Has anyone joined the Zoe Programme?

What do you mean by blood fat?

On the first day on Zoe you have to eat three muffins for breakfast and at lunch eat two more. They supply the muffins. After a certain time has elapsed you do a blood test and send it off. They analyse how long it takes your body to clear the fat. Obviously mine didn’t do too well as the results say it’s bad and my blood sugar response is poor. My gut however, is good. It’s a bit confusing to say the least but I’ll stick with it - I hope!!

tickingbird I've taken this from my gut biome report:
ZOE's latest microbiome research was published in a highly
respected journal (Nature Medicine) in January 2021. It showed
that the ratio of “good” to “bad” bugs (your ZOE Microbiome
Score) was superior to gut microbiome diversity for predicting:
blood sugar and fat metabolism, inflammatory measures,
indicators of obesity and cardiometabolic health. Translation:
this score helps you to understand how much your
microbiome supports your metabolic health and the
maintenance of a healthy weight.
Our research suggests that the “good” bugs might help to
control your blood sugar and fat levels. Meanwhile, the “bad”
bugs may undermine this regulation and may actually promote
inflammation in the body.

tickingbird

The problem for me is that my gut health is good but my blood fat and sugar health are very poor. I’m struggling a bit because if something’s ok sugar wise it’s poor fat wise. I need some stodge to fill me up. I like to eat porridge every morning but it spiked my blood sugar really high with the following dip but I now eat it with almond butter and that really helps.

What do you mean by blood fat?

Thanks foxie48
What IS bad gut bacteria - and what is it from?
Or is it really saying bad for YOU?

The problem for me is that my gut health is good but my blood fat and sugar health are very poor. I’m struggling a bit because if something’s ok sugar wise it’s poor fat wise. I need some stodge to fill me up. I like to eat porridge every morning but it spiked my blood sugar really high with the following dip but I now eat it with almond butter and that really helps.

Just picked up an email from Zoe, later on in the year we'll be able to do a retest on our gut biome to see how much it has improved.

Plants is a very wide definition though, includes fruit, veg, herbs, spices, nuts etc and once you have had your gut biome analysed you are told which you should eat more of to increase the range of good bacteria and what to avoid to help decrease your bad bacteria. So it's personalised. I'm now eating things that were not a usual part of my diet. The first available start date for new members is now August.

Oh. Thank you.
I think that's the one thing I'm probably OK at!

Not Spaghetti

Diversity of food, mainly plants. The more diverse our diet the better our gut health - apparently.

What is diversity in the context of this programme please? I've just seen it mentioned on another thread.

Private health care then ?
Go to your pharmacist or gp for advice or google it

Probably not but they were pretty quick to answer my emails before I signed up for the programme so I’d suggest emailing them.

Can you call Zoe tickingbird?
I'd assumed it was an online programme.

I should think it does take that into account and you can always discuss it with them before taking the plunge.

I am also very interested in trying this, I suffer badly with various issues caused by inflammation but I am gluten free - does this programme adapt to take that into account? I haven't eaten gluten for many years and would be very ill if I started again now.

Allsorts In theory, the human body doesn't need carbs, but in practice it's almost impossible not to have some. The body needs energy (calories), but can use fat and protein if necessary.

Nevertheless, nearly all foods contain carbs, including fruit/veg and milk. I've followed a very low carb diet for years, but would find it impossible not to have fruit/veg and dairy.

If you mean the obviously high carb foods like bread, pastry, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals, baked goods, I hardly ever eat them and my health hasn't suffered. My diabetes is usually well-controlled as a result.

PS. I wouldn't recommend anybody eats as few carbs as I do without proper supervision - just making the point that it's possible.

Well done, FionaG I also like the discipline of logging my meals, it's just become a habit now not a chore.

Yes it absolutely suits me as I’m seeing good results with some weight loss and a reduction of those f* it moments when all good intentions going flying out the window! I ate pavlova and berries for the coronation lunch as well as a glass of fizz but then in the evening was back to veg based supper by choice.
The main thing for me was wearing the glucose monitor and seeing just how quickly my glucose spiked after bread and cheese and even a small tube of smarties, no wonder I was practically collapsing sometimes from the wobbles all my life!
When I was 7 (1968) my mother was instructed by a psychiatrist (pretend tummy ache apparently) to make sure I was given plenty of sugar at meals….😳

Allsorts

I thought we all needed carbs esoecially bread, what replaces them with as much nutritional value.

Allsorts
It all depends on the quality of read you eat.

www.sourdough.co.uk/could-eating-sliced-white-bread-be-as-dangerous-for-your-health-as-smoking/

Yes I have. I had the glucose sensor on for the first two weeks and then had to wait a few weeks for my results of blood fat and gut tests. They arrived yesterday.

I have just returned from the shops laden with bags of lentils, veg and Kemchi. I also have bags of assorted nuts, nut butters and fruit. Needless to say everything I love to eat isn’t high scoring but I’m determined to give it a good go.

Can't believe half a teaspoon of butter was enough to "mop up" with 5 spears of asparagus Fiona!

My problem is obviously portion control!
Sounds like this system suits you.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202305/medium-233720-img-6463.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202305/medium-786469-img-6465.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202305/medium-860369-img-6466.png

15 mins a day possibly. I don’t have breakfast so have lunch, late afternoon snack (my danger time so best to have something sensible if I can) and supper at 8. Log straight after food so I don’t forget, I do skip the odd day if we are out or I forget!
Todays lunch scored 60 because I couldn’t leave the asparagus butter without mopping it up but had nuts just before so day score is good. I aim for 75 out of 100 but sometimes fail 😉

Well done Fiona
How much time do ^you* spend logging and reading would you say?

I’m officially a Zoe master now! Yesterday was my last lesson although I have signed up for the full year to take advantage of using the app for logging and keeping access to the info.
I am by nature an emotional binge eater and this programme has helped me tremendously to move to healthy eating, less snacking and hardly any binging. Last night for example I was unable to sleep for a while and my default would have been to go and eat a cheese sandwich whereas I thought about my scores and my blood sugar and the fact I wasn’t hungry and took no action!
I happily cook slightly different meals for myself and my husband, a few tweaks with extra lentils, less meat and more veg for me and I love the logging as I can see how well I have done. I also have had a few extra glucose monitors as I react to sugar and simple carbs with crashes post meals ( I have discovered that I have reactive hypoglycaemia from this programme and can now manage it with the knowledge I have gained)
For me worth every penny and I have definitely saved money as I don’t buy processed foods or alcohol anymore

Allsorts - Is this all about carbohydrates?
Genuine question.
I thought Zoe was more detailed than that?