The Watercress Soup Diet: week one
The first thing you need to know is how to make watercress soup!
Here is the soup recipe, exactly what you are allowed to eat on the first seven days of the diet and the lists of fruits and vegetables you can choose from.
Click on the links below for our picture galleries of the fruits and vegetables you can eat on the diet. Click on the links at the bottom of the page for recipes you can make with the foods you are allowed each day this week, tips on how to stick to the diet and for recipes for following weeks.
HOW TO MAKE WATERCRESS SOUP
Ingredients
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 ½ pints of light chicken stock or water
2 small potatoes, diced
3 large bunches of watercress, stems removed
salt and pepper
Method
Sweat the onion in two or three tablespoons of chicken stock or water. Add the potatoes together with the seasoning and the crock. Bring to the boil and simmer until
the potatoes are soft. Add the watercress, and stir for three minutes. Remove from the heat and blend in a liquidiser.
At this point, put the soup in a metal bowl and place it in a sink full of ice-cold water. This will keep the lovely green colour of the soup and make it even more appetising. The soup is delicious drink cold, but you can also heat it up if you wish to have it nice and hot.
WHAT TO EAT FOR THE FIRST WEEK
Day one
Unlimited watercress soup
Fruit from the Watercress Soup Diet Fruit List
250ml skimmed milk or fat-free yoghurt
Day two
Unlimited watercress soup
Vegetables from the Watercress Soup Diet Vegetable List
1 jacket potato
250ml skimmed milk or fat-free yoghurt
Day three
Unlimited watercress soup
Fruit from the Watercress Soup Diet Fruit List
Vegetables from the Watercress Soup Diet Vegetable List
250ml skimmed milk or fat-free yoghurt
Day four
Unlimited watercress soup
Five bananas
8 x 250ml servings of skimmed milk (you may, if you wish, replace one - but only one - of these servings of milk with a 250ml serving of fat-free yoghurt)
Day five
Unlimited watercress soup
As much white fish as you need to satisfy your hunger without overeating
As much skinless, lean chicken as you need to satisfy your hunger without overeating
Up to 6 fresh tomatoes, or 1 tin or tomatoes
250ml skimmed milk or fat-free yoghurt
Day six
Unlimited watercress soup
As much white fish as you need to satisfy your hunger without overeating
As much skinless, lean chicken as you need to satisfy your hunger without overeating
Vegetables from the Watercress Soup Diet Vegetable List, including tomatoes
250ml skimmed milk or fat-free yoghurt
Day seven
Unlimited watercress soup
Fruit from the Watercress Soup Diet Fruit List
Vegetables from the Watercress Soup Diet Vegetable List
250ml skimmed milk or fat-free yoghurt
THE WATERCRESS SOUP DIET VEGETABLE LIST
Artichokes, asparagus, aubergine, beans, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, courgettes, cucumber, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, parsley, peppers, radishes, spinach, turnip, watercress.
THE WATERCRESS SOUP DIET FRUIT LIST
Apples, apricots, berries, blueberries, cherries, grapefruit, grapes, kiwi, lemons, melons, nectarines, oranges, peaches, pineapple, plums, raspberries, strawberries, tangerines.
The basics of the Watercress Soup Diet
The Watercress Soup Diet is not difficult, but you must follow it accurately to get results.
During the first week of the diet you can eat as much watercress soup as you want, at any time of the day, on any day of the week. Whenever you feel yourself getting hungry between meals, have a quick bowl of the soup and your hunger pangs will soon disappear.
But there is much more to the diet than just watercress soup. On most days, you are allowed to eat as much as you want of certain foods. Chicken is on the menu, as is fish, and loads of fruit and vegetables.
Click on the links on the right to see the fruit and vegetables you can eat on the diet.
Many people who follow the diet actually find that it gets them to change their eating habits almost immediately - the food really does taste that good.
After the first week you will slowly increase you calorie intake by choosing from a selection of delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes for two weeks. You will find plenty of recipes for these two weeks at the bottom of this page.
Once you have completed the first three weeks of the diet it's essential not to fall back
into your old eating habits - or you will simply undo all your hard work.
You should try to eat a varied diet and if necessary fill up with red and green vegetables and fruit. You should try to eat less cheese and red meat and use less fat in cooking and spreading. It's fine to eat pasta and potatoes, but you should try to cut down on the amount you eat and consider the fat content of the sauces you eat with them.
To continue on the watercress soup diet you should try to eat no more than 1,500 calories a day. If you stick carefully to this sort of calorie intake you will be amazed at the difference in your body. Feel free to use some of the recipes you have already eaten throughout the diet.
Remember, if you want to shed more weight more quickly you can always return to the Watercress Soup Diet for another week - but you must always leave four weeks between each time you use it. Click on the link below to find out how to start the diet.
The Watercress Soup diet: weeks two and three
After the first intensive week on the diet you need to increase your calories quite slowly for the first two weeks, and then gradually move on to a more realistic diet.
