According to the National Health Service (NHS), UK, a radical new liquid diet will be available soon to put patients with type 2 diabetes into remission.
Officials said nearly five thousand obese patients would be on the new liquid diet, which includes soups and shakes, to restrict their calorie intake. The program is expected to start in April 2020.
Currently, the NHS issues guidelines on how to eat healthier and exercise but this is probably the first diet of its kind to be examined on the healthcare system.
According to a study conducted by the researchers of the Newcastle University’s Institute of Translational and Clinical Research, nine out of 10 patients with type 2 diabetes who were on the calorie-restriction liquid diet for a year were found to be in remission.
Lead study Prof. Roy Taylor of Newcastle University said, “Through diet and persistence patients are able to lose the fat and potentially reverse their diabetes. The sooner this is done after diagnosis, the more likely it is remission can be achieved.”
The study also found that a quarter of participants who went on the liquid diet for a year lost a significant amount of weight.
The Daily Express said if the liquid diet is found successful, it could play a key role in treating type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition that costs the NHS more than £14 billion a year.
In the UK, more than 4 million suffer from type 2 diabetes so the calorie-restricted liquid diet program is undergoing trials to reduce the number of patients with the condition. Uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes could lead to complications such as heart disease, kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness, and gangrene.
