ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE Science & Nutrition

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    46 min

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Based on Podcast App listening data

ZOE Science & Nutrition episodes

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

    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 on Instagram.


    📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

    The Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


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

    Episode transcripts are available here.


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

    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 on Instagram.


    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 Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


    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.

    1 hr 1 min
  • Most replayed moment: The hidden dangers of hearing loss | Prof. Marcelo Rivolta

    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 on Instagram.


    📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

    The Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


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

    Episode transcripts are available here.


    10 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

    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 on Instagram.


    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 Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


    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.

    1 hr 3 min
  • Most replayed moment: What your wearable is really telling you | Dr Malcolm Finlay

    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 on Instagram.


    📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

    The Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


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

    Episode transcripts are available here.


    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

    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 on Instagram.


    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 Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


    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 know here.

    Episode transcripts are available here.


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

    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 on Instagram.


    📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

    The Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


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

    Episode transcripts are available here.


    15 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

    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 on Instagram.


    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 Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


    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)

    ZOE’s PREDICT studies: What we’ve learned


    Episode transcripts are available here.

    1 hr 14 min
  • Most replayed moment: The hormone that controls your weight | Dr Andrew Jenkinson

    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 on Instagram.


    📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

    The Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


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

    Listen to the full episode here


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

    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 on Instagram.


    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 Food For Life Cookbook

    Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

    The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

    Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

    Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

    Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector


    Free resources from ZOE

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

    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

    Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

    Better Breakfast Guide


    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 know here.

    Episode transcripts are available here.

    1 hr

About ZOE Science & Nutrition

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The world’s top scientists explain the latest health, nutrition, and gut health research and translate it into practical advice to improve your health & weight. Join ZOE Science & Nutrition,…

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