I tried an NHS-style ‘soup and shake’ diet – but is it still relevant in 2026?

Powdered porridge, mint chocolate milkshake, dehydrated Thai green curry, and 200-calorie lemon bars.

For a month, these were what I reached for in place of crisps, sandwiches or salmon salad. 

Mostly in sachets, they looked like something an astronaut might tuck into on the International Space Station, but this type of diet is what thousands of patients have been prescribed on the NHS, as a new way of managing – or even reversing – Type 2 Diabetes. 

‘Total meal replacement’ (aka sipping from your flask of liquid Soylent Green), might sound like a miserable way of existing but as I found out, it can be a practical alternative if you struggle with food control – especially if, like me, you don’t want to resort to injections like Mounjaro or Ozempic, which you might have to take for life, at great expense.

What is the ‘Soup and Shake’ diet?

The nutrition plan became famous when studies showed that 12 weeks of totally replacing normal food with specially formulated ‘products’, followed by gradually reintroducing normal food, could potentially reverse Type 2 diabetes due to the dramatic weight loss.

And just like the jabs – it’s been adopted outside the diabetes community, by people who simply want to lose weight.

Of course, meal replacement products for dieting are not a new concept, with SlimFast and the Cambridge Weight Plan being around for decades, but they have gained more attention since the NHS adopted them in 2020. Record numbers of patients are now prescribed such products by the health service, with over 13,000 enrolled in 2024-5.

Writing about it for Metro, I was sceptical of how easy ‘total meal replacement’ would be to follow, saying you’d probably get fed up after a week or two.

But, I’ll admit, the notion stayed with me. With a young child and a busy job, I don’t have time to follow a traditional diet plan (I’ve tried). The extra shopping and food prep always had me reaching for a bag of tortilla chips for an easy snack, and even if I had time, measuring out grams of cereal and squares of cheese is depressing and anxiety-inducing.  

As I don’t have Type 2 diabetes, it meant that I wouldn’t qualify for a prescription, so instead I used products from the 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan (formerly known as the Cambridge Diet), which provided products for the clinical studies the NHS programme was based on.

With enough of the long-life meals to feed me for a month, I opted for Step 2 of the diet plan, which allows for one ‘real’ 200-calorie dinner as part of an 800 calorie total daily allowance.

Joining me was my husband too, as he was keen to give it a go after slowly beginning to replace all of his shirts with bigger sizes.

Is the ‘Soup and Shake’ diet healthy?

Nichola Ludlam-Raine, a nutritionist who worked in the NHS for over 13 years, says the soup and shake plan is fine if it’s used for a limited time as a reset.

She has seen diabetes patients go into remission with meal replacement products, and still uses them now with patients preparing for or recovering from bariatric surgery.

‘It gives fast, predictable weight loss, which quickly improves blood glucose,’ she told Metro.

‘So it helps with motivation and then they are more likely to continue making other lifestyle related changes, such as feeling more confident to go back to the gym.’

Nichola also explained that having ready-made meals can help people stick to a calorie deficit, because they don’t have the ‘decision fatigue’ of working out what to cook – which was certainly true for me.

I didn’t have to think about what was for lunch; it was just whatever long-life sachet I fancied mixing up, and knowing I was only doing it for a month helped keep me motivated, as I knew it wasn’t forever.

Was it worth it?

After a month, we had both lost over a stone, 8kg. But I felt run down and came down with a cold that was so hard to shake that I needed antibiotics.

Nichola assures me this wouldn’t have only been down to the sudden change in diet, but does say that she would have suggested a higher calorie intake from the off.

Another issue I had was the ingredients. Yes, the products were surprisingly tasty and filling, but part of me still felt iffy, having written about ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) and their negative effects on health, including from ingredients like emulsifiers which may affect the gut lining.

With so little fibre in this diet, digestive issues are common; you can even buy a branded ‘Cambridge Fibre’ supplement to sprinkle on the products and help your bowels move things along. 

The extensive list of industrial ingredients also troubled me: it seemed apt that the meals are referred to as ‘products’ rather than food.

They are designed to include all the vitamins and minerals you need, as well as the right macronutrients to keep you feeling full with minimal calories.

If you have the time and knowledge to prepare and eat the same nutrients in whole foods, while still being in a calorie deficit, it would no doubt be better for you. The problem is that I don’t, and I don’t think most people do.

Nichola, who has written a book called How Not to Eat Ultra-Processed, said she would put meal replacements in the same category as foods formulated to be gluten free. They may technically be UPFs, but are engineered to be beneficial to health rather than hyper-palatable.

‘The NHS wouldn’t do it unless it worked,’ she added. ‘It’s a case of risks versus benefits, so if someone is newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, that left to itself can cause a whole host of issues, from eye damage to nerve damage.

‘If we know that they can go on this 12-week programme, lose a dramatic amount of weight, and then we build back in the fibre, their gut microbiome – if it has suffered in any way – will bounce back and they will be healthier.’

Who is the ‘Soup and Shake’ diet suited for?

Very restrictive diets are best done under medical supervision for people with a specific clinical goal, like managing diabetes, or trying to get under a specific BMI for an operation or IVF, says Nichola.

Meal replacement products can be used alongside weight loss drugs such as Mounjaro, or can be a cheaper option than the drugs if used as a replacement, though of course they still come at a cost. However, they should be avoided by anyone with a history of disordered eating, or who is pregnant, breastfeeding, or under 18.

If someone has a lot of weight to lose, Nichola also recommends they start at a higher calorie limit so that when weight loss plateaus they can drop down further and still see results.

Would I do it again?

Well, it helped me look at my previous habits and realise I could survive with smaller portions.

I also I wanted to see how easy ‘meal replacement’ really was to stick to – and it definitely wasn’t as awful as I imagined. I think I’d do it again – and probably will one day – but for now I’m still enjoying being able to actually chew pizza again, perhaps with some homemade soup on the side.

Jen Mills was given 1:1 Diet meals by Cambridge Weight Plan as a review product. However, don’t expect her to sugarcoat anything – our reviews are 100% independent.

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