Anyone who wants an explanation of the cabbage soup diet can have one – BALONEY. There’s no need to know anything more about this ridiculous diet. 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. The diet went under many names, often using a part of the name of a well respected institution such as the Russian peasant diet, or the St. Jude’s diet. But in reality the diet had nothing to do with many of these namesakes.