The ZOE Programme

You'll find a couple of good review threads on Mumsnet and also the site called Reddit. Quite a few people on Mumsnet say Zoe is too expensive and you might as well get a glucose sensor yourself (Freestyle Fibre) for a fraction of the price and do the measurements yourself but obviously that doesn't include the blood test or biome test..

I joined Zoe just before Christmas and so far, have found it hard going with the expectations that you should use your smartphone a great deal. The Zoe app itself and the app which relates to the glucose sensor both want to be constantly updating and I am still struggling to get assistance with the sensor which won't work with my phone. Their customer service is very busy and so answers are patchy to questions. It's also quite time consuming getting set up and completing the blood test and the gut biome test. So far, I feel it's expensive and is quite stressful. I hate watching videos and the instructions are complicated and on video as well as paper and take quite a bit of time to complete.
Just my opinion. I did hear a discussion recently on the radio about glucose testing and health and one health scientist commented that Zoe was a wellness company not really a research company and I can understand that more deeply now.

Thank you vey much for your quick reply. I’m particularly interested in the gut analysis side of it.
If I could just get the test and retest for that I probably would.

I’ve watched a few reviews on YouTube and they all say that it is quite time consuming which I’m OK with.
I have a small phone and one of my concerns is that it might be a bit fiddly to log everything. It seems odd that the app isn’t supported on the iPad.

I will take a look at Mumsnet and Reddit - thank you.

Has it inspired you to make any changes to your diet Notagranyet24 ?

I’ve done it, quite a while ago now though. I couldn’t keep up with logging everything I ate but I believe it does get quicker and easier if you stick with it as my DD has done. There is now the cheaper option but I don’t think it includes any tests. The basic principles have stuck with me and I’ve lost weight though my prime motivation was to increase energy levels which it has. The blood sugar monitor was very interesting and confirmed some things I already knew. You do need to be fully committed to get the most value from it and would be much more difficult if you were doing it as a family I think.

Notagran Do you just want a microbiome test? If so, I can tell you where I got mine done.

Thank you Abitbarmy overall a success for you then👍

Yes please * Sparklfizz* Was it a help to you?

Yes I’d say so, also I’m pretty sure I used my iPad not my iPhone without any issues.

Notagran55 I've listened to the Zoe podcasts and I subscribe to their regular email and I've learned a lot from that and yes, I have made changes to my diet even though I have always cooked a lot and paid attention to the quality of food.

The phone thing is driving me mad at the moment!

I think it’s expensive and preaching to the converted (middle classes) and many people can’t afford the £300 set up or even the monthly fee which they have just dropped to £10. I do have the app for recipe ideas, and I think the gut microbiome is interesting.

NotAGran55

Thank you Abitbarmy overall a success for you then👍

Yes please * Sparklfizz* Was it a help to you?

I found having my microbiome tested very helpful because I have a gut condition called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency whereby my pancreas has stopped producing digestive enzymes. This has caused multiple gut problems and malnourishment and food intolerances. The NHS prescribes replacement enzymes, the dosages of which are hit and miss and even my gastroenterologist doesn't seem to have much of a clue. I've had to be proactive and do my own research.

I had my test via Atlas Biomed
www.instagram.com/atlasbiomed/?hl=en

I subscribed to Zoe on a four month subscription, found all the test results fascinating and because I've got several friends who have also done it, it's interesting to see how our results were all very different. I didn't find the food logging that difficult, I did find the daily lessons a bit tedious but they are very quick to do and you can skip them. More than a year on since I stopped paying but I still follow the programme and have found it interesting. It's not a weight loss programme but lots of people do lose weight.

PS. NotaGran55 I have also had a test via this one which is equally good.
www.chucklinggoat.co.uk/product/microbiome-test-kit/

I go to an independent Healthy Lifestyle group who apply the principles of Zoe using the research findings. Personally I cannot stand fermented products except yogurt and sour dough bread. I have not tried to discover the nature of my gut biome as our consultant has. I am hoping for the best in that area. I think you take the best out of it for yourself. We have applied the Mediterranean diet for a long while now too. I am still overweight but managing to maintain a 3 stone loss over the last few years.

Thank you all very much for all the information, I really appreciate it. There’s nothing quite like personal experiences.

I’ve been dithering for a while and have decided to start it.

Ever since having great success and being inspired by Michael Moseley’s ‘Clever Guts’ book 7 years ago I’ve wanted to have the gut biome test. There’s a history of gut related diseases in my family and I have always been aware of healthy eating.

I’m fascinated to know what my results will be, and have decided to subscribe to the one with the retest. The blood sugar monitoring and support will be a bonus.

The Atlas Biomed company seems to have disappeared? Thank you for the recommendations Sparklefizz I’m sticking with ZOE as it’s better value at the moment and I contributed to the COVID research they did.

Thanks again.

I've followed it's posts online since COVID and am not uninterested but I can't help noticing how unwell Dr Tim looks. He's got thinner, paler and more drawn looking. Not a great advert for their diet regime.

I’ve just looked at the chuckling goat and it makes Zoe seem cheap for what it offers.

I am listening to the book at present, and have the Food for Life Cookbook. I find the subject of gut biome fascinating.

Aveline

I've followed it's posts online since COVID and am not uninterested but I can't help noticing how unwell Dr Tim looks. He's got thinner, paler and more drawn looking. Not a great advert for their diet regime.

He'd be upset to hear that Aveline, he thinks he is so much healthier.
I heard him on a radio programme talking about being away skiing, aged 21, and hearing that his father had died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 57. It was before the days of mobile phones and it took him 4 days to get home! Then he had his own mini stroke in 2011, you can imagine why he ended up in health research.

Did anyone listen to the podcast in which Tim Spector said they’re pretty certain now that covid did originate from a laboratory in China? And yet I’m not aware that anything has been said in the news and nothing seems to have been done to prevent something similar happening again.

Zoe is far too expensive

It is easy to find a microbiome profile test kit from a uk company and research gut bacteria yourself online to see how to build up a wide variety of bacteria

It will happen naturally by eating wholefoods and fermented foods of different types, also vegetables and fruit. Bacteria needs pre biotics, food for bacteria

Personally I make my own kefir and ferments and took a microbiome test after a brutal course of antibiotics. Overall picture was low because that antibiotic was wide spectrum and damaged my microbiome. I then upped the ferments etc and did another test three months later. Bacteria variety was back to high. Hence my energy, good immunity and upbeat mood

I do know what I am doing btw

re fermented foods, they need to be unpasteurised eg yeo yoghurt

MayBee70

Did anyone listen to the podcast in which Tim Spector said they’re pretty certain now that covid did originate from a laboratory in China? And yet I’m not aware that anything has been said in the news and nothing seems to have been done to prevent something similar happening again.

Was that a recent podcast Maybee because I was looking this up recently and found several articles, one was in The Lancet saying that it was impossible to ever be able to say where Covid originated.
The article partly blamed the Chinese for this, saying that they had deliberately hidden or destroyed early evidence and even now, the Chinese won't cooperate with international efforts to investigate.
I keep hearing though about researchers working hard on identifying viruses likely to cause a pandemic and on developing vaccines.
If the Chinese really did develop Covid and it escaped their labs, well, I think there's lots of research on biological weapons in most developed countries so with the way of the world now, I imagine something similar might well happen. Horrible thought.

I can’t remember when I heard it or which podcast it was included in. I’ll see if I can find it. I haven’t listened to them recently.

20/11/24 I was sent one about Covid. It must have been included in that one.

Notagranyet24 have you managed to get your phone link sorted out yet? I do hope so.