The NHS ‘soups and shakes’ weight loss diet reverses type 2 diabetes in a third of patients, groundbreaking data shows.
The intense liquid diet causes rapid weight loss and patients who completed it lost a stone and a half on average.
One in three – 32 percent – lost even more flab and went into remission from type 2 diabetes.
Cases of the disease are rising, with around five million Britons diagnosed, and health bosses want more investment in pioneering diets.
Most patients develop diabetes from becoming too fat, which puts them at additional risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer and dementia.
It can be difficult to control and most patients take long-term medications and never reverse the condition.
We hope to see more people benefiting in the coming years
Dr Elizabeth Robertson
NHS obesity director Dr Clare Hambling said: “It’s brilliant that these findings show that a large number of those who completed the diet gained life-changing benefits.
“Obesity is one of the biggest health threats in the UK.
“Seeing such encouraging results from our program shows that it can be tackled head on.”
The crash diet of soups and shakes eliminates solid foods and limits people to 900 calories for the first three months to keep weight under control before reintroducing healthy eating.
So far, it has been offered to 25,000 people and the new study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, tracked the health of 7,540 between 2020 and 2022.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, from the charity Diabetes UK, said: “These latest findings add to real-world evidence that the NHS England program can help thousands of people.
“We hope to see even more people benefiting in the coming years and an increase in referrals.”
Patients are eligible for the diet if they are between the ages of 18 and 65, have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the last six years, and are overweight with a body mass index greater than 27.
How to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes
According to Diabetes UK, there are some dietary adjustments you can make to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes:
- Choose drinks without added sugar – avoid sugar in tea and coffee and stay away from carbonated and energy drinks
- Eat whole grains, such as brown rice, whole-grain pasta, whole-grain flour, whole-grain bread, and oats, instead of refined carbohydrates
- Reduce your consumption of red and processed meats such as bacon, ham, sausages, pork, beef and lamb
- Eat lots of fruit and vegetables – apples, grapes, berries and green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, watercress and arugula have been linked to reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes
- Eat unsweetened yogurt and cheese
- Reduce your alcohol consumption – and go a few days a week without drinking at all
- Eat healthy snacks such as unsweetened yogurt, unsalted nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables
- Eat healthy fats included in nuts, seeds, avocado and olive oil
- Reduce salt
- Get vitamins and minerals from food instead of pills
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