The Zoe plan

[BabblingBrooks]

Has anyone paid for this ?

I’m thinking of doing it but it is expensive, my sister in law did and found it quite useful.

Just wondering if anyone else with IBS has ?

[dogandbone]

hello just read your comment but can I know what it is you do to help yourself? Please,

[BabblingBrooks in reply to dogandbone]

I take probiotics.

I have occasional flare ups which I take buscopan for. Apart from that I muddle along.

I suffer from allergies and I’ve long wondered whether what I’m eating keeps triggering them along with a 12 - 18 month history of repeated infections.

That’s why I was considering it.

[dogandbone in reply to BabblingBrooks]

Thank you for your reply. I tried Bio-cult live bacteria but it just blocked my bowel. Now I take Yeo Valley Organic live cultured yoghurt and this helps a lot with golden linseed added 1 tablespoon. Wish you well Babbling Brooks

[BabblingBrooks in reply to dogandbone]

I eat the same brand but the Kefir yogurt.

[XDjames]

It's not designed for IBS specifically and they were unable to help me with IBS-relevant diet advice in the end. It was useful to find out about the bugs and about my 'biome', with data on sugar and fat but in the end it didn't help me so I stopped.

[xjrs]

I haven't tried it, but I think I went through their questionnaire as to whether I was a suitable candidate and from memory, they said I wasn't because I have food intolerances and they give you food products for the study that might upset some people. Maybe try the questionnaire yourself.

[buggins55]

Hi yes I am doing it, it turned out with the tests that my good and bad bacteria are well balanced and classified as "good" and i incorporated it into the Low FODMAP for six weeks (as i always suspected my IBS is not triggered by foods either !) so it helped me to rule out certain things, to begin with Zoe made things worse as i discovered the recommended fibre intake was too high for my "System" I gave it a break for a while and have now returned to it and use the daily food logging to keep my fibre at a level that suits me (I have mainly IBS C)

All in all it hasn't helped fix me as such but I've learned an awful lot about food and health, I thought I was a healthy eater til I started Zoe! and it's a useful tool to monitor what's happening day by day, So i would say go into it with open expectations if you decide to go for it, It's expensive and it's not a magic wand but there can be a lot to gain from it (the on line support was very good too)

[BabblingBrooks in reply to buggins55]

Can I ask you how much it cost ?

[buggins55]

about £300 ish for the sign up and tests and then (which i didn't realise at the time) another £300 to sign up for a year long plan and membership, as i said expensive and therefore not accessible for everyone. I was feeling desperate at the time and ready to splurge! having said that they are not funded by big pharma or any other affiliates and their research is ongoing with all the data they collect from the people that take part and that can cost!

[BabblingBrooks in reply to buggins55]

Yeah I believe there are different subscription options, my sister in law went for a shorter option than the 12 months.

I presume once they’ve got all your test results you can decide which one suits you.

I’ll probably go for it before the end of summer, got a few bills first.

Cheers !

[Superzob]

I’m still somewhat ambivalent about the Zoe programme, having started it last May. My IBS -D seems better, but that may be from returning to the original Alflorex.

Having discussed this at length with Zoe’s experts (who are the most responsive of any organisation I have ever dealt with), it does seem more likely to suit those with IBS-C because it’s very hot on increased fibre intake. But, as XDjames says, Zoe accept that it’s not really designed for dysfunctions, the programme relying on the response of a “normal” gut.

I’m still waiting for a microbiome retest, so that I can see whether there is any improvement on my appalling original score (unsurprising, considering years on a low fibre diet to ease IBS-D symptoms). Part of the problem (as buggins55 alludes to) is that Zoe assumes that your gut will not “rebel” against increased plant fibre intake, so you can improve at the rate of the programme to achieve >70 diet scores by the end of the course; I was only at 50 when I finished the course (but that’s still better than my starting score of 32)!

So, I think, the jury’s still out on this, but I’ll plod on at my own pace and see if any improvement in symptoms is maintained.