I wouldn’t touch these with a barge pole!

[TheJazzSinger]

Zoe Harcombe has put a table up on Twitter showing what’s in the (NHS Low Calorie) shakes and soups and it makes for worrying reading. They are ultra-processed and full of all sorts of additives. There are much healthier ways to lose weight.

[Lytham 3 stone]

Hi, would you like to join us on the weigh in today? Here's the link, hope to see you there x

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[AnnieW55 Visitor]

Oh yum!🥴.

I wouldn’t touch these with your barge pole 😂

[slipstick Maintainer 2st 7lbs]

Oh I don't know they seem to contain all sorts of nice pure chemicals, none of those messy "real foods" where you never know exactly what's in them ;).

But are we sure these are the NHS plan foods? It's interesting that on a couple of pages there's a comment about drinking plenty "when following any Cambridge Weight Plan programme".

[Lytham 3 stone in reply to slipstick]

Oh my, do you think Cambridge has just supplied the NHS? I've done Cambridge, it's minging x

[slipstick Maintainer 2st 7lbs in reply to Lytham]

It's either that or someone has posted some Cambridge "soups and shakes" ingredient lists reckoning that they must all be the same. The original DiRECT meals were supplied by a company called Counterweight though who they are I don't really know. Fortunately I'm too old and been T2 for too long to be offered it!

[Lytham 3 stone in reply to slipstick]

Oooh, watch this space? X

[IndigoBlue61]

I’ve edited your post so everyone knows which shakes & soups you’re referring too. Here’s a link to the article that Zoe Harcombe re-tweeted twitter.com/samfeltham/stat...

[Pebbles77 Visitor in reply to IndigoBlue61]

That's grim! Reading that has upset my dinner

[Paddedpeggy in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Yuck!

[Kacey12 Healthy BMI]

Apart from all the chemicals, they are quite high sugar too !?!

[Eryl Visitor]

They still haven't got the fact that calorie restriction doesn't work. It leaves people hungry, so they don't stick to the diet.

[Gizmocat Moderator 13kg Maintainer]

Also when people stop them and start eating "normal" food the weight will just go back on. Most people's idea of normal food is junk. Why is the NHS not promoting healthy eating and low carbs? To reverse T2 people need to understand it is caused by the high carbs found in junk food.

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Gizmocat]

I think things are changing slowly. They no longer suggest ALL fat is bad, and suggest about 70g a day of healthy fat. They’ve been suggesting sugar and refined carbs aren’t good for a while. It takes time to change a huge machine like the NHS. 😊

“A small amount of fat is an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet. Fat is a source of essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make itself.”

(Direct quote from NHS Website)

[wysemonkey]

I've always thought that these sorts of shakes and bars are dreadful processed junk but I came to more of an understanding after seeing someone on TV years ago who had followed the "Newcastle" plan as it was then called in the original research and lost a huge amount of weight.

What struck me about him was that he had been able to follow a plan that was really simple and allowed him to have minimal contact with any food prep or shopping, and this was very helpful to him. It seemed to me a bit like the sort of abstinence plans that people use for addiction.