Type 2 diabetes recedes in UK patients who consumed strict diet

A third of people placed on a diet offered by the UK National Health Service (NHS) have achieved type 2 diabetes remission.

A remission is the temporary reduction in the severity of a disease or pain.

WHAT IS TYPE 2 DIABETES? 

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the level of blood sugar or glucose becomes too high.

It usually occurs when the body cannot correctly use a hormone called insulin, which regulates the amount of glucose in the blood stream.

It is different from type 1 diabetes which is an autoimmune disease that has nothing to do with being overweight.

WHAT IS THE NHS DIET ABOUT? 

The diet involves 12 weeks of low-calorie, nutritionally complete, total diet replacement products.

“Sticking to it may be challenging though, results suggest. Dieters must endure a few months of consuming only shakes, soups and meal-replacement bars, before healthy solid foods can be gradually reintroduced,” the BBC reports.

Participants also received counselling sessions in-person or online, as well as support from their general practitioner (GP).

More than 1,700 NHS patients were put on the strict regime between September 2020 and 2022.

The findings were published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal on Monday.

Thirty-two percent of the 945 people who completed the programme were found to have achieved remission a year later, with an average weight loss of almost 16kg.

The shake and soup diet programme was fully funded by the NHS.

WHAT ARE SOME BENEFICIARIES SAYING? 

Clare Hambling, NHS national clinical director for diabetes and obesity, said 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.

She added that seeing “such encouraging outcomes” shows that obesity can be tackled head-on.

Marie Laing, one of the participants from Frome in Somerset, told BBC News that she lost a lot of weight due to the NHS diet.

“The GP suggested I try this after I’d tried other things myself and hadn’t succeeded, and I’m really grateful,” she said.

“This remission programme isn’t a diet — it’s a lifestyle change. Learning about your body, how food impacts you, why you crave food, how you should exercise… and it isn’t stopping you having anything.

“It’s improved my exercise and being able to be with my children and family, and being out and about and doing things that I love.

“It’s not easy, but it is well worth it to be able to have your life back.”

The programme is being offered to people around the UK.

People are eligible if they are between 18 and 65; have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes within the last six years; and have a body mass index (BMI) over 27 kg/m2 (if from white ethnic groups) or over 25 kg/m2 (if from black, Asian and other ethnic groups).