The shakes were really just for ease of research I think,, everyone had the same things plus a small portion leafy veg. I guess you could make your 800 cals up however you fancied so some low cal soup and even an egg with asparagus dippers?
I'd not be rushing to try it yet Susie if you have other ongoing issues. I'm no Dr but your lack of control is more likely a result of the adrenal problem than directly down to diet.
It's an odd subject really.
The weight losses claimed in the study aren't spectacular, there are many people on here that have seen the same results, if not better, on LCHF.
But the Newcastle diet is the only one that has been followed up, and claims to have reversed diabetes.
I would guess there are a few differences somewhere.
Certainly the Newcastle diet is a rapid weight loss, and the pancreas was still stimulated by the carbs during the loss.
I've no idea of the science, but;
The soup would be ok I guess, as it's one of the things they recommend you do with the veg anyway, and I have a few tins of weightwatchers soup ready anyway.
Not tried the egg, it's a fairly low calorie, but reasonably high fat, and my issue with that is it's caloric value, so it's physically a smaller amount of food. It's also a high cholesterol food, and I've no idea if this would affect the liver, as its supposed to be producing cholesterol as part of it's fat burning.
The second wave can try a modified version I'm sure.
Mind you, the other thing to bear in mind is I don't think many on the LCHF diet have properly weaned themselves back onto carbs, which I can believe take several days, and really tested the results.
It would be an interesting comparison, and one Prof Taylor could follow up on hopefully.