Soups & Shakes for T2D

Introduction

I spotted a story in the news and it generated quite a few emails, so I stopped the note I was working on and turned to this one. On Tuesday 6th August 2024, UK media reported an update on ongoing research about using soup and shake meal replacements to put type 2 diabetes (T2D) into remission. The UK Independent newspaper headline was “NHS ‘900 calorie a day’ soups and shake diet can beat type 2 diabetes, study claims” (Ref 1). The BBC headline also used the word ‘beat’: “NHS soup and shake diet can beat type 2 diabetes” (Ref 2). Interestingly, there is an eating disorders charity in the UK called BEAT and the Independent article was amended to include BEAT’s concerns about people with eating disorders being put on a diet.

The article behind these headlines was called “Early findings from the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme: a prospective evaluation of real-world implementation.” It was by Jonathan Valabhji et al (Ref 3). It was a relatively easy paper to produce. It examined the two-year follow-up data for participants in what has become known (in the UK at least) as the soups and shakes programme for type 2 diabetes.