Tens of thousands more people in England living with type 2 diabetes could be offered an 800-calorie-a-day “soup and shake” diet after research found almost one in three on the groundbreaking NHS scheme permanently wiped out their disease.
Patients are given low-calorie meal replacement products such as soups, milkshakes and snack bars for three months, triggering rapid weight loss, before getting support to reintroduce normal food into their diet.
Currently, 10,000 people a year can access the scheme but “brilliant” results showing “life-changing benefits” among participants have prompted NHS leaders to consider expanding the programme.
Some who took up the diet lost as much as 17.4kg (38lbs). Almost a third put their type 2 diabetes in remission, according to a paper published in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal.
The year-long programme helps people kickstart their weight loss journey with the low-calorie “meal replacement” diet for the first 12 weeks. Participants are then encouraged to reintroduce healthy food and receive tailored support to maintain their weight loss.
NHS England said that the paper showed its type 2 diabetes path to remission programme could benefit thousands more people with the condition.
The study examined data on 1,740 people who started the diet before January 2022. Of these, 945 completed a full year of the programme – defined as having their weight recorded after 12 months – and twice provided blood samples.
Among this group, 32% had put their condition into remission – defined by average blood glucose levels over a period of time – with an average weight loss of 15.9kg (35lbs). Some achieved weight loss of up to 17.4kg (38lbs).
Dr Clare Hambling, NHS England’s national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, said the health service’s type 2 diabetes path to remission programme was having a “huge impact” on the lives of participants.
“It’s brilliant that these findings show a large number of those who completed it [the programme] have seen life-changing benefits including major weight loss and type 2 diabetes remission.
“We know obesity is one of the biggest threats to health in the UK and will be one of the biggest and most costly challenges for health systems globally, so seeing such encouraging outcomes from our programme shows that obesity can be tackled head-on, and we’re looking forward to scoping any further expansion to this programme in due course.”
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, the director of research at Diabetes UK, said the charity was proud to have funded research over more than a decade that had “forged new frontiers” for people with type 2 diabetes and “put remission on the map”.
“These latest findings add to the real world evidence that the NHS England type 2 diabetes path to remission programme can help thousands of people living with type 2 diabetes on their weight loss and remission journey, which we know is tough and having support is critical.
“We hope to see even more people benefiting in years to come and an increase in referrals to the programme especially for people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and in younger people where the impact of type 2 diabetes and remission from it is greatest.”
More than 25,000 people have taken part in the scheme since it was launched in 2020. In May this year, NHS officials said the diet would be offered across England to 50,000 people across five years, doubling the capacity of the programme. Officials have put £13m into the scheme this year to ensure more people could benefit.
Adults aged 18 to 65 can enrol if they have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the last six years and if they have a body mass index score of over 27 if they are white or over 25 if they are from black, Asian or other minority ethnic groups. Referrals are made by GP practices.
