Anyone starting Zoe in November?

[alloutofcareunits]

Not just about weight loss but thought this might be the best place to post the thread. I've just signed up and should be starting in November, wondering if anyone else is and wants to share experiences?

That is good to hear - it's a recipe I've been eyeing up! Adds tahini and miso to shopping list. I seem to be eating all the almonds and cheese, both of which score well for me. Shame about the Christmas G&T though red wine is high 60s for me. Sadly it gives me a headache after only a large glass ......

That sounds good.
DH started Zoë before me and tried a couple of recipes which scored high for him (and even better for me!) - miso brothy beans (95), and black bean, butternut squash and sage stew (94). They were pretty good.

The Waitrose quick cook pearl barley mix is very good instead of other carbs.

Thanks for the Quick Cook Barley Mix

been looking for something like that.

I want to try making a mussel stew.

I found frozen shelled mussels from Ocado with good reviews.

I wonder if I fried an onion and garlic, used a glass of white wine and some veg stock and then put some of the barley mix in. I hope it would taste nice. Mussels last three mins to warm through.

Ive never been much of a cook but Zoe is forcing to learn which is ok.

I wonder if I fried an onion and garlic, used a glass of white wine and some veg stock and then put some of the barley mix in. I hope it would taste nice. Mussels last three mins to warm through.

Sounds like it would be a nice risotto type thing. I really like the barley, for some things I'd perhaps rather have it without the dried peas and lentils in it - I've not seen any plain quick cook though, and the normal stuff takes an hour so it should be good for stews and casseroles but not for a quick addition to dinner instead of rice.

I've got a bag of pearl barley, not used any of it yet. My DM - whose cooking was a product of formative years during rationing - used to do mince in the oven with a couple of handfuls of pearl barley and red lentils thrown in. It wasn't bad though could have done with onions (banned because they didn't agree with DFs digestion) and garlic (exotic smelly foreign thing) But anyway, apart from extending the meat, turns out she was onto a good healthy choice.

I've not bothered with any attempts at healthy eating this month. Every day has been a chocolate, panettone, mince pie fest. I've been doing lots of exercise but just given in to the december slog. There are too many social events and I can't be bothered depriving myself. I'm going to start logging and eating better on the 28th. Hopefully I've demolished all my Christmas crap by then.

Really not a good approach but better than me attempting and feeling like a daily failure as my willpower is low.

I had an update on my microbiome score last week based on new research and it went from 'good' (69) to 'excellent' (89). That's quite a jump. Did anyone else have a modification?

I’ve decided to go with the flow over the festive season and do it properly in January. I’m definitely making different choices (no/low carb meals, nuts as snacks) but I’m also not saying no to a bit of Christmas cake or a mince pie.

I have not had a rescore, did you get an email about it?

I think my microbiome score was done using the new method anyway.

I've finished mine - and have written two fairly detailed blog posts about.

The first talks about blood glucose experimentation and the second is a bit of an essay about the nature and value of the ZOE trial as a whole.

Hopefully these will be useful to people!

Interesting.

The food scores aren’t just to do with blood sugar, they’re to do with promoting the growth of more beneficial bacteria as well from what I understood.

You have an almost even balance of good vs bad bacteria. Those bad bacteria will be contributing to your not great blood glucose score as they increase insulin resistance, nearly all of them.

So the food choices are designed to try and reduce those bad bacteria and increase the other good ones.

I wouldn’t look at the food scores exclusively as blood sugar predictors. There’s more to it than that.

For me the most valuable part has been the breakdown of ALL your gut bacteria. It’s the last pages of the report.

In there you’ll find out far far more of you’re willing to use Pub Med and discover what’s truly inside you.

And I would say again, Zoe for me has been about fixing much more than blood glucose or weight. I was happy with both before.

It’s the gut information and the full breakdown for me that’s key to my recovery.

I’ve not had a rescore either despite a lot hype about it.

asked twice about it on messaging. Told it would be happening soon.

as Morrissey once said “how soon is now?”

Thanks @SoySaucePls that's really helpful - do you have a link to Pub Med please? I can only find the online library (unless that's what you're referring to?)

@wellitywellness

Pub Med is the online medical research library yes.

So for instance in the 100% breakdown at the back I have a whopping 40% bacillus uniformis. Fine usually but not in this concentration. It’s far too high. I also have 13% bacillus fragilis. This is also way too high. It should be around 3%. It’s also implicated in colorectal cancer but only a certain strain. It’s not clear what strain I have.

Pub Med will give you ideas around how to reduce various bacteria as well as improve others.

