ZOE Science &amp; Nutrition

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Nov 3, 2026 14 min

Inside the daily routine of the world’s best nutrition doctor - the 6 things you need every day to cut your risk of cancer & dementia

Show notes

What does a healthy daily routine really look like?

In this episode, world-leading nutritionist Dr Federica Amati shares what she eats in a day, from breakfast to dinner, and her six everyday habits that may lower your risk of cancer, dementia and help you live longer. No 4am alarms, cryotherapy chambers, or other protocols - you’ll learn simple tips and trends you can skip.

Federica walks us through a normal day, from waking up to bedtime, and gives you six pillars of a healthy lifestyle to focus on to reduce your risk of chronic disease.

Learn how Federica builds a healthy morning routine that cuts your chronic disease risk by 80%, how to put together a quick lunch, pick snacks that keep you full, and slip oily fish into meals you already love. Plus, her simple wind-down rules for better sleep.

Which big habits are you missing while you chase the small ones?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:45 Circadian rhythms: what your hormones expect every 24 hours

06:50 The 6 lifestyle habits that prevent 80% of chronic disease

10:10 Why sleep scientists want to scrap the clock change

13:14 Coffee on an empty stomach: science vs. social media myths

14:46 Is eating the exact same breakfast every day bad for you?

16:57 The high-protein, high-fibre breakfast you can make in seconds

19:05 The no-cook lunch for busy workdays

20:35 Are pre-cooked grain pouches healthy?

23:10 Does microwaving fermented foods destroy their benefits?

25:26 The science of beans: how fibre shuts down hunger for hours

28:23 Why sandwiches cause an afternoon energy crash

32:17 Is pasta actually bad for you?

36:04 The real reason you feel starving at 3 pm

38:14 Nutritionist-approved snacks: sweet & savoury ideas that work

40:22 The clinical evidence on red meat & cancer risk

41:15 SMASH: the 5 oily fish to eat for omega-3

44:38 Tinned tuna: mercury risk & missing healthy fats

46:52 Which cooking oil should you use?

49:19 Do gut microbes control your food cravings?

50:45 The overnight fast: should you eat dinner earlier?

52:50 The 1 screen habit that beats any sleep routine

54:29 The healthy habit wellness influencers get wrong about longevity

58:16 The single most overlooked life skill that makes healthy food cheaper

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

Daylight-saving Time & Health Identifying Beneficial & Adverse Effects, Eur J Epidemiol (2026)

The Interplay between Early Mealtime, Circadian Rhythms, Gene Expression, Circadian Hormones, and Metabolism⁠, Clocks & sleep (2023)

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 29, 2026 1 hr

Most replayed moment: Why appreciating flavour could stop you overeating | Spencer Hyman & Professor Tim Spector

Show notes

Why is it so hard to stop eating certain foods? Most of us assume it comes down to willpower. But according to today’s guests, the answer may actually lie in the difference between taste and flavour. Because while those two words sound interchangeable, they describe very different experiences.

Taste is often engineered - carefully designed by big food companies to keep us craving more. Flavour, on the other hand, is something deeper. It’s the rich, complex experience that comes from high-quality produce.

Today, Spencer Hyman and Professor Tim Spector explain how ultra-processed foods manipulate our brains and why rediscovering flavour could help us eat less without feeling deprived. They’ll reveal practical ways that you can retrain your palate and reconnect with real food.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 27, 2026 15 min

How to use food as medicine to reverse disease in months - the top 5 foods you must eat to live longer | Dr Dariush Mozaffarian

Show notes

Can using food as medicine protect your heart health, prevent chronic disease, and help you live longer?

In this episode, leading cardiologist and Director of the Food is Medicine Institute, Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, explains how modern diets increase your risk of heart attacks and why standard medical advice often falls short.

Dariush looks at how past dietary guidelines shaped today’s food system and why shifting focus to whole, protective foods improves your health. He also explains why counting calories fails, shows how ultra-processed foods took over our food supply, and asks whether saturated fat deserves its reputation as a cause of heart disease.

Through the idea that food is medicine, you’ll learn how to adopt healthy eating habits by identifying protective foods - forming practical diet shifts that can control your blood sugar, lower cholesterol, support your gut health, and cut your risk of heart attacks and strokes.

