Nestlé Health Science is piloting a clinically supported weight management programme for people with type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes.
The pilot is set to take places in six Tesco stores across England.
The move was inspired by recent research which found that a quarter of trial participants maintained a weight loss of over 10kg, and that one third achieved remission from type 2 diabetes after two years.
OptiJourney
The programme, called OptiJourney, is designed to help participants lose weight with support from OptiJourney coaches and dieticians through the programme’s app.
Additionally, Tesco pharmacists will screen the participants.
For 8 to 12 weeks, the participants will replace all food with Optifast shakes, bars, and soups, so they can consume about 800 to 850 calories daily. They will then slowly return to eating “normal” food for a month once the 8 to 12 week period is over.
After a two year period, a third of the programme’s trial participants achieved remission from type 2 diabetes, and a quarter lost 10kg of weight that they continued to keep off.
Although not every participant will achieve remission, Tesco and Nestlé Health Science admitted, they added that weight loss for people with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes has other recognised health benefits.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Libby Seline. Click sign-up to subscribe to Checkout.
