Diabetes: This NHS diet has helped thousands of overweight people shed pounds

NHS has been trialling a new weight loss programme called the ‘soup and shake diet’ to help diabetes patients to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Soup and shake diet

The initiative was launched in September 2020 in an attempt to aid overweight people who have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes to lose a few pounds and also ‘put their condition into remission.’ The programme was trialled on over 2,000 patients and the health authority has finally released the outcome of the pilot. They said in a press release:

Over 2,000 people with Type 2 diabetes have now improved their health through the NHS soups and shakes diet programme – with participants losing an average of 13kg (over two stone) in three months.

Their study found that those consuming low calorie alternatives were able to shed over one stone on average after one month of being on the diet, and over two stones after three months. Furthermore, the study showed that the participants did not regain that weight in the following months.

Given the positive results, they’ve decided to make the year-long programme accessible to people in 11 more regions in the UK.

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How does the diet work?

According to information published by the Diabetes UK, those who are participating in the programme will be put on a low-calorie diet consisting of foods like soups and shakes for a total of three months. Consequently, the programme will enable them to regain healthy food habits while maintaining the weight that they lost in the first three months. Diabetes UK added:

They are invited to have virtual meetings with expert clinicians and take part in group sessions with other people with type 2 diabetes.

Alongside making changes to their diet, people taking part in the programme are also supported to increase their exercise levels.

Those between the ages of 18 and 65 will be eligible to participate if they have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the past six years.