What if the most effective prescription for a longer, healthier life is already on your plate?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:22 Is a poor diet deadlier than smoking?

09:13 Why the foods you're missing may harm you more than junk food

10:33 Could diet prevent half of all heart attacks and strokes?

11:29: Can diet reverse gut problems in months?

14:25 Why diet-related disease exploded in just 35 years

15:40 Nutrition science is younger than you think

17:51 Why poor nutrition became a national security threat in 1941

19:27 Why do we refine grains, then put the vitamins back in?

21:03 How bomb factories changed the food on your plate

24:46 Why did we go low-fat? The 1980 dietary guidelines mistake

26:45 Did tobacco companies really own food brands?

31:09 The 3 things driving the rise of chronic disease

33:52 Is fat really the problem?

36:38 Exercising more but still gaining weight? Here's why

37:33 Has our resting energy expenditure gone down?

39:28 Is modern food starving your gut microbes?

41:02 Are dietary guidelines any good? A cardiologist’s verdict

43:02 What do dietary guidelines say to avoid?

45:37 Do we really need more protein?

47:21 Healthy eating made simple: 3 food groups to know

48:17 How many calories does your gut microbiome digest?

52:29 Is red meat bad for you?

54:11 Is saturated fat bad for your heart?

56:21 How to lower cholesterol with food: a cardiologist's 2 tips

57:13 Should your doctor prescribe food?

1:00:37 Can we fix the food system in 10 years?

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode
Food Additives: Emerging Detrimental Roles on Gut Health, FASEB journal (2025)

Diet Is the Single Most Important Predictor of Health, Alternative and Complementary Therapies (2019)

Total daily energy expenditure has declined over the past three decades, Nat Metab (2023)

Oct 22, 2026 1 hr 3 min

Most replayed moment: Why fermented foods are the future of gut health | Professor Tim Spector

Show notes

Fermented foods have evolved from a niche health trend into a supermarket staple. Kefir, kimchi, kombucha. Our shelves are now filled with products rich in beneficial bacteria.

But with so many options to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Today, Professor Tim Spector shares simple, practical ways to incorporate fermented foods into your daily meals. He’ll also show why fermenting at home is much easier than most people think, taking us inside his fridge to demonstrate how to make four of his favourite homemade ferments.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 20, 2026 15 min

The 9 best foods to beat the winter blues, end brain fog and stop anxiety | Prof Tim Spector

Show notes

Can what you eat protect your memory, ease brain fog, and lift your mood?

For a long time, we thought the brain was separate from the rest of the body. It's easy to assume that mood, energy, and memory have little to do with what's on your plate.

But in today's episode, one of the world’s leading experts in nutrition, Professor Tim Spector, explains how your gut health shapes your brain health. From low energy and anxiety today to dementia in later years, he shares what to eat to protect your brain throughout your life. Tim shares nine foods to add to your diet - from mushrooms and eggs to tofu and fermented foods - with easy ways to eat more of them, all drawn from his new book, Good Mood Food.

By the end of the episode, you will have learned quick, budget-friendly recipes that support the gut-brain connection and will clearly understand the four principles you need to start boosting brain function today.

What if your tiredness, brain fog, and low mood are linked to the food on your plate? What might change if you ate differently for two weeks?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:24 Why better gut health shows up in your brain first

06:05 Gut-brain connection explained: the vagus nerve is 80% gut to brain

10:30 Is the “chemical imbalance” theory of mental illness wrong?

12:28 What a week of fried chicken does to your brain

15:20 How a gut-friendly diet sends calming signals to your brain

17:17 How inflammation and blood sugar spikes damage brain cells

19:33 Does type 2 diabetes really triple dementia risk?

23:03 SMILES trial: can a gut-friendly diet ease depression?

26:06 How many plants should you eat per week? 30 or 40?

28:22 Why ultra-processed food is bad for your brain:t’s not just additives

29:56 Can intermittent fasting lift your mood?

32:44 Always tired? Why it might be a brain signal

36:19 Healthy comfort food: mac and cheese, fish and chips

39:16 Are mushrooms linked to 25% lower dementia risk?

42:18 Are eggs good for brain health? How many a week is OK?

