Is the Zoe nutrition test worth it? Or Emperor's new clothes?

Hi all - can I join the thread please...? 🙂

I'm on day 8 of the ZOE trial, and have been blogging about it day-by-day with pics and results of experiments here, if anyone is interested:

https://wellitywellness.com/tag/zoe-trial/

I've not had the results yet, so can't comment on its overall value. My two cents so far - and disclaimer upfront in that I am a bit of a Tim Spector fan girl (read all his books) and follower of the ZOE podcast, which have collectively helped me dig my way out of a difficult time in my life and have driven a lot of positive changes to diet and lifestyle already as a result (e.g. increased biodiversity, cutting out ultra-processed food etc.).

So, in terms of the actual trial, I've gone the whole hog - though I totally get people's concerns around the aggressive use of data, re-packaging of 'common sensical' advice and of course the expense. Curiosity got the better of me here, is all I can say!

Speaking personally, I'm really finding the blood glucose monitor insightful - oats and cous cous are off the table for evermore, that's for sure - but I only now realise I could have done that just by buying a £60 quid Libre 2 off Amazon instead... Though then I wouldn't be getting the microbiome analysis too - I've not received mine yet, but I guess you could argue that having it is a bit of a moot point: your microbiome not something you can change over night, so whatever the results yo get, you'd have to take a long-term approach to improving it through diet and lifestyle choices over time anyhow.

I found the first day tests straightforward and the morning cookies at least pretty tasty - struggled a bit getting blood for the finger prick test, but nothing to write home about.

I had one 5 minute blip on the app when it stopped looking up foods, but aside from that pretty good. I am not enjoying the little quizzes, but that's because I've come into this very familiar with the subject matter through the podcast and the books - they would be helpful I think if you were coming at it fresh here. I agree that the 'coaching' is pretty minimal / AI driven, and the support is limited - though in fairness I haven't had cause to use it much.

Is it emperor's new clothes...? In terms of understanding your blood glucose reactions, getting insight into the content / health of your microbiome and the longer-term step change it heralds into individualised nutrition, etc., I don't think so personally - but ultimately you could skip the trial, save your money and still follow the general advice to pretty much the same end...

Anyhoo, I'll be updating the blog for the next week and look forward to joining in with the thread here as well!

I should be getting my pack in October though not sure when. I was on a nls resus course and saw one of the consultant doctor’s wearing it and we got into a conversation about it. She said it’s really interesting to learn what does/doesn’t spike your blood glucose.

I’m now in my testing phase - I’m two weeks in, just finished the blood sugar monitor. I’m personally finding it fascinating. To visually see how different foods changed my sugar levels was eye opening. I can’t wait to get my scores:results at the end of the month

I think you need to remember that the community of users are early adopters and I would guess not really representative of the nation as a whole.
This is a tool which if rolled out to the wider community (as they say they want to) will be life changing for thousands. Compare Zoe to what people are currently told to do...... slimming world, weight watchers, one life. I think Zoe is much much much better

I don't agree with those who say it is a waste of time. This is true only if you look at the information generated but choose not to act on it and make changes. I am doing Zoe now and am just past halfway through the programme. You get far more information than you could get from having separate blood sugar tests from the GP, or a cholesterol test - these things are still important, but the Zoe information gives an integrated picture of the way your body handles sugar and fat, an analysis of your current diet and your gut microbiome. Using this information it scores foods and suggests alternatives for a way to eat better for your own body. Of course much of it is common sense but you actually have a foundation on which to base your choices, not all of which are obvious. Having been eating low fat for a number of years I can now see that this was not my best weight management strategy. I process fat well but not sugar, so eating healthy fats alongside carbs actually makes my body tolerate carbs better, and although I am probably eating more fat I have actually lost weight. (This wasn't my primary goal). It is an investment in all senses but you only derive the benefit if you are prepared to act on the advice.

Ah I've no idea what she weighed before - just your bog standard slim size 8 person

She got leaner from the Zoe, she didn't need to lose any weight obviously- but what disappeared is that softness and puffiness seen around belly and I'm guessing internal fat on organs

She's not Uber skinny - she's just lean now

Well... being size 8, M&S implies that would mean measuring 32-25-35. Which at 5'9" seems kind of skinny to me. I'm almost 5'8", BMI about 20-22, and measure 38-29-39. So I know I'm a healthy weight now whereas if I measured 32-25-35 I can only imagine I'd be definitely or at least verging on underweight.

