Nutrition gets personal: ZOE test review

[@Nourishable]

Update - @15:17 the recipes in the ZOE app now include instructions!

[@ghw7192]

The things you do in the name of science! Thank you, Doctor!

[@joelgarf]

This was just suggested. Waiting on my Zoe report. Great synopsis

[@nas3426]

Great video, thank you! Now I am seriously considering getting the Zoe test kit 👍🏼😃

[@cristinacrawley3344]

Thanks so much for this fantastic review of the Zoe nutrition programme! Im just at the beginning of the 4 month programme. As you pointed out, it’s not cheap but it’s an investment I was willing to make and, judging from your experiences, it’s well worth it.

[@leannewilson199]

Great review and very interesting. Would be interesting to know how your gut biom looks now that you have changed your diet to feed the bacteria that was low and if that has had an impact on your ability to break down fats 👍

[@ekcs3941]

I thinking this exact thing

[@cristinacrawley3344]

I’m also wondering if there’s a post-programme gut biome test!

[@Brandi_Hill]

I want to do this sooo bad! I’m on the waiting list!

[@lynseycobden203]

Thank you for such an in-depth review. I’ve been considering Zoe for a while but just didn’t know if it would add value. I’m on a mission to heal my gut and this could be so helpful

[@myrealretirementadventures]

It’s a high cost …. But discounting that over a lifetime makes it good value I think.

[@lynseycobden203]

@@myrealretirementadventures I didn’t mean value in terms of cost. I meant in terms of the insights it would give x

[@myrealretirementadventures]

i think we are on the same page @@lynseycobden203 ...long term value i think is excellent

[@harpmyday]

Regarding your comments at around 13:30, that you shouldn't eat a lot of red meat and your husband probably shouldn't either.... Isn't the point of the Zoe program to shed light on individual nutritional needs? My understanding is that some people really DO fare better with more meat and not the higher carb foods *your* body seems to want. (The meat debate, if there is one, should probably center around regenerative farming methods and not universally applied dietary recommendations.) Anyway, thanks so much for the video. I'm on day 2 and it was so helpful to see what's coming. It helps me a lot!

[@elizabethsproule5227]

I think that lots of other research shows too much red meat is bad for you in terms of cancer risk.I think that's what she was talking about. I'm not sure how that squares with the Zoe recommendations. I guess that's why you would like the chat opportunities.

[@Joseph1NJ]

Great video, and I agree the nomenclature with regard to frequency needs to more precise.

[@karlint39]

Reading about your issues with fats and meal planning made me think of intermittent fasting. I personally try to keep carbs to a minimum, but don't restrict fats at all. (My body fat percentage is 13%, so I can confidently say that just because someone eats fat it doesn't mean they are going to BE fat.) I also exercise and do intermittent fasting, eating in a 4-6 hour window, and having only water or black coffee for the rest of the time on most days. So regarding the ZOE meal planning, I wonder if the timing of the meals were taken into consideration? Also, during the 4-week program, are you continuing to input your exercise? That will also obviously impact glycogen stores, and daily average blood glucose and lipid levels. I've watched several videos by the ZOE scientists, and I have never heard them mention intermittent fasting, just a suggestion that people should have their last meal earlier rather than later.

[@hannahmulligan1103]

Fats are not harmful and are very healthy. The problem is she has issues with fat. Usually these issues can be addressed through diet and supplement changes.

[@EJones1517]

Thanks for the video! Just got my kit and this was helpful to see what to expect. 👍

[@Brandi_Hill]

How long did you have to wait to be sent a kit?

[@meganhedrich4736]

Question about the muffin days - I noticed it was muffins for breakfast and then lunch. We’re you allowed to eat dinner or did you have to fast till breakfast the next day?

[@Nourishable]

You were allowed to eat dinner! Once you did your blood test after the lunch muffins then you could eat whatever you liked.

[@katykat947]

Very interesting insight thank you. Sadly I don't think this will work for those on a low income.

