ZOE Science & Nutrition

How strong is your skeleton? It’s a tough question - and often, we only find out the answer when a bone breaks. The reality is, many of us have weak bones. Osteoporosis affects one in four people over fifty, significantly increasing their risk of painful and debilitating fractures.

So, what can you do to keep your bones strong as you age?

Professor Tim Spector & Professor Cyrus Cooper explain how you can tailor your lifestyle to maintain a strong skeleton.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member a zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+

📚 Books from our ZOE Scientists:

The Food For Life Cookbook by Prof. Tim Spector

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Free resources from ZOE:

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 

Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

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

Listen to the full episode here.

We waste a shocking 40% of the food we buy. We throw away foods like carrot tops, beet greens, and spent coffee grounds. These ‘food scraps’ stuff our landfills and drain our pockets. But we can eat these foods and many of them offer tons of healthy nutrients.

Today’s guest is Carleigh Bodrug. Carleigh’s published a best-selling cookbook with over 140 recipes made from food scraps you might otherwise throw away. Her mission is simple: eat more plants. Her online community, PlantYou, has more than 10 million followers.

She’s joined by Dr. Will Bulsiewicz. Will is a board-certified gastroenterologist and ZOE’s U.S. Medical Director. He reveals the hidden nutritional value of these food scraps, and how ‘scrappy cooking’ can get you eating that all-important 30 plants per week.

You’ll walk away from today’s episode saving your money and the planet, all while eating more plants.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes:

00:00 Don’t throw these away

01:39 Quick fire questions

04:06 Why we waste so much?

07:49 The truth about ‘best before’

09:39 This reduces your grocery bill

10:58 Why we need more plants

14:05 Which part of the food is edible?

16:12 The beetroot example

20:25 How to store food safely

23:33 Uncooked vs cooked food

25:09 What to do with coffee grounds

27:40 What is sprouting?

36:50 The power of aquafaba

39:07 No.1 most wasted food

40:02 Make the most of bread

45:33 The lost art of cooking

46:25 Carleigh’s 4 base meals

50:15 How to do meal prep

53:15 Soup: is it nutritious?

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

Mentioned in today's episode

Carleigh's sprouting video will be coming soon!

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

Episode transcripts are available here.

Stress can come from any direction. Mounting deadlines at work, a romantic tiff at home, even something as simple as missing our bus can send our brain and body into a state of tension. We all experience this, it’s nothing new.

However, our failure to manage this stress could be harming our health.

Dr Rangan Chatterjee is here to give us some strategies to combat stress, reduce tension and keep us healthy.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member a zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+

📚 Books from our ZOE Scientists:

The Food For Life Cookbook by Prof. Tim Spector

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Free resources from ZOE:

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 

Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

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

Listen to the full episode here.

The COVID-19 pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, so what did we learn about mask wearing, vaccines and prevention? And how can you stay healthy to face a future pandemic?

Professor Tim Spector, one of the world’s top 100 most cited scientists, looks back on the pandemic and what we learnt about symptoms, transmission and vaccines in the early stages. We’ll reflect on ZOE’s role - collecting data from millions of people on their symptoms, identifying COVID hotspots and shaping public understanding of the virus.

Then we discuss the possibility of the next pandemic, and how we can individually protect ourselves against it. By the end of this episode, listeners feel more equipped to stay safe in the face of another global pandemic.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 What did we learn from COVID?

01:44 Quickfire questions

04:22 ZOE's response to the pandemic

10:10 5 crucial days

14:06 How new symptoms were discovered

23:40 Did the virus come from a lab?

28:00 Were face masks worth it?

29:02 The data on lockdowns

36:01 The economic costs

37:50 Effectiveness of vaccines

40:04 Side effects of vaccines

46:10 Is there a cure for Long COVID

48:39 The role of food choices

51:24 How to fight off infections

52:30 The risks of junk food

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

Mentioned in today's episode

The WHO estimates of excess mortality associated with the COVID-19 pandemic (2022), published in Nature

Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations (2023), published in Nature Reviews Microbiology

The role of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing post-COVID-19 thromboembolic and cardiovascular complications

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

Episode transcripts are available here.

The heart is at the centre of everything within our bodies, constantly pumping oxygen and nutrients throughout our tissues and organs. We all know if our heart fails, we’re in trouble. However, we only tend to start thinking about the health of our heart when we encounter a problem.

So how do we prevent a problem from occurring?

Dr. Peter Attia joins us to explain how making changes to our lifestyle today can help us take control of our heart health tomorrow.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member a zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

📚 Books from our ZOE Scientists:

The Food For Life Cookbook by Prof. Tim Spector

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Free resources from ZOE:

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 

Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

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

Listen to the full episode on Apple or Spotify

1 in 3 people have anxiety. It’s the most common mental health disorder in the world. And many of us know what anxiety feels like: palms sweating before a job interview, losing your appetite before a looming deadline, a pit in your stomach when you get bad news. It’s not just in your head, it’s in your gut.

Today, we’ll learn how food could help us cope. Our guest explains the rising global trend toward increased anxiety: its rise through the pandemic, and explosion among young people. 

Dr. Uma Naidoo is on the forefront of nutritional psychiatry. She directs the first hospital-based Nutritional Psychiatry Service in the US, at Massachusetts General Hospital and teaches at Harvard Medical School.

Uma will help you understand the symptoms and biology of anxiety, painting a picture of the risks it poses for long-term health. And her diet tips will help you fuel your gut for a healthy mind.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes:

00:00 Change your diet to beat anxiety

01:23 Quickfire questions

02:52 What is anxiety?

05:58 Are humans more anxious now than in the past?

