28 Dec 2011 - Research

I decided to look into this Newcastle study a bit more by searching on Google for information. I found 4 articles of interest (links provided to all items below).

The first was a press release put out by the university in June 2011 entitled 'Diet reverses Type 2 Diabetes'.  There were related news items on the SKY and BBC websites.  The press release confirmed the results however it was a small study and the conclusion was that more research is needed.

The second item was some more information about the low calorie diet programme.  Basically the three meal replacements provide 600 calories per day which is supplemented by 3 portions of non-starchy vegetables and recipe ideas are given to make the vegetable dishes appetising. 

The third article was an FAQ put together by Prof Taylor as a result of the interest generated particularly by diabetics.

The final article was a document for doctors providing detailed information about the programme and how to monitor their patients if they were going to use it.

Whilst the research motivated to take some action it also made it clear that the patient needs to be medically monitored throughout the programme if they are currently on medication.  For instance if they have been prescribed a diuretic pill (a medication to increase urination) as part of high blood pressure control, this might need to be reduced or stopped as the diet requires the patient to increase their water intake.  Similarly, the diabetes medication needs to be constantly monitored because there is a possibility of  getting a hypo from too lower a sugar level.  Also, iron levels can fall too low on this diet so that the doctor might advise taking a vitamin supplement.

Also, the Optifast Reference Guide from makers Nestle, states that the product has been developed specifically for medically supervised weight loss but it also implied that Optifast was available in the UK.

So my conclusion was that this was something I wanted to do but I needed to talk with my doctor first.  I phoned for an appointment and was surprised to be offered an appointment the next day.

I also went to see my local pharmacist and took along the ordering information I gleaned from the Optifast reference guide.  He told me that he could order it for me but it was very expensive, for instance a pack of 6 soups sachets would cost about £30.  He said that I didn't need a prescription to get it but if I did have a prescription then this would make the programme not so costly (this turned out not to be correct).

So another good reason to see the doctor tomorrow.