44:03 Best omega-3 foods for brain health: the SMASH fish rule

46:27 Is tofu good for your brain? How to cook it in 30 seconds

49:52 Do herbs and spices help your brain? What we know so far

52:10 Is your brain really made of fat? Why nuts and seeds matter

54:29 Do you need to soak beans and lentils for hours?

56:41 Don’t pour away chickpea water: egg white swap

58:52 Does heating fermented foods kill the benefits? Postbiotics explained

1:00:17 Where to start for better mood and brain health: try this for 2 weeks

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

The ZOE METHOD study, ZOE (2024)

Daily30: Does it work?, ZOE (2026)

ZOE’s Fermented Food study, ZOE (2025)

The ‘SMILES’ trial, BMC Med (2017)

Type 2 Diabetes and Dementia, J Int Neuropsychol Soc (2004)

The Big IF Study, ZOE (2023)

Mushroom Consumption and Dementia, J Am Geriatr Soc (2017)

Egg Consumption and Brain Function, Nutrients (2024)

Tofu Consumption and Reduced Cancer Risk, Nutrients (2024)

Unlocking Saffron’s Potential in Brain Health⁠, Cureus (2025)

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 15, 2026 1 hr 5 min

Most replayed moment: Sleep myths that are ruining your rest | Dr Sophie Bostock

Show notes

Sleep. It’s a bizarre process when you think about it. We lie down, close our eyes, and before we know it, we’re waking up the next morning with a head full of hazy dreams.

Because of its mysterious nature, sleep has long been surrounded by all kinds of strange ideas and theories about what might help or harm it. From cheese causing nightmares to turkey making you sleepy.

So today I’m joined by sleep expert Dr Sophie Bostock to separate fact from fiction. She’ll debunk common sleep myths and share simple, practical tips you can use tonight to improve your sleep.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 13, 2026 15 min

How to build muscle & stay strong at any age: The surprising links between your gut health, strength training and healthy ageing | Prof Claire Steves & Prof Tim Spector

Show notes

How do you build muscle and stay strong as you age?

For most of us, muscle loss starts in our 30s. It’s easy to think that you can combat this and stay strong into old age by strength training and eating plenty of protein.

Exercise and macros matter, but scientists are uncovering another important piece of the puzzle - a direct connection between your gut health and healthy ageing. It could change how we think about staying strong as we get older.

In today's episode, Professor Claire Steves - a world-leading expert in ageing and health - and Professor Tim Spector explore the gut-muscle axis - how your gut microbiome influences your muscle health. They explain why maximum protein doesn't mean maximum muscle, how gut bacteria ‘talk’ to muscle tissue, and why an unhealthy gut can make muscles resistant to growth.

For listeners looking for simple ways to support their muscles today, this episode includes practical advice you can easily fit into your routine. Claire and Tim share quick daily habits and explain how to get your protein from diverse plant sources.

Could changing what you feed your gut microbes today be the key to keeping your body strong for decades to come?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:08 Why muscle matters for healthy aging, not just the gym

06:37 The hidden organ: how your muscles talk to your body

10:35 Why it gets harder to keep muscle as you age

11:37 Can you have a 20-year-old's muscles at 70?

13:29 Can muscle loss increase your risk of cancer?

15:51 Why skinny doesn't mean healthy

17:40 What is sarcopenia?

20:52 How 4 days of bed rest can shrink your muscles

23:31 Gut-muscle axis: how gut bacteria talk to your muscles

23:53 Why protein stops working as you age

26:11 Can improving your gut health build stronger muscles?

28:57 Can strength training change your gut microbiome?

30:57 Can the Mediterranean diet make your legs stronger?

34:01 The diet trial that improved muscle and bones, no gym

34:55 Is there a magic gut bug for building muscle?

39:38 Intermittent fasting: should you exercise before breakfast?

44:43 Can too much protein weaken your muscles?

46:32 How much protein do you really need per day?

49:20 The best protein foods to feed your gut and muscles

52:26 Carnivore diet: what meat and shakes do to your gut

53:46 Strength training, cardio or balance: what do you need?

56:04 The easy 2-minute toothbrush habit for better muscle health

57:21 Key takeaways: muscles, microbes, and the protein myth26:11 Can improving your gut health build stronger muscles?