08:50 This is where anxiety occurs in the brain

11:29 The gut-brain connection

12:45 Serotonin: the happiness hormone

20:05 How gut bacteria impact the brain

21:20 What happens 2 hours after stress?

23:10 Foods that disrupt dopamine pathways

24:50 Is food addiction real?

30:35 How chronic stress affects hunger

34:00 The importance of feeding good gut microbes

41:00 Eat more of these vegetables

45:02 How to overcome diet anxiety

49:20 How to use Uma’s ‘Calm’ approach

53:13 The anti-anxiety plate

Find Uma's Cauliflower Tikka Massala recipe here

Get Uma's latest book 'Calm Your Mind With Food'

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

Mentioned in today's episode

Eat to Beat Stress (2020), published in American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine

Effect of fecal microbiota transplant on symptoms of psychiatric disorders: a systematic review (2020), published in BMC Psychiatry

A review of dietary and microbial connections to depression, anxiety, and stress (2018), published in Nutritional Neuroscience 

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

Episode transcripts are available here.

Today we’re discussing how the food we eat can lower cholesterol.

It’s an important question, as high cholesterol can increase our chances of developing heart disease. Around half of adults have high cholesterol, and it gets more common as you age.

So, how can we break this trend?

Today’s guest, Professor Sarah Berry has led more than 30 human studies on cardio-metabolic health. It’s safe to say she knows a thing or two about heart health and cholesterol.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member a zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

📚 Books from our ZOE Scientists:

The Food For Life Cookbook by Prof. Tim Spector

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Free resources from ZOE:

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 

Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

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

Listen to the full episode on Apple or Spotify

A good gynecologist is like a detective. She gathers evidence to diagnose infections. She uncovers the truth behind stages like puberty, pregnancy and perimenopause. Yet many women still feel that their physiology is a mystery. 

What if a clue to that mystery hides in our diet? Similar to the gut, certain foods make the vaginal microbiome thrive. New research suggests that the right diet could alleviate symptoms of the most common gynecological diseases.

Dr Jennifer Ashton is former Chief Medical Correspondent at ABC News and is a double-board certified OBGYN. She joins us today to discuss ‘nutritional gynecology’, a term she coined after realizing multiple women’s health issues have a direct relationship to nutrition.

Alongside Jen is King’s College London professor and ZOE’s Chief Scientist Sarah Berry. Sarah shines light on the growing evidence of the role of nutrition in offsetting uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous, symptoms of menopause.

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes:

00:00 What you eat matters

02:00 Quickfire questions

04:05 What gets treated in gynecology?

07:19 What is the vaginal microbiome?

11:30 This affects the vaginal microbiome

13:46 The new field of nutritional gynecology

15:57 Does estrogen affect appetite?

17:19 The gut bacteria that breaks down estrogen

21:22 How food impacts puberty

23:21 Do glucose spikes affect pregnancy?

28:35 Symptoms of PCOS

33:00 Dr Jen explains endometriosis

37:20 Does diet affect these conditions?

42:00 How to test diet changes on yourself

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE:

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks

Studies relevant to this episode

Diet and Nutrition in Gynecological Disorders: A Focus on Clinical Studies (2021, published in Nutrients

Effects of caloric intake timing on insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism in lean women with polycystic ovary syndrome (2013), published in Clinical Science

Weight Regulation in Menopause (2022), published in Menopause

Menopause, the gut microbiome, and weight gain: correlation or causation? (2020), published in Menopause

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

Episode transcripts are available here.

Did you know you can now buy ice cream with added protein? Even breakfast cereals are jumping on the trend, boasting an extra protein punch.

In nearly every supermarket aisle, you'll spot the catchy slogan "high in protein" plastered across packaging.

But why is that? Are we not getting enough protein already, or are these high-protein products giving us too much?

Our guest is Christopher Gardner, a professor at Stanford University and a member of ZOE’s scientific advisory board, who has published widely on the relationship between protein and our health. 

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member a zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

📚 Books from our ZOE Scientists:

The Food For Life Cookbook by Prof. Tim Spector

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Free resources from ZOE:

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 

Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

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

Listen to the full episode on Apple or Spotify

Over the last two years, there’s been a rise in “immune-boosting” foods, supplements and trends. Today's guest, immunologist Dr. Jenna Macciochi, believes the immune system doesn’t need boosting. Instead, it should be balanced.

In this episode, Jenna - a Senior Lecturer in Immunology at the University of Sussex - reveals how your immune system is your body’s housekeeper. Jenna highlights the case for the ‘good bugs’ in our gut microbiome, the role of micronutrients and how our immune system isn’t born, but made.

We'll also tackle the age-old question: do we really need Vitamin C supplements?

🥑 Make smarter food choices. Become a member at zoe.com - 10% off with code PODCAST

🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily 30+

*Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system

Follow ZOE on Instagram

Timecodes:

01:21 Quickfire questions

04:51 What is the immune system?

06:49 How your immune system works

09:35 What are natural killer cells?

14:18 Is your immune system inherited?

16:42 The impact of sleep and stress 

19:53 Cancer and immunotherapy

28:23 This can trigger inflammation

30:25 Are vitamin C supplements worth it?

31:30 Foods to empower your immune system

40:10 How inflammation affects your brain

44:10 New science of the impact of stress

48:52 Immunity and your body clock

📚 Get Jenna's book Your Blueprint for Strong Immunity

📚 Books by our ZOE Scientists:

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Mentioned in today’s episode:

“Immune Boosting” in the time of COVID: selling immunity on Instagram (2020), published in Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology

Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold (2013), published in Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Effects of stress on immune function: the good, the bad, and the beautiful (2014), published in Journal of Immunology Research

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

Episode transcripts are available here.