To think there's a growing amount of people who think food can fix everything?

[StructuredChaos]

Was listening to some ZOE podcasts, and love eating healthy foods myself, so it isn't a criticism of nutrition awareness. I'm a bit of a cooking nerd so love all of this stuff and finding new recipes, but I am noticing more and more people who seem to believe that eating low upf and fresh fruit and veg can add 'decades' to a human lifespan.

It certainly won't shorten it!
Surely this is an oversimplification, though?

I have always eaten in a kind of 'ZOE' way, and whilst I don't have any metabolic disease, weight problems or other issues, I am not so confident that I am going to outlive my peers due to this. It's something I can control, yes, and that's great, but I think it's deceptive to think we won't ever get cancer, heart disease, dementia or auto immune diseases if we eat in a 'clean' or ideal way.

Not to mention the 'ideal' keeps bloody changing!

I don't think life is that simple at all, even though I do champion healthy, fresh diets.
I see people who claim their spots, headaches, IBS, brain fog, joint aches and other issues immediately cease when they start eating fresh fruit and veg, or low histamine, or low inflammatory diets...... What puzzles me, as someone who has always enjoyed high fibre and fresh foods, is how nebulous those symptoms are, and not very well understood by GP's.
It allows for all manner of snake oil claims online, since the placebo effect is strong.

Just saw a vid with Tim Spector claiming that eating the ZOE way will certainly add 10 extra healthy years to your life. So if we use myself as an example of this, it doesn't take into account my familial heart disease, stroke risk, potential genetic cancers, and a world of non food related risks, of which there are countless examples.

It reminds me of those people who think they will never get ill because they don't smoke. Neither did my parents, but they died before their time (sepsis and vascular dementia).

Perhaps it will make more sense to you if you think of it as eating crap (high fat, high salt, low nutritional value foods, UPF etc) that can cause health issues can shorten your lifespan rather than eating well can lengthen it.

Both the same thing really, they just assume different starting points.

I eat low UPF and lots of pulses. I don't think I'm going to live to be 120, I don't know anyone who thinks it will add decades to their live, but it's about reducing the risk of certain illnesses that can shorten your life. Processed meats are a group 1 carcinogen, along with nicotine and asbestos following international scientific criteria not some fad.

People who eat this way are unlikely to be lazy couch potatoes, smoking 40 a day and drinking high levels of alcohol, so it's not just about food. They are likely to be exercising a lot, non smokers and limited alcohol.

It's also no different to people taking HRT not just for any current symptoms, but because it reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia.

Why wouldn't you make choices to reduce the risk of disabling and/or life shortening conditions?

@StructuredChaos , note that Tim said ‘healthy years’ so he’s referring to health span not life span ie the number of years we live well and disease free. There are always going to be unlucky people who succumb to illness despite having eaten well and exercised and also those who frankly abuse themselves and live well to a grand old age. 🤷🏼‍♀️
The evidence supporting the impact of our diet and lifestyle on our chances of being ill or remaining well is so overwhelming now it’s pretty difficult to dismiss. It’s definitely not all about what we consume other factors are at play but I do strongly believe the more we try to incorporate the science that is currently understood the better we are likely to live for longer. You are correct however insofar as science evolves so more will be uncovered and some of what we think is true now may be debunked. Apart from keeping up with current scientific understanding I’m not sure what we can do about that really.

More posts promoting the Zoe podcasts?

I had never heard of them until these posts appeared today

I know this is anecdata, but my very overweight grandmother outlived my slim grandmother by 30 years! And my aunt who was a yoga teacher died the earliest out of my parents, their siblings and spouses.

Obviously a healthy diet is a good thing. But IME living to an old age often has more to do with genes and luck.

YANBU eating well is great but it’s not medicine and there seem to be more and more people who think it is. There’s a great book on this: www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Isnt-Medicine-Know-Facts/dp/1785043455

I think that on a societal level there growing evidence that upf is bad for our health. So it stands to reason that eating more healthy natural proper foods would counteract that. But agree food isn’t medicine. More that it’s the appropriate fuel for our bodies to operate at optimal levels.

Lol, I am not a zoe grifter, don't worry! I was watching some videos about fermenting garlic and it lead from there

I tend to think ZOE are interesting but having a laugh with those expensive subscriptions. Interesting info especially about the gut, but yeh, a lot of grift!

Agree with most comments here. I suppose the stress is on health span, and limiting upf, which is only ever a positive thing.

Some wild claims flying around though.

I noticed a good amount of people on a reddit sub about the microbiome think similarly. That nothing else can make you unwell, only food. And likewise with healing, only food can do that, too.