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

Master Cyclist Study, King’s College London (2018)

Physical Activity and Reduced Cancer Risk, Nat Rev Cancer (2008)

Bed Rest and Muscle Loss, Diabetes (2016)

Microbiome Interventions and Inflammation, Cureus (2025)

The Gut Microbiome and Muscle Strength, BMC Geriatr (2021)

Resistance Training Reshapes the Gut Microbiome, Sports Med Open (2026)

The Mediterranean Diet and Muscle Strength, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice (2025)

Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Muscle Mass, J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle (2024)

Mitochondrial Properties in Skeletal Muscle Fiber⁠, Cells (2023)

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 8, 2026 1 hr 2 min

Most replayed moment: How to stop fighting your body clock | Prof. Debra Skene

Show notes

Every one of us runs on a biological rhythm - a finely tuned system that controls when we feel alert, when we feel tired, and even how we process food.

But here’s the problem: modern life doesn’t always respect this rhythm. Late nights, early alarms, and irregular meals put many of us out of sync with our own biology.

I’m joined by Professor Debra Skene to explain why this mismatch matters, and how you can transform your health by aligning your lifestyle with your internal ticker.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 6, 2026 11 min

How to eat to lower inflammation - the top 5 foods to boost energy, stop pain, and to live longer | Prof Luke O’Neill

Show notes

Most of us think of inflammation when an ankle swells or a cut turns red. It’s our body’s immune system, and without it, we couldn't fight infections or repair injuries.

But when it stays switched on, this chronic inflammation can drain your energy, can affect your health over the years, and even lead to heart disease. Eventually, 1 in 3 of us will develop an inflammatory disease.

In today's episode, Professor Luke O'Neill - one of the world's top 1% immunologists - explains why that matters and what you can do about it. He explores how everyday foods can push inflammation up, or help calm it. He also explains why balance matters more than banning foods like sugar, red meat, gluten, and dairy. As for your gut, you’ll learn how anti-inflammatory foods like plants, fibre, and a healthy microbiome can help keep inflammation down.

By the end of the episode, you'll know how to eat, rest, and enjoy life in ways that can keep inflammation in check.

Could the way you eat help your body's healer do its job without going into overdrive?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:14 Why 1 in 3 people will get an inflammatory disease

06:49 When inflammation turns from healing to harmful

10:23 Why does your immune system now damage your heart and brain?

13:46 Why does chronic inflammation make you so tired?

15:35 The link between depression and inflammation explained

18:10 Does inflammation speed up ageing?

19:56 Testing for chronic inflammation - what CRP tells you

23:01 Does belly fat cause inflammation? What Ozempic reveals

25:46 Does your gut microbiome affect inflammation?

28:04 Are ultra-processed foods inflammatory? Sugar and fat explained

30:18 Does sugar make inflammation worse?

33:15 Insulin resistance and inflammation

35:07 Fructose: fruit vs processed food

39:35 Is red meat inflammatory? How much is too much

41:52 Does gluten cause inflammation?

44:29 Does dairy cause inflammation?

46:13 Seed oils and inflammation

46:40 The anti-inflammatory diet

49:38 Anti-inflammatory plants: how willow bark led to aspirin

51:32 Do polyphenols fight inflammation?

53:44 Do anti-inflammatory supplements work? Are they worth it?

54:34 How to reduce inflammation today: why morning sunshine matters

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

Daily 30: Does it work?

The Mediterranean diet and CRP levels, Nutrients (2018)

Metabolic Reprogramming in Stromal and Immune Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis, European Journal of Immunology, (2025)
Episode transcripts are available here.

Oct 1, 2026 1 hr

Most replayed moment: The hidden dangers of hearing loss | Prof. Marcelo Rivolta

Show notes

The world around us is louder than ever. From booming speakers to roaring traffic, our ears can take quite a beating. But have you ever stopped to consider the long-term impact of all this noise?

Because hearing loss isn’t just about your ears. Emerging research suggests it could also affect your brain health in surprising ways.

