The UAE’s International Beverage and Filling Industries (IBFI), one of the UAE’s largest beverage manufacturers, in collaboration with a team of doctors and scientists from Imperial College London and Oxford in the UK, are thrilled to announce the launch of Soom Lite, an award-winning vegan beverage that promises to revolutionize the way we consume our daily meals.

The team behind Soom Lite was awarded the prestigious InnovateUK Award last year, setting high expectations for its performance. Before its official launch, Soom Lite had already garnered interest from wellness enthusiasts from around the world as a vegan, low-calorie beverage with a punch and a key difference.

Soom Lite is a reduced-sugar fruit juice that is infused with an EFSA-backed Japanese plant fibre, and this particular all-natural plant fibre can visibly curb sugar spikes when consumed with meals. Each bottle of Soom Lite contains only around 20 calories, and comes in three mouthwatering flavors: orange, guava, and multi-fruit.

Manufactured wholly in the UAE, Soom Lite has been awarded the prestigious Emirates Quality Mark, and carries the Made in UAE logo, affirming its adherence to the highest standards.

When consumed alongside a meal, Soom Lite’s Japanese plant fibre gets working straight away by stimulating the gentle and natural release of the GLP-1 hormone from the stomach, reducing and delaying sugar absorption from digestion, and thereby curbing the sugar spike normally seen in the blood stream soon after consuming food or drink. It is the nature of the food consumed and the degree of the sugar spike around meal times- better known as prandial glycaemia- that is strongly linked to the risks of developing chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Most normal people are completely unaware that due to the nature of our modern food, their blood sugar will spike after eating or drinking at meal times, sometimes making them feel tired or heavy. And nothing counteracts the impact of unhealthy sugar spikes more than plant fibre- and this is why salads and vegetables are so healthy in the first place and should be consumed alongside every meal.

Where Soom Lite makes a difference- is that it contains the most viscous plant fibre naturally found on earth- from a Japanese plant- and therefore can curb and stabilise rapid sugar spikes from unhealthy food and drink more quickly and effectively than any other plant fibre. For lovers of beauty, reducing sugar spikes after eating is also regarded as the key to anti-ageing by the World Society of Anti-Ageing Medicine.

GLP-1 is better known as the active ingredient behind the record-breaking anti-diabetes and slimming drug ozempic, which has run out of stock globally due to a consumer frenzy. However, ozempic is a synthetic drug, and not everybody wants to use medication to boost their GLP-1, or is able to afford the cost of a course of ozempic.

Soom Lite can be consumed up to a maximum of six times a day, and having only around 20 calories per drink, offers consumers the freedom to choose their own food plans while enjoying a delicious, low-calorie vegan beverage. The drinks can be consumed around the time of meals, or stand-alone to dampen hunger pangs.

According to Imperial College London’s Dr. Mo Al Qaisi, “Think of a “superman” drink, then think of Soom Lite. It can visibly blunt sugar spikes when consumed with daily meals or when mixed with other sugary drinks, blocking the undesirable impact from unhealthy sugars, and activating a sense of satiety. Actually, having stable sugar is just as important for normal people as it is for diabetics- because normal people definitely don’t want to develop obesity or diabetes. That’s why when you eat healthy food, we see sugars are more stable. The Soom Lite drinks are now made wholly in the UAE, the first country in the Arab world to manufacture a functional GLP1 drink, demonstrating the UAE’s prowess and leadership in food manufacturing and food science.”

Joao Silva, Communications Lead for Soom Lite, explained the difference between ordinary plant fibres that you get from a salad and the one in Soom Lite. “We all know that it’s super healthy to eat salad and vegetables. They are healthy because they contain plant fibre. Unfortunately, our meals have become so sugar dense, and contain so many calories, that no normal amount of salad will block the sugar from spiking after meal times. The Japanese plant fibre in Soom Lite is the densest plant fibre found naturally on earth, so consuming just a pinch of this dense fibre is like eating a superfood. It is quite remarkable, seeing sugar spikes reduced by some 50% or more by drinking a Soom Lite after a meal or snack. Remember, everybody gets a sugar spike after eating, not just diabetics, and very few normal people realize that this is how unhealthy food can damage health over time.”

Soom Lite is expected to become a top product in the UAE, with brisk demand anticipated. The product’s launch has been greeted by much excitement as slimmers

and the health conscious increasingly look for functional foods and beverages that boost wellness.