Critics are divided over the diet - its longterm benefits have yet to be proven (and in my view are highly dubious). However, if you need to lose weight fast to get into that special dress or bikini etc, it's great. I lost 10 pound in one week. But the problem with the cabbage soup diet is that it can be dull. This book gives lots of recipes showing you how to make interesting and tasty meals within the confines of the diet. It makes the week less of a chore. I am even using some of the recipes now that the diet has finished. The only problem was occasional vagueness on preparation methods - commonsense can prevail though.