So for the two weeks following the Watercress Soup Diet choose from the following ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You can also drink 150ml of skimmed milk and 150ml of very low fat yoghurt a day. All the recipes serve one person.
BREAKFASTS FOR WEEKS TWO AND THREE
Choice one
Half a honeydew melon, one large glass of unsweetened fruit juice, one
thin slice of wholemeal bread thinly spread with low fat spread and topped with Marmite or 15g honey.
Choice two
Fruit salad composed of half a mango, one kiwi fruit, one peach or nectarine and a small orange. Drizzle with 2 tbsp unsweetened orange juice and top with 1 tbsp natural Greek yoghurt.
Choice three
One small poached egg served on one thin slice of wholemeal bread, one large glass of unsweetened fruit juice.
Choice four
One thin slice of wholemeal bread with low fat spread, one small bunch of grapes.
Choice five
25g unsweetened muesli topped with one chopped apple and skimmed or semi-skimmed milk taken from your allowance.
Choice six
150ml low fat fruit yoghurt, one large glass of unsweetened fruit juice.
Choice seven
Two thin rashers very thinly cut bacon, grilled; 2 grilled cherry tomatoes; 2 grilled mushrooms; 1 thin slice of wholemeal bread; 1 large glass of unsweetened fruit juice.
LUNCHES FOR WEEKS TWO AND THREE
Choice one
Two Ryvitas or low calorie crispbreads topped with cottage cheese and garnished with raw peppers, celery, tomatoes and/or radish. Serve with a generous portion of watercress dressed with lemon juice or low calorie dressing. One orange.
Choice two
Bowl of watercress soup with one thin slice of wholemeal bread. One kiwi fruit
Choice three
Mediterranean salad composed of crisp lettuce, watercress, tomato, cucumber and raw pepper slices, about 30g blanched green
beans, one small hard-boiled egg and a very small portion of tuna canned in brine (drained). Drizzle with one tsp of fat-free dressing or lemon juice; one small very low fat yoghurt.
Choice four
Wholemeal sandwich (no more than 50g of bread) with low-fat spread and filled with thinly sliced chicken or turkey (no skin) and topped with sliced cucumber.
Choice five
One thin slice of wholemeal bread, toasted and spread with low fat spread and topped with one small poached egg; watercress and tomato salad; 90g black grapes.
Choice six
One medium jacket potato, cooked and the flesh mixed with one small carton of cottage cheese and sprinkled with chopped chives. Serve with a watercress salad, dressed with a low-calore dressing or lemon juice; two fresh apricots (or canned in their own juice).
Daily bunch of watercress 'can cut cancer risk'
Last updated at 21:10 15 February 2007
A bowl of watercress every day cut the damage to blood cells by a fifth.
Eating watercress every day could help protect against cancer, say researchers.
The vegetable reduces damage to DNA in cells, according to a British trial.
• The breast cancer breakthrough saving 1,000 women a year
Some nutritionists claim higher intakes of 'superfoods' - including cruciferous vegetables such as watercress and broccoli - can improve the body's defences against cancer.
But specialists in the disease have sounded a note of caution, warning that consumers are being misled into thinking that superfoods will prevent them contracting cancer, rather than reducing the risk.
Blood tests were taken at the start and end of the trial, which was carried out by researchers from the University of Ulster.
The tests showed a 23 per cent reduction in DNA damage to white blood cells - which is regarded as a marker for susceptibility to cancer - among the watercress eaters.
When the same cells were exposed to damaging free radicals, scientists observed a 10 per cent cut in damage compared with cells of those eating a normal diet. They also found a rise of up to 100 per cent in levels of anti-oxidants, chemicals which help cells to defend themselves against damage.
The research, which was funded by British watercress suppliers, found smokers gained most from a watercress-rich diet - probably because the habit depletes anti-oxidants.
Professor Ian Rowland, who led the study, said the results were 'highly significant' because they were found in a real life situation.
Most previous research in the area has been conducted in test tubes or in animals, using chemicals derived from cruciferous vegetables.
He said benefits were slightly reduced for those eating cooked watercress - such as actress Elizabeth Hurley, who has been known to drink seven cups of watercress soup a day.
But Karol Sikora, professor of cancer medicine at Imperial College London, said the findings of the study were 'grossly overstated'.
He added: 'We know that fruits and vegetables all do affect DNA damage, hence the five-a- day strategy to prevent cancer.
'There is absolutely nothing special about watercress. I don't think people will seriously convert to eating 85g of the stuff each day. That's an awful lot of cress!
You might even turn green. Much better to look holistically at your diet and ensure that there's plenty of fruit and vegetables, fibre and as little fat as possible.'
Dr Anthea Martin, of Cancer Research UK, said: 'While the results of this study are interestingit involved a relatively small number of people.
'Larger studies are needed to determine whether the effects of watercress on cells seen by the researchers translate into a decreased risk of developing cancer.'
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