I have stage 2 chronic kidney disease, rosacea, osteoporosis and MCAS in one organ. I’m convinced most of this can be resolved if I manipulate my gut bacteria to produce more short chain fatty acids. I’m about to embark on making a bifido only yogurt as I have almost no bifido at all. If I could get to 5% I think this would radically change my health. I’ve spent months on Pub Med going deep into the bacteria and finding out the best plan. It’s taken me six months as there is so much to understand. I hope to improve a lot next year 🤞

It probably sounds really simplistic but bifidobacteria and its variety of strains is possibly the most beneficial gut microbe you can have inside you from all the reports I’ve read.

It comes up again and again and again. It produces short chain fatty acids which protect against just about every disease known to man!

If you look at the gut microbiome of older women in their 80s and 90s in Okinawa they typically have high levels of Bifidobacteria in their guts at around 7 or 8%.

I have zero. Getting it to work to engraft permanently is also an unknown. By making yogurt I’ll get a much higher level of bacteria than taking a capsule and can supplement five mini portions a day as advised by Zoe - they suggest eating five mini portions of fermented food a day to reduce inflammatory markers.

The gut is quite stable and strong, large overgrowths won’t give up their positions lightly.

ive been quite pre emptive. Went to docs and got DEXA scan. Got well person test and had all bloods checked. So I know these things are going on and I want to sort them out.

I’m really enjoying your posts@SoySaucePls

Glad to be of help. So many many diseases researchers are discovering are linked to the gut and start there. So very many.

I was stunned to discover chronic kidney disease and osteoporosis are both affected by low levels of short chain fatty acids and if you have the wrong gut bacteria you’re far more likely to develop these diseases. My DM recently died of cancer I found papers show a microbiota signature for her cancer too. It started in the gut too.

I had another test done by another company and my SCFA are at 37% and really need to be at 40% plus. Ideally higher. I’d hope since my last test with them and Zoe I’ve improved.

Next step will be to start at some point next year getting an NTX urine or blood test to see how my bone markers are doing. I should be able to learn if I’m gaining some protection finally from an increase in SCFAs.

It’s quicker than a DEXA to see what is going on. If bone is building or resorbing.

Likewise I will retest kidney function.

I’ve been waiting months for the yogurt maker to come back into stock.

it’s coming in the next week or so. Finally! Then the experiments will begin in earnest.

I have four bifido strains to test individually 🤞it’s quite an ordeal though as lactobacillus is naturally just around us and I don’t want any in the yogurt so it will be lots of heat treating everything and sealing everything to keep it just bifido. Lacto ferments much quicker than bifido so if I get any in there, it’ll quickly turn to a lacto not a bifido yogurt.

Will eat the yogurt for a few months, retest with Zoe (already got it here beside me), do the NTX and GFR test and pray and hope I’m finally getting somewhere.

How do the re-tests from Zoe work? Can you buy them or do you have to wait to get one offered?

They wait about four months before they offer you a chance to retest. Seems like they think it will take that long to see any proper changes. I’ve been reminded quite a few times I must be eating meals of at least 75 every day for weeks if I want to see a difference in the retest which is fair enough.

Is that 75 for the day or individual meals? I manage it most days for a meal but not for the day consistently (yet, I’m going to work on it after Xmas!)

I am off the wagon for Christmas. Tbh I definitely feel worse for it.

Can't wait to get back on it, on 28th when everyone has gone away and things are back to normal.

@Greenthread - yes they emailed me about it and then updated my scores and plan in the app.

@Greenthread i think it was 75 for the day overall but i guess you’re right if it was 75+ at every meal it would probably mean a better set of results coming back.

no pain no gain!

Honestly, I'm feeling despondent.

I had a pretty good diet before doing Zoe. But I learned that my blood sugar control is poor, so I've really changed my diet to reduce carbs, sugar etc and I've more or less given up bread and brown rice. I've added lots of veg. But my scores are still low-ish. I'm struggling to stay above 50 in a day. It seems I'm over-consuming fat, or at least not timing it very well. I'm grumpy from having to think about food all the time, balance my needs with providing a normal-ish diet for the rest of my family, and December is definitely not the easiest month to do it anyway.

And no sign of improvement in my psoriasis yet (how long should I give it, I wonder?)

(My weight, sleep, energy were ok before this - and no change)

I'm getting ticked off sometimes about fat but I'm viewing it as a gradual education tool rather than dogma. I'm in an easier position because DH is onboard too but his scores are worse than mine. No kids at home, dd is back for Xmas and very happy to eat the Zoe black bean and butternut squash dish which DH is cooking at the moment.

My overall score for last week was 70 which I'm quite pleased with as it included some eating out and travel.

Yep….my pain will begin on 27th!

Can you do a screenshot of some of your meals/days?

Maybe some of us can help you?