Is Drinking Calories Really Better? The Science Behind the Soup and Shake Diet

circleWhen considering liquids and meal replacements dietIt's easy to think of diets like the Lemonade Diet (made popular by Beyoncé in the early 2000s, which involves consuming a mixture of lemons, water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper for 10 days) or the Cabbage Diet. soup Plant-based meal replacement brand Huel was recently announced to be valued at $560m (£439m).

However, in recent years, liquid-only diets have also become ScienceProven Methods for Treating Type 2 Diabetes Diabetes.

A study published this week in the journal Neurology found that a short-term 900-calorie-a-day diet of shakes, soups, and meal replacement bars can reverse type 2 diabetes. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology The journal found that a third of patients lost 2.5 stone in weight and went into diabetes remission.

Emma Pike, deputy director of care at Diabetes UK, said the scheme, which is available on the NHS, “gives people the support they need to lose weight and put their type 2 diabetes into remission by providing them with complete meal replacements such as low-calorie soups and shakes for three months, preceded by a management plan to reintroduce a healthy, balanced diet.”

4.4 million people in the UK have diabetes, around 90% have type 2 diabetes, which is mainly caused by diet and lifestyle, and 8% have type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease often diagnosed in childhood with an unknown exact cause.

Meanwhile, an additional 1.2 million people are thought to have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, which if left untreated can damage organs and lead to heart attacks, strokes, eye disease and even amputations.

“This is very exciting research,” said John Doe, professor of medicine and metabolism at Newcastle University and author of ” A simple guide to reversing type 2 diabetes.

“Type 2 diabetes has always been a life sentence for patients and they took the diagnosis as very bad news. They were told it was a chronic disease that would get worse and worse and they would have to take insulin for years. There seemed to be no way out, so scientists had to understand the causes and find a way forward,” he said.

This latest research follows one carried out last year by Professor Taylor and Professor Mike Lean from the University of Glasgow, which found that patients who followed a low-calorie 'soups and shakes' diet for three months went into 'remission' of diabetes.

At the time, Professor Taylor explained why he avoided using the word “cure”, saying: “It is not a cure. It is remission and if the patient regains the weight they have lost, the diabetes will return.”

Type 2 diabetes aside, in 2018 researchers from Oxford University found that obese adults who consumed around 800 calories a day of weight-loss soups, shakes, bars and fibre supplements lost more than a stone in weight than their regular dieters.

But Prof Taylor says consuming calories through drinks doesn't necessarily lead to weight loss – rather, it “takes the burden off of daily decisions about what and how much to eat. Liquid meal replacements also make it easier to consume high-protein foods that still contain all the minerals and vitamins we need.”

So if you're reading this and wondering whether you should give it a try, what do you do? “Meal replacement shakes, soups and bars should only be used by people who really need them,” says nutritionist Helen Bond.

“For example, people with type 2 diabetes and people who are obese or severely obese,” she continues. [BMI higher than 30 or 40 respectively]Not suitable for those under the age of 18, pregnant or breastfeeding women or those suffering from an eating disorder.”

Bond says that “nutritionally complete” Huel is a bit different. It touts itself as healthier and more convenient than a sandwich, and is made primarily from oat, flaxseed and pea protein. “Huel is not just about weight loss – I think it also plays a role in helping people eat healthier,” she says. “However, it has recently been criticized for having a UPF that is too high. [ultra processed food]Although convenient, I would argue that it lacks the social enjoyment of a regular meal.”

Juice cleanses and detoxes, on the other hand, are just temporary fixes and are not sustainable, Bond says: “They claim to help cleanse and detoxify the body, but our livers and kidneys can do this perfectly well without any help.”

The conclusion? “People who try meal replacements often find it very difficult to get enough essential nutrients, such as calcium and iron. Ultimately, liquid diets are only recommended in a medical setting, and only when absolutely necessary.”