Many claim to have stopped seeing medical doctors and buy astronomically priced supplements online that are not regulated. It's nuts.

I don’t follow Zoe but are they bringing any new information to the table? Don’t we all know that fresh fruit, vegetables and unprocessed foods are good and upf, fast food, smoking, drinking and sedentary lifestyle is bad? I know all that but still eat upf/fast food (and fruit, vegetables, nuts etc). The difficulty is getting people to do the best thing for a long life, the problem isn’t a lack of information.

There is so much research on this whole topic. Diet is everything. Lowers cancer risk, lowers heart disease incidence, even lowers dementia /Alzheimer’s. Healthy diet as a bedrock for healthy living is a foundation for longevity. Clearly stress levels and emotional well-being play a part too, but managing your diet is the thing most in your control

unfortunately a large part of how long you live is down to how lucky you are with your health. My super healthy ex is not likely to live more than a few more years yet my dh just had a clean bill of health despite being told that he should shift 4 stone.

Completely agree with you OP and there is a narrative now that diseases & cancer are all lifestyle related, I often see it on here. You can be healthy and still get cancer or suffer high blood pressure, gestational diabetes etc.

I’m sure recent research said genes are more responsible than originally thought for longevity.

There isn’t really. There’s moderate evidence that a Mediterranean style diet is useful, but no conclusive evidence that one diet over another decreases all cause mortality.

There are however very strong and established links between cardiovascular fitness and longevity. This evidence is much clearer than for any specific type of diet.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jan/29/long-life-age-health-genetics-science-research

I think people underestimate the impact of stress and also your environment eg air pollutions impact on cognitive decline.

I've seen some angry women on social media responding to posts about breast cancer being caused by alcohol. Many of them didn't drink.
Whilst there is a known and accepted link, it doesn't mean one can avoid it by cutting out a certain food or substance, although tobacco is obviously super high risk.

As for stress, no one wants to talk about that, or pollution, because we can't be blamed for it, and we can't fix it at the supermarket checkout.

I would advise anyone to eat as healthy as possible because it feels good and will protect your body. but it won't cure everything.

Agree @StructuredChaos

When Tim Spector talks about 10 extra healthy years, he is not talking about you or any other individual, he is what happens, on average, when you look at a large group of people. So if you compare 1000 people who for many years eat the Zoe diet with another 1000 people who eat lots of UPFs, the Zoe group will on average have 10 extra years of good health.

Tim Spector’s work is amazing!

Trouble is, even if eating a super healthy diet does get you a longer life, the ‘extra’ years aren’t in your 20s or 30s, they’d be in your 70s, 80s or 90s. Don’t fancy that much tbh.

I read the title as fixes stuff like.. makes you happy
I mean I’ve never been sad eating cake

Agreed. I can't really see the appeal of living well into my 90s. Even if I were to remain reasonably healthy, compos mentis and mobile in my early to mid 80s, the late 80s onward is the point when most people seem to go steeply downhill and become frail, with increasingly poor mobility, deafness and heightened risk of dementia, strokes, falls etc. I'd rather be carried off by something else before I get to that point.

There's definitely a sense that people want an antidote to death itself.
Understandable! But not quite reasonable..

I agree that reaching for healthy years no matter what age is a good thing, but the amount of money beng made on the back of our terror of death is astonishing.

For example, hypertension.
A lot of it is idiopathic, or runs in families, no matter your diet or salt intake.
And as for ZOE, whilst I love their chats about gut microbes, I feel that there is still a 'one size fits all' vibe, regardless their insistence on personalised medicine.
Tim declares he can eat a lot of salt with no issues, then tells the audience not to worry about it. Not very sensible.

I guess there's always some rubbish mixed in with the good info!

I watched a vid they did with Sanjay Gupta (a cardiologist). Why is it that as soon as I know they have a book out or a successful youtube channel I become cynical?
However, Mr Gupta is so distractingly physically attractive that I can barely follow most of what he's saying ....

I think there is a lot of bollocks around about food. I agree with you that it won’t do “that much”- that a bad diet will often shorten your life but this isn’t the same as a good one significantly extending it.

I also think we are in an epidemic of othorexia and are frequently taking diet and exercise advice form people who has eating disorders and use a public profile to manage them. No one needs to learn anything about healthy eating someone with an eating disorder

This is hardly a new thing. For centuries people have been using plants and animal products as medicine. I don't think anyone is saying it's a miracle cure, but in general if you eat low UPF you will be healthier than if you eat McDonalds. It's hardly mindblowing. And yes there will be the odd vegan marathon runner who dies of bowel cancer, but in general adopting healthy habits can only be a positive thing.