What is the ZOE personalized nutrition program? 

I refer to the ZOE personalized nutrition program a lot around this blog and you'll see screenshots from the app in most of the recipes. Why? Because thanks to the ZOE method, I made some big changes in my health in just five months. In fact, I can confidently say that ZOE has changed my life. Please note that I'm a paid member of ZOE and they have neither endorsed nor sponsored this blog. If you're interested in joining and want $35 off, follow this link.
In October of 2022, I discovered that I was prediabetic (only just, but that scared me) and my cholesterol was too high. I joined ZOE in November 2022 and by April 2023, here's what happened: 


A1c of 5.7 - 6.4 = prediabetic. I am no longer in that range! 





My bad (LDL) cholesterol is down! Still some work to do, but much better.



After struggling with perimenopausal weight gain for the last 2 years, I've lost about 12 lbs (5.5 kg).

One caveat to the weight loss story: I did three rounds of the Prolon 5-day fast-mimicking diet during this period (February, March, and April). I know that those fasts helped push me past weight-loss plateaus, not to mention all the other benefits of an extended fast (hello incredible skin and clear eyes!). I'm also an intermittent-fasting convert: I try to eat everything within a six-hour window and let my body rest for the other 18 hours. Learn more here about the power of intermittent fasting. 

So, how does the ZOE nutrition program work? 

First, a little background on me. Trouble with all things GI has been part of my life since birth. I was a colicky baby, a constipated child and a teenager who regularly dealt with stomach pain. Growing up in the 70s and early 80s in South Africa, the response to all this (from doctors) was "eat yogurt", "drink more water" and "take this fiber supplement." No one ever suggested changing my diet in order to incorporate more fiber and probiotics. And perhaps eliminate some things. 

Finally, my 14-year-old self took matters into her own not-very-competent hands. I essentially put myself on an elimination diet (not that we had a label for it back then) and realized one thing for sure: meat was not my friend. And so began a lifetime of experimenting with food in order to manage my gut. No, I was never successfully diagnosed with anything and no, I don't have celiac disease. 

Fast forward to 2018. I was 45 and had an "episode" that I now believe was connected to perimenopause. I woke up at 3am feeling like I was having a heart attack. Waves of nausea, my heart racing, feeling both clammy and freezing - it was horrible. I called 911 for the first time in my life and a group of very nice paramedics made sure I was NOT having a heart attack, and stayed with me until my heart rate came down. When I went to the doctor the next day, he diagnosed a panic attack. I called bullsh*t - this was coming from my gut, not my heart or chest. And what sort of panic wakes you from a deep sleep at 3am? For the next many months, some version of this "panic attack" would wake me up almost every night. I had an endoscopy, a colonoscopy... you name it. Everything looked normal so I got no help with the issue. One morning I was in so much pain after another one of these episodes, I ended up at urgent care and was told to take Prilosec. I experienced instant relief but as soon as I stopped taking it, the pain was back, and it was worse. No one seemed terribly interested in figuring out what was causing the pain in the first place. 

By 2020 I'd weaned myself off the Prilosec and was managing some of my symptoms with zinc and magnesium. We were all in Covid lock down and I'd discovered Dr Will Bulsiewicz, author of Fiber Fueled and started learning more about the gut microbiome. I had no doubt that I was walking around with a gut full of bad bugs! While I was doing my best to follow his approach to eating, I was still waking up in the middle of the night in pain. And I still couldn't stave off the weight gain. At some point, Dr B announced that he was going to serve as the US medical advisor for ZOE, a new, personalized nutrition program focused on healing your gut. It sounded like the magical thing I'd been waiting for my whole life.

ZOE is an app-based program and launched for iOS only, as many things do, so I had to wait. Thankfully, by the time I got the results of my blood tests in 2022, the ZOE app was available for Android.  



Step 1: ZOE nutrition testing

When you join ZOE, the first thing you do is a series of at-home tests. They send you two sets of muffins that you eat while wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). The first set of muffins helps test your blood sugar control (how much carbs spike your glucose). The second set help test your blood fat control (how quickly your body is able to clear out fat). A few hours after eating the second set, you do a finger-prick test and collect a few drops of blood onto a test strip. Finally, you collect a tiny poop sample (much simpler than you'd imagine) and that goes back to ZOE along with the blood test. While you wait for your results, you learn to use the app to record what you eat while you wear the CGM for two weeks. You're also encouraged to experiment during this time so that you can see for yourself how different foods (and combinations for foods and timing of meals) effect your glucose. 

Step 2: ZOE's personalized results

Your test results are shared via email and everything is very clearly explained. Not surprisingly, none of my news was good: 



I have poor blood sugar control (which I could see myself after two weeks of wearing the CGM). Can you change this? Here's what ZOE has to say about both this and blood fat control: Age, health, and lifestyle have a big influence on blood sugar and blood fat control (with most people deteriorating as they age). So you may see gradual changes in this score as part of a ZOE retest. However, you may see faster changes in associated clinical markers (such as your fasting cholesterol or fasting triglyceride levels) as you improve your diet and lifestyle. They're correct - I DID see lovely changes in clinical markers. 



My blood fat control is also not great and I feel this. I'm most uncomfortable at night if I've eaten a particularly fatty meal that day.  Again, I've seen real improvement in associated clinical markers between Nov 2022 and April 2023. 


Finally, just as I'd always imagined, the ratio of good to bad bugs in my gut is not good*. Research now shows that people with a higher ratio of good to bad bugs are less prone to prolonged elevations of blood sugar and fat levels after eating meals. Fortunately, this can be changed by changing your diet. Once you have all these results back from ZOE, you see a lot of new information for you in the app. This is your guide to personalized eating to help you heal you gut and manage your sugar and fat control. One of the many tools you're given is a list of foods that are "gut boosters" and a list of foods that are going to help the "bad" bacteria thrive. This doesn't mean these foods are off limits. Nothing is off limits! You just have to learn how to incorporate them.   

*Please note: the ZOE report on all this is extensive - I'm sharing one little snap shot.


After spending five months learning from the ZOE program, I can now say that it's literally changed my life. While I have numbers to support that claim, I also feel different. After a lifetime of playing Russian roulette with food, I now know how to eat comfortably and confidently, no matter the context. And I now know how to incorporate small amounts of certain foods so that they don't hurt me.

While the ZOE app offers a ton of meal options—and the app helps you score almost any food or online recipe—I started this blog because I want to share the things I actually eat and show you how they score in ZOE. 

Legal disclaimer: This blog is not associated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by ZOE in any way.