I’m joined by Professor Marcelo Rivolta to explore how noise exposure can cause lasting damage. He shares the early warning signs to look out for, what to do if your hearing begins to decline, and simple steps you can take to protect these vital organs on the side of your head.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 29, 2026 9 min

Inside Tim Spector’s weekly food shop - 6 grocery rules to lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart disease risk | Prof Tim Spector & Prof Sarah Berry

Show notes

Supermarket shelves are full of foods promising to be healthy: high-protein, low-fat, gluten-free, sugar-free. How do you know what's true?

Today, Professors Tim Spector and Sarah Berry, world-leading experts in nutrition and diet, share the six rules they use for their own weekly grocery shopping. They cover which food labels are worth trusting and which are just marketing scams, how to make snacking a part of a healthy diet, and why your daily staples, like bread, matter more than the occasional treat.

By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what to reach for on your next shop, and what to leave on the shelf.

How many "healthy" scams are sitting in your basket?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

03:20 Why supermarkets stock 30,000 products (and why that's bad for you)

08:10 Is low-fat food actually healthy? A nutrition scientist explains

11:39 Why 'sugar-free' labels should make you suspicious

14:48 Why this professor avoids gluten-free food (unless you need it)

16:40 The protein label that tricks 70% of shoppers into buying junk food

19:27 How a cheap dairy waste product got rebranded as a health food

21:59 How many ingredients are really in a bag of Pringles?

24:37 The 30-second trick to spot ultra-processed food at the shop

27:33 How to tell a healthy granola from a fake one

29:24 Is cheese actually bad for your heart? Doctors got this wrong

33:37 The snack swap that cut heart disease risk by 30% in a real study

38:36 The 6 everyday foods that matter most for your long-term health

41:08 The simple fiber-to-carb ratio for picking a healthy bread

43:43 The 'unhealthy' breakfast a nutrition scientist admits to craving

46:47 Switching to whole grain could lower your risk of dying early

49:42 The label trick that makes fake kefir look healthy

50:07 What to check on a kombucha label before you buy it

52:51 Why 30 plants a week beats the old '5 a day' rule

53:42 The 'diversity jar' hack for hitting 30 plants a week fast

55:45 The pantry staple that quietly boosts your plant count

57:10 The most underrated vegetable for lowering blood pressure

59:56 The 6 rules two nutrition scientists use to shop for food

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

The effect of snacking on nuts on heart health, The American journal of clinical nutrition (2020)

Low fat diets for long-term weight loss, The Lancet (2015)

Wholegrain consumption and all cause mortality, BMJ (2016)

ZOE Snacking Study

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 24, 2026 1 hr 3 min

Most replayed moment: What your wearable is really telling you | Dr Malcolm Finlay

Show notes

From smartwatches to fitness trackers, more of us than ever are monitoring our health in real time. With just a glance at our wrist, we can check our step count, sleep quality, heart rate and, more recently, something called HRV.

But what do these numbers actually mean? And more importantly, how can we use them to improve our lives?

I’m joined by Dr Malcolm Finlay to break down the data behind the devices. He explains how to turn confusing metrics into meaningful action. helping you adjust your training, manage stress, and make smarter decisions for your health.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 22, 2026 15 min

Is your gut the secret to anti-aging? 6 science-backed ways to boost your bone strength, muscle, and balance | Prof Elaine Dennison

Show notes

Picture the sound of a bone snapping - the kind of sound that makes you wince - and ask yourself how often you’ve thought about your bone health.

Most of us only think about bone density when something breaks. Until then, your bones stay almost invisible, carrying you through every day.

In today’s episode, Professor Elaine Dennison, a world-leading expert in bone health, explains why that needs to change, why stronger bones are key to living more healthy years, and why declining bone health isn’t inevitable. Elaine explains why it’s not just about avoiding broken bones, but about learning to understand one of the most important living tissues in your body.

By the end of the episode, you’ll know exactly how to protect your bones so they can look after you now and for many years to come.