So if a 5'9" size 8 person loses half a stone, it sounds like they lost weight when they should NOT lose weight. if the only reason they lost weight was because of following Zoe food advice, that would make following Zoe food advice a BAD thing for them.

But then this is MN and it genuinely wouldn't surprise me if someone claimed they were size 8 & had a mass of 100 kg. Because I read it all here. And losing half a stone when you're 100 kg wouldn't make you underweight (if 5'9", although the miracle of being 100 kg & size 8 is not something I'm supposed to say "how ridiculous!" to even if I think it)

My only point is asking pp for more info before getting to the apparent conclusion that following Zoe Food advice was A Bad Thing for that person they were talking about.

This is what I found too.

If your blood sugar has no issues, then you won't ever get out of the normal range. So the zoe test confirmed i had no blood sugar issues. What I did find random was there would be changes (but always still within the normal range) overnight when I wasn't eating anything, and I haven't found any explanation for that. My blood sugar was so steady in fact, that I found myself chugging cola and eating haribo just try and get a 'result', which never happened. So it actually made me eat worse.

The fats test showed I don't deal with processing fat so well, but I don't really know what Ican do about that, probably not much.

The microbiome analysis was interesting, but really so what? I don't eat badly, and other than general advice like eat more veg, they don't really know yet what can be done to improve the microbiome, so I didn't really learn much.

I found logging food a total pain - I cook mainly from scratch, so gave up aftera couple of days.

As others have said, the podcasts are useful, but I didn't really find anything else that useful, eg the 'coaching'.

Overall, I would say it promises a lot for the worried well, but delivers very little. If you really think you have blood sugar or cholesterol issues, get tests from your gp - this wont add anything. The data collection for the zoe project owners will be magnificent, and I'm sure will make them unbelievably wealthy.

I've been looking in vain for threads on mn with people raving about zoe and what it's done for them, but haven't found any. The general conclusion seems to be it's interesting, but no one seems to have got much more from it.

Check out glucose goddess / jesse inchaupse

She's just brought out a book

I knew my blood sugar wasn't great.

For me the glucose monitor was the most useful bit, and that is a lot cheaper than the blood tests.

I'm not sure they're very helpful. I didn't get enough blood out for the blood test and that meant that they decided my blood fat management was poor. It meant there was virtually nothing I could eat...

I always feel like you’re trying to make a point @lljkk but I can (genuinely!) never quite figure out what it is.

I started it 2 days ago, have spent £££ but I threw up the muffins that are critical for the testing. No reply from Zoe help centre yet so am feeling a bit ripped off.

So how much did she weigh when she was wearing size 8 & before she lost half a stone?

since this is MN I imagine you'll say about 100 kg. But prove me wrong.

She's 5ft 9

I’m really intrigued. I’ve signed up with an estimated August start date.

my friend has lost about 9kg in six months using their guidance.

How tall is your friend, Laurie, the one who lost half a stone on Zoe Food recommendations.

Mines is coming next week, I've been waiting 6 months for it

My friend did it and the app is fantastic - it basically tells you what foods to eat for YOUR body (they analyse your micro biomes in the gut)

Her and her partner did it and the list of foods they can eat without issue are TOTALLY different - she can metabolise crisps with no issue but not walnuts - her partner can't eat yoghurt and kale

And when I say 'can't' what I mean is that there's a giant long list of every food with the red at the top (eat this as little as possible)

Orange - combine it with something (like eat bread only with peanut butter)

Green - eat however much you like

She eats peanut butter, nuts continuously (and crisps almost every day) and has lost half a stone - she was already a size 8 but now she's actually lean, sleeps really well, boundless energy

So it's COMPLETELY PERSONAL - not just eat a Mediterranean diet

As I said, her partners diet is really different from hers - both 50's, both slim and healthy

But they metabolise food differently

Listen to the Diary of a CEO with Tim Spector podcast. They are not pushing products other than tangentially his book. If you really don't want to listen then read the YouTube transcript

The blood sugar monitoring is useful. Especially if you are pre-diabetic. Not sure if ongoing membership would be worth while, but understanding how your body handles different foods is useful.

have done the Zoe test and received unintelligible results. how do you find out what foods are good for you personally rather than generic results? do you really have to log every meal you ever eat?

also why oh why is the whole package infantilised, for example giving gut bacteria moronic nicknames? Surely we are all adults?

I saw someone wearing a thing that looked like a diabetic CGM monitor. But with Zoe on it. I wondered what it was!

Yes. When you sign up they'll give you the 3 referral codes which you can share and get your free months.