Thousands of type 2 diabetes patients across England are set to benefit as the NHS gears up to expand its ‘soups and shakes’ diet across the country over the next year.
Originally piloted by the health service in 2020 as part of its Long Term Plan, the programme supports weight loss with low calorie diet products – like soups and shakes – for three months.
Expert clinicians will then work with patients to carefully reintroduce healthy foods and monitor their progress as the programme goes on.
Data on the programme shows participants lost an average of 13kg after three months and, by the end of the one-year scheme, people had cut their weight by 11kg on average.
NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Diabetes and Obesity, Professor Jonathan Valabhji, said he is “delighted” that thousands more with type 2 diabetes will now be able to benefit from the programme following its expansion.
The moves comes after findings from the Diabetes UK-funded DiRECT trial, which revealed that losing weight can help some people put their type 2 diabetes into remission for at least five years.
Diabetes UK’s Chief Executive, Chris Askew OBE, said he and his organisation were “thrilled” at the news and paid homage to the aforementioned DiRECT study that lay the foundations for the expansion.
He said: “Today’s important announcement is the result of over a decade of research funded by Diabetes UK, and we are proud that our ground-breaking DiRECT trial – which recently reported its five-year findings – has been central to making this possible. The expansion of this programme will offer even more people with type 2 diabetes a better chance of a healthier future.”