[@oldschoolabrahamhicks2742]

Interesting! What happens if you work irregular hours/shifts- I do night shifts/shifts- is it possible to do the test period ok?

[@GraceVanDyck]

I just registered to get my Zoe kit! It’s so great to know what to expect now. Thanks so much!

[@LeftCoastTee]

Curious if you did it and lost any weight?

[@eleanorwittering3126]

Wow! You're brave! Very informative, would be quite shy about doing this test on myself, but, it would probably be very good for me. (Going to discuss this my PCP.) BTW! You are indeed a research scientist. To go through this whole regime demonstrates the discipline you acquired going into "science." I'm impressed.

[@NP-bm5qu]

Thank you for producing this video diary. It's the best I've seen so far, offering more detailed information than others.

[@psrpippy]

Is this a paid promotion by Zoe? I’d like to know if this is completely unbiased.

[@lyndsaycalkin8669]

Your dog is ADORABLE!

[@daffodil614]

Excellent review, thank you! Really interesting regarding your response to lipids vs sugars - I get the feeling that people in general might be more aware of a poor response to sugars because they might be able to sense their blood glucose crash after a couple of hours after eating sugar, but those more sensitive to fat might not have an equivalent experience so might not be so aware. Interesting... Good luck with using your new information.

[@Nourishable]

Thanks @Daffodil! I agree, there seems to be more tangible symptoms of glycemic response than there are to lipid responses. It was certainly a surprise to me!

[@EG_KC]

I am in the first week of a study (Android user). Thank you for your insights!

[@bobadams7654]

Great, informative video. Many thanks.

[@bovineox1111]

Thanks for the review, but I would like to know how the changes made you feel? Did you feel better in any area of your life that you attach to the dirty changes you made?

[@oakstrong1]

War hung these videos I was expecting muffins more than for 1 day.. The instructions are not totally updated either, adding to my confusion. I also had an issue viewing the list of foods for challenge day in my android, I also wished I had an option to print the food list with quantities, maybe download it from a website with an access code. Today is my first challenge day but I forgot and ate breakfast instead of a specific meal. Unfortunately, the staff in off for a Christmas break so I cannot ask how many hours I should wait before eating the challenge meal. Waiting 8 hours between would mean having dinner very late. There are also a couple of times when my app has alerted me very early in the morning (5.am) to scan the sensor. What I found interesting is how my blood sugar drops slightly below normal range during the night but it raises back to normal again Before I wake up. It makes me wonder if there is a connection to waking up with a headache (often) or my body temperature fluctuations at night?

[@tonydization]

Thanks for the review as I'm hoping to participate when Zoe becomes available to me. I'm wondering as a cheese fan (as am I) you might get better scores with something unpasturised and a bit more mouldy? If you like that sort of cheese of course.

[@kellisuemontague8698]

Being unpasteurized and more mouldy wouldn't change the high fat content.

[@mskarenwyness]

I have just signed up and interested to see how it turns out!

[@zsofiathompson7501]

Thanks for the review I didn't read anywhere they send muffin to eat! Wonder if they have vegan option... also nothing happens between testing and test result? Or you can keep testing the food?

[@ChristyMurphyWriter]

Your husband may be the kind of person who clears fats from his bloodstream faster and slower with clearing carbs. So the fats might not be as bad for him. I watched another review where someone wanted to eat lamb, and all he had to do was add some veggies and a fruit to it, and he got a high score.

[@cristinacrawley3344]

According to my instructions, the blood test was to be taken after muffin breakfast and muffin lunch on day 3! The blood test appears to be wrongly sequenced in the video, or did I get something wrong?

[@witamous]

So interesting that your glycemic control was so high and the lipids lower! Out of curiosity, what did white rice vs. brown rice look like for you in your scores?

[@Nourishable]

@WhitMattson good question, for me long grain brown rice scored 45 and long grain white rice scored 31 - so white rice was lower, but they both fell in the "moderation" category with a recommendation to eat 2-3 times per week. There were other grain choices that scored in the high 80s as part of the "enjoy freely" category like barley and bulgur.

[@witamous]

@@Nourishable It's really interesting, so I did the ZOE program too, and my blood sugar is control is bad (15)--my white rice was a 2, brown rice was 30. So my brown rice was sitting where your white rice was. Barley does well for me and bulgur does OK. How interesting about those variations! Other food like chickpeas and vegetables were pretty similar, since my blood fat control was also Poor which totally make sense since they are low fat and a high proportion of carbohydrates as fiber.

[@Nourishable]

​@@witamous I agree, the variations are so interesting! One of the questions I have about this whole field moving forward is how will it impact eating food with others - for example, if members of a family all have different scores should they eat different meals? Or take a "salad bar" type of approach?

[@witamous]

@@Nourishable I can only speak for my experience, but following the plan we usually did shared sides and then I would either substitute the main dish or the grain source if it was a more carbohydrate driven meal like pasta--a couple meals were just fine though.

[@jimmysgirl611]

There's no place to enter the discount code when ordering. Any suggestions?

[@felipearbustopotd]

Thank you for uploading and sharing.

[@mudoh2131]

Looking forward to this being launched in the UK. It is really exciting to have such detailed personal feedback that you can be responsible with.

[@rainbowliz1]

Thanks, great talk very honest and authentic.

[@asteverson1]

This was very informative! Thank you! I am hoping to loose a few pounds, curious to know if you happened to notice some weight loss ?

[@Nourishable]

I didn't notice any weight loss, but I wasn't aiming for weight loss.

[@alexandrasmith7682]

Wow, how to make a low GI, low bad fats, unprocessed diet as complicated as possible to justify the high price of the course. However, the good thing is that it allows an individual to understand if their body is prone to diabetes or high cholesterol.

[@Healwithintention]

Do they have options for vegan ?

[@karlint39]

I loved watching your review of the ZOE experience and app. I've watched another similar review, so this is the second one, but it is interesting to get multiple points of view. I have found out about ZOE in the last few months, and have been trying to educate myself about the program. It seems like Tim Spector and the other lead scientists on the project are not completely vegan, but they are very strongly biased towards consuming fruits and vegetables (hence the #1 recommendation of consuming 30 different plant food items per week), presumably specifically to promote gut microbiome diversity. There are lots of people (like myself) who try to be low carb (whether it is "keto" or not) but still try to avoid processed food and consume lots of fresh vegetables. The ZOE researchers seem to think that "low carb" means lots of processed meat with no vegetables. My guess is that poor scores for meals that you got were because of meat content, especially processed meats. From this video (this is the first video of yours that I have seen) it certainly seems like you are very conscientious about your diet and overall health.

[@samcturnbull7464]

I didn't get how the food scores stack up;

[@Philosophical_Floss]

How did it make you feel?

[@carolynwestlake7670]

When can we join in in the U.K. ?

[@incredagem]

Was the GSM an extra cost ? Beyond the 59$ per month

[@wendielocke]

Very useful. Thank you.

[@marym3355]

So annoying this test is not available in Romania!!!!!

[@d26s10]

I’m slightly confused as to your poor blood fat response. How come you’re able to eat nuts and cheese freely if your body favours blood sugar and has a better control over it than blood fat? Also the video showed avocado as a warning on the app of when you should eat fats again.. is it because the nuts gave more fibre?

[@unknown88311]

Only the fact to eat muffins by part of the study put me off.... i never ever breakfast with sweet or bakery. I prefer eggs 🥚 always.

[@georginapugsley1330]

Thorough review, but what I got from it is you up your plant intake, cut your red meat and eat healthily... all established benefits...and don't spend a small fortune on Zoe

[@jenniferchapman9645]

This was so interesting such a good investment for her love to know if her partner changed his eating habits ( been married for over 40 yrs still haven't managed to change my husbands)

[@Nourishable]

@JenniferChapman we're working on it! We just joined a fish CSA so I know that our we'll be having more seafood meals which should be a healthy shift for both of us :)

[@Bonnie-mc9zo]

Ty

[@johnsalcido3701]

Great video thank you. Question, My wife started the testing kit yesterday. On your glucose and triglyceride response we are curious. What is your baseline fasting glucose and triglycerides? Kind of hypothesizing that baseline glucose and triglycerides from the Zoe study data may be a predictor of glucose and fat response.

[@Joseph1NJ]

Oh man, poor postal workers, they have no idea what they're carrying.

[@lyndsaycalkin8669]

Do you have to track your food for 6 months?

[@Nourishable]

No, you don't have to, but you can. Personally, I tracked closely while doing the test and during the 4 week ZOE plan, but then I stopped tracking everyday. I continue to use the app in the grocery store to check scores on new products, when I try out a new recipe, and I tend to track one day every once and a while as a check in.

[@MsMousepusher]

Interesting and helpful.

[@Bonnie-mc9zo]

You said you have coffee I don’t drink coffee does that matter?

[@Nourishable]

If you don't like or drink coffee, no problem! Here I was commenting on associations between coffee drinking and a beneficial microbe - but there are many dietary factors that help contribute to a healthy diverse microbiome.

[@driankatz]

i think this is interesting but realistically only very very few people are going to motivated enough to do this

[@drusheenakyles528]

I disagree.

[@Rhiawiz]

haha at least you have good blood sugar control. my blood sugar, blood fat, AND gut health are all poor. day 3 of following the specified diet! wish me luck.

[@Nourishable]

Good luck! The program is great, very supportive.

[@Megsother28]

Did you (or anyone in the comments) do the sensor tests on days 8-13? There are so many options for what to experiment with, I’m completely overwhelmed. Trying to figure out which tests would provide the most valuable feedback.

[@Nourishable]

I did the additional breakfast testing and then continued to wear the sensor while tracking my foods up to day 13. Since the feedback from the CGM is immediate I found it really useful - but I did also get pretty tuckered out of tracking all of my food!

[@mishmohd]

It is TMI - but who’s this qt pi you single?

[@vapork8276]

Indeed, this IS complicated. It may not be for me, unfortunately....

[@jimjamson9534]

I am going to stick to my healthy diet. I cannot help but feel this is pandering to a certain type of person with more biome than brains. Common sense rules for me.

[@tonydization]

@@jimjamson9534 I'm curious your "healthy diet" is healthy according to who? The whole point of a custom nutritional program is that our biomes are absolutely unique. That's why identical twins fed on the same diet can differ dramatically in health, weight and well being. I suggest then you do a bit more reading around this topic especially by Prof Spector because you'll find many of the "common sense" food rules we've lived by to date are without any foundation, fact or science. Oh and btw you better hope your biome is bigger than your brain because it should be.

[@jimjamson9534]

@@tonydization Professor Spector regularly tells us what we should be eating and avoiding and as it happens I have been following his advice inadvertently for decades. I think the research is interesting, but really don't feel the need to have my microbiome analysed, nor do I want to follow a custom nutritional plan. Good luck. I am sure it will make a very interesting conversation topic at cocktail parties.

[@tonydization]

​@@jimjamson9534Lol, so you've just looked him up. Good luck with the common sense approach, you may get lucky.

[@tonydization]

@@jimjamson9534 If you'd read extinsively around the topic as well as inadvertently followed the advice you should be well qualified to comment, but it doesn't appear so. That's the problem with common sense, it just isn't very common.

[@thesolitaryadventurer]

Get your husband to do a test before using your results to change his eating...?

[@Jsarson1976]

I think she realised that.

[@willalm830]

Have you seen how much?............forget it

[@paulyoung4422]

Poor hungry Tim, always looks poorly, he is the worst advert, for his product,no doubt he'll make a fortune.

[@gaildavies3060]

I think his skin is naturally sallow and he’s always got stubble. Stubble has associations which are neg.

[@markbutcher4100]

I guess if you fit as a butchers dog this isn’t for you