Could your bones be the missing anti-aging link you’ve been missing?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

03:05 Are your bones dead tissue? The truth about bone biology

08:08 Peak bone mass: the age your bones stop getting stronger

11:06 What is osteoporosis? The condition you won't feel coming

14:01 Spinal fractures and death risk: what the research shows

15:53 What does osteoporosis do to your bones? The honeycomb explanation

17:46 Fragility fractures: why older adults break bones from a simple fall

20:02 Bone marrow function: what your bones do for your immune system

22:48 The gut-bone axis: how gut health affects bone health

27:01 Does stress affect bone health? The cortisol connection

29:45 Is alcohol good or bad for bone health? The surprising answer

30:16 Does extra weight protect your bones? What the science says

32:13 GLP-1 drugs and bone health: the risk no one's talking about

33:21 Muscle loss and bone density: why they're linked

35:37 DEXA scan: the only way to know your bone density

39:06 Osteoporosis medication: how doctors treat bone loss

40:51 Best exercise for bone density: why walking isn't enough

42:54 How much calcium do you need a day for strong bones?

44:04 Vitamin D and bone health: why you need it to absorb calcium

45:41 Why vitamin D deficiency is common in sunny Australia

47:22 Does HRT protect your bones? The benefits and risks explained

48:31 Do weighted vests improve bone density? What the evidence shows

49:44 How to improve bone health: the first steps to take

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

The effect of Daily30 on Gut Health, Energy Levels, and Hunger in Healthy Adults, Cambridge University Press (2026)

Mortality Rate in Patients with Vertebral Compression Fractures, Geriatric orthopaedic surgery & rehabilitation (2023)

The Influence of the Mediterranean Diet on Bone Health, Nutrients (2023)

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 17, 2026 55 min

Most replayed moment: How to build a better breakfast | Prof. Ben Gardner & Tim Spector

Show notes

We’ve all heard the saying: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And while it may sound like a cliché, there’s some truth to it. Because for many of us, breakfast is the one meal we keep the same - day after day, morning after morning.

This consistency means our breakfast choices have a powerful influence on our long-term health.

So, today I’m joined by Tim Spector and behaviour expert Professor Ben Gardner to share practical ways to break out of unhealthy routines and build a breakfast habit that will support you every single morning.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 15, 2026 14 min

The science behind food that isn’t food, why you love it and why you should not fear it all | Prof Tim Spector & Prof Sarah Berry

Show notes

Are some of your "healthy" foods actually high-risk ultra-processed foods?

For decades, nutrition advice seemed relatively straightforward. Eat less sugar. Less salt. Less saturated fat. Then it all fell apart.

In today’s episode, we examine the research that has forced us to rethink what makes food harmful in the first place. Two of the world’s leading nutrition scientists, Professor Tim Spector and Professor Sarah Berry, tell their own story of why they’ve changed their minds about it.

We explore why sugar, salt and fat aren’t the whole story, explain why ultra-processed foods are making us sick, and share groundbreaking insight that only a small portion of them are really harmful.

By the end of the episode, you’ll know what to watch out for and what to worry less about when you’re food shopping.

Next time you reach for a "healthy" yogurt or a quick pasta sauce, would you still choose it if you knew exactly how it was made?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

02:24 The biggest myth about spotting ultra-processed food

07:52 How much of your diet is actually ultra-processed

12:09 Why people ate 500 more calories on ultra-processed food

13:47 The study that changed how scientists see ultra-processed food

17:52 The hidden artificial sweeteners nobody noticed they were eating

20:29 What sweeteners did to mice in this gut bacteria experiment

23:57 What emulsifiers might be doing to your gut lining

28:27 Why food additive combinations are impossible to track

31:30 Can food texture alone change how much you eat?

33:08 Two ultra-processed diets, 369 calories apart

37:10 How the tobacco industry invented food's "bliss point"

39:33 Why hyperpalatable food makes you eat the whole bag

42:17 Does skipping cakes and soda avoid ultra-processed food?

