NHS TDR programme further expanded following successful pilots
Posted On: 4th June 2024
The English National Health Service (NHS) has announced further expansion of its soups and shakes diet programme which uses total diet replacement (TDR) to help people with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) lose weight and improve their health. Following the success of the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme pilots, the soups and shakes diet programme is now being rolled out nationally to benefit patients across the whole of England, doubling its capacity this year.
According to NHS, over 20,000 people living with T2DM and excess weight or obesity have already been offered the programme since it was first piloted in 2020. With the expansion, over 10,000 more people will now benefit from the TDR diet programme, which will be receiving an additional funding of £13 million.
The expansion follows ground-breaking research demonstrating that the soups and shakes diet programme provided value for money and can work successfully to improve people’s diabetes control and weight loss.
Explaining the results of the Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme, in a webinar hosted by TDMR Europe on 22nd May, Professor Mike Lean showed that in December 2022, 27% of 710 participants finished the programme with mean weight loss 14.8kg and diabetes remission. As Prof Lean explained, for those who lost more weight (>15kg) achieved remission in 55% of people.
The NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme was based on two large studies (DiRECT and DROPLET) which showed that, as a result of going on a specially designed programme including a TDR diet, people living with T2DM and obesity or overweight could improve their diabetes control, reduce diabetes-related medication and, in some cases, put their T2DM into remission.
With obesity and T2DM being among Europe’s main public health challenges, policy makers across the continent need to take note of the success of the NHS soups and shakes diet programme and consider TDRs as a powerful tool to tackle these critical challenges.
On 22nd May, TDMR Europe hosted an online seminar on “Diabetes remission after weight loss with Total Diet Replacement (TDR): 5-year evidence and feasibility of use in osteoarthritis”. The online seminar featured a presentation from Professor Mike Lean, co-director of the DiRECT trial, who explained the results of the research. Professor Henning Bliddal, Director of the Parker Institute joined the event to present the benefits of weight loss with TDR in osteoarthritis. You can find out more and watch the webinar here. More insights following this event will soon be available here.
Find out more about the latest research on the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission Programme here.
More information on the DiRECT trial is available here.
You can find out more about the DROPLET study here.
Here you can find a list of references to studies on TDRs.
Aris Myriskos
TDMR Europe Secretariat
Press and Media Relations Office