening when I got home late and the pure ease of having a sambo made me think doh, 10 mins later I was sitting eating a stirfry of veggies and was grand. Really thought I’d have a bigger issue with bread. It’s gas how quick your brain turns though, lunchtime has come and I’m thinking of what to be getting, of course pure habit makes you think of a sambo but I’m having soup instead.
I don’t know how anyone can say this diet is a fraud, it’s no worse than any other I’ve seen. Cookie diets, coffee diets, sauerkrat diet, BLAH!
I’ve just completed it, but since I don’t have a scale to weigh myself I can’t tell you how much weight I’ve lost. I do know I’m wearing jeans that I haven’t been able to get into for months.
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