46:38 The "ultra-processed" foods that are actually protective

48:32 How ZOE built its own ultra-processed food risk score

51:01 Why 72 calories a minute is one sign of a risky food

53:48 The 25% of ultra-processed food causing most of the harm

56:11 The one-question test for spotting ultra-processed food

59:32 ZOE says 25% of food is high risk, not NOVA's 60%

01:01:54 Why some "healthy" yogurts are full of hidden sweeteners

01:03:16 Why children's food is designed to make kids overeat

01:05:41 Two pestos, one full of hidden sweeteners

01:10:20 Ultra-processed food uses the same trick as cigarettes

01:11:41 Why you shouldn't fear all processed food

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE’s PREDICT studies: What we’ve learned

Mentioned in today's episode

Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain, Cell (2019)

Personalized microbiome-driven effects of sweeteners, Cell (2022)

Food Emulsifiers and Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of the Gut Microbiota, Foods (2022)

NutriNet-Santé Study

Eating rate has sustained effects on energy intake from ultraprocessed diets, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2026)

The role of hyper-palatable foods in energy intake, Eating Behaviours (2025)

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 10, 2026 1 hr 14 min

Most replayed moment: The hormone that controls your weight | Dr Andrew Jenkinson

Show notes

Floating through all of our bodies is a complex network of hormones. You can think of it as an internal postal service, delivering vital messages and instructions to different organs and systems.

But what happens if these messages get intercepted, mixed up, or worse, not delivered at all?

In this episode, Dr Andrew Jenkinson tells us about a hormone that plays a crucial role in weight regulation and the undesirable consequences when it isn’t functioning properly.

He also shares three simple tips you can do tomorrow to make sure your hormones support your health.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here

Listen to the full episodehttps://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zoe-science-nutrition/id1611216298?i=1000621753479 here

Sep 8, 2026 12 min

The secret to coping with stress - how to protect your brain and body, and feel calmer now | Prof Carmine Pariante

Show notes

Growing up, many of us were taught to just stay calm and carry on - as if stress was all in the mind, with no real effect on the body. But chronic stress can change your brain, raise your risk of heart disease, and even shorten your life.

In this episode, we ask: what happens when a stress response built to last minutes never switches off?

Today, Professor Carmine Pariante, one of the world's leading researchers on stress, helps us understand what’s happening in your body during a stressful moment and why chronic stress disrupts sleep, appetite, and energy levels. Carmine also explains how worried you should be about cortisol, and whether "cortisol face" and "cortisol belly" are backed by evidence.

By the end, you’ll understand why stress can be so powerful, when it becomes harmful, and have some evidence-based ways to manage it.

Next time you reach for wine, your phone, or something sweet after a hard day, ask yourself: is this helping you cope, or helping you avoid how you feel?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

01:10 Should you be aiming for zero stress?

06:13 Inside your fight-or-flight response

11:19 Can stress actually cause a heart attack?

13:15 Why your stress response won't switch off

15:33 Why stress eating isn't a willpower problem

17:15 Why emotional stress feels physical

21:00 The earliest sign of chronic stress

22:05 There's no such thing as "it's all in your head"

25:15 Stress causes the same inflammation as a cold

29:54 The blunt truth about chronic stress

31:07 How stress clogs your arteries

32:55 Why chronic stress can steal your joy

35:10 What a brain scan reveals about chronic stress

37:07 Is "cortisol face" actually real?

38:49 Does the viral cortisol cocktail actually work?

41:20 Why control is the key to coping with stress

42:46 How singing for one hour lowered cortisol

45:15 Why exercise is such powerful stress relief

47:57 Foods with the strongest evidence against stress

49:45 Why alcohol doesn't actually relieve stress

50:58 Is your phone making your stress worse?

54:04 The first thing to do when stress overwhelms you

56:06 Why modern life never switches your stress off

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

Free resources from ZOE

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Mentioned in today's episode

Effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on depressive symptom severity, The American Journal of Psychiatry (2025)

Implementing a group singing intervention for depression, Frontiers in Medicine (2024)

The Relationship between Diet and the Occurrence of Depressive Symptoms, Nutrients (2023)

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us knowhere.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Sep 3, 2026 1 hr

Most replayed moment: The hidden battle inside your gut | Tim Spector & Nicola Segata

Show notes

Today we’re talking about gut microbes.

Professor Tim Spector often refers to the microbes in our gut as ‘mini pharmacies’. This is because they provide us with powerful chemicals that help support our health.

But not all gut microbes are on our side. In fact, there’s an ongoing battle in our digestive system between the beneficial bugs and those that wish to do us harm.

I’m joined by Tim Spector and microbiome researcher Nicola Segata join me to explore this microscopic war, and explain how simple changes to your diet could help tip the balance toward the good guys.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE onInstagram.
📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Free resources from ZOE

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition