There's numerous threads discussing the Newcastle diet and many of which can be found in the Low Calorie Diet section of the forum, have a read through them as you'll see that we have members who have used this diet in the past and some are even currently following the ND now.
Just one thing not mentioned in the Uni's notes but covered by the makers of the original meal replacement shakes used in the study is that you need to add at least 1 tsp of olive oil per day to help prevent gallstones which can be a complication of rapid weight loss.