sorry it’s not thyroid related, more on that in a later post.
Any one use the Zoe app? I’ve just spoken to my GP about gut microbes and he said it was controversial and gastroenterology probably wouldn’t be bothered! This on the back of many many many years of antibiotics. He also said they use probiotics in Germany when prescribing antibiotics but we don’t because it’s ‘controversial’. I absolutely give up on them I really do.
So I might give Zoe a go but it’s pricey so I thought I’d ask if anyone is using them.
Thanks from
A very controversial body (yes there was more, I think it was his word of the day)
Written by
Joant24
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Its not controversial at all. Gut microbiota research is still in its infancy but its well established, they even give NHS faecal transplants to patients with chronic C Diff infections. Its hardly the stuff of pseudo science and woo.
I think you are on the right track, probiotics are essential after antibiotics. I recommend S. Boulardii after any antibiotics. I also make my own yogurt with L Reuteri. Which is from the Gastrus Bio Gaia chewables, you just crush them warm some coconut milk to 38 degrees and put somewhere insulated for 48 hours. This info came from the book Supergut by Dr William Davies. He also wrote a book called wheat belly. I’ve listened to him on podcasts and really rate him.
I did Zoe for six weeks and then got a refund as their recommended diet didn’t suit me at all. I know a few others here who have done it for longer and can chip in.
The report ran to something daft like 42 pages but the actual results would fit on 3-4. The stool tests showed I had mainly good gut bacteria, the blood test showed I process fat well. Wearing the blood glucose monitor for 2 weeks and eating the revolting muffins were the most enlightening, I found I have reactive hypoglycaemia which explains a lot.
The diet advice didn’t suit me because I’m a bit of an orthorexic healthy eating nerd anyway and my usual diet scored pretty high on their grading system. Following their recipes made me bloated and tired but I did learn what to avoid and what suits me.
The other thing that really helped my initial dysbiosis when I was diagnosed AI hypothyroid was following Isabella Wentz books, I have all three, fair bit of cross over, the AI protocol recipe book is so useful.
Let me know if you have more questions, happy to help 🌱
Interesting about the yoghurt, what effects have you experienced? I make regular yogurt using organic shop bought yoghurt as a starter so I am curious about the different bacteria. I use a Ninja Foodi (that I use for cooking most things) but had a yoghurt setting that sterilises the milk and then ferments for 12 hours. Definitely my best lock down purchase!
Ninjafoodie sounds fab! I’m lactose intolerant/dairy allergic so hence the coconut.
I honestly couldn’t tell you the effects, only that most dairy free yogurts on the market are full of emulsifiers and ingredients that don’t agree with my digestion. The Deliciously Ella one is nice but almost £4 a tub. I can make double the quantity for £1.10 even with M&S coconut milk.
Dr William Davies claims younger looking skin, youthful exuberance and eliminating bad gut bacteria. This last one may be true as I didn’t have many bad ones on the Zoe stool test. He tested mice who remained fluffy coated and sexually active into old age on L. Reuteri 🤣 I’m still waiting for my fluffy coat 🌱
So even though it's pasteurised during the process of bottling, there is still the opportunity for bad bacteria to get into the milk. Not a problem in your fridge but if you ferment at 40 degrees it will grow and spoil the yoghurt even with the good bacteria. So you heat the milk to kill all bacteria and let it cool to less than 45 and then add the good bacteria culture. A yoghurt maker manages all the temperature stuff and makes it super easy.
Yes, I'd quite forgotten milk is pasteurized lol. I've drunk raw milk many times with no ill effect and I bought some probiotic capsules to make yoghurt with it but I've never got round to it!
Glad it’s helpful, I also took thousands of screenshots of the useful stuff thanks to forewarning by members here and the Zoe nutrition coach. They gave me 48 hours notice of when all the info would disappear. 🌱
I did Zoe for 4 months and used the Libre BG monitor. I struggled a lot with it, mostly because you are literally bombarded with information. I thought I ate fairly healthily yet some of my choices, like Parma ham, were graded as bad which given it's sliced with a razor baffled me. Yes the muffins are revolting like chewing glue. After 4 months I'd got into the swing of recording everything I ate and it was rated by the ap then I was told I'd completed the course and was a Zoe Ninja or something. From then on there were no more automatic inputs from them so I cancelled my payment thinking I could work with all the data and still record meals etc. After about 3 days I was locked out of the ap! It seems if you don't continue to pay the monthly fee, which was around £43 then you can't access anything. To say I was angry is an understatement, I believe that info was mine and I am entitled to view it yet it was all lost to me. All the help line could say was I could rejoin. The info on the Libre app also went so I am a very unhappy person. They won't budge so beware, if you want your own info, download it or lose it if you cancel. There is a lot of info that is useful and the blood and stool results are emailed so you can access those. I learnt some things from it, if only I could remember the details!
Yes you could but it would be a lot of photos when you've done a daily diary for 4 months, saved some of their recipes etc. it is, imo, wrong to lock you out, even a reduced fee for access only might have been fairer, it's my info, which I agreed to share for the benefit of others and which they can use to inform their research, the whole affair cost me approx. £300 which is a more than some professional bits of software and fancy gaming apps.
Oh, I totally agree with you! It’s an expensive site to be a member of and they should, at a minimum, give you access to your records even after you have left, they are after all YOUR records! Bought and paid for! I was only suggesting that you take screenshots as you go along, or keep a record of stuff like your diary entries somewhere other than on just the website… (I usually find that writing it all out in a Word document before uploading by copying and pasting is quite useful in some circumstances). Yes, it would probably amount to quite a few screenshots, etc. but you could store them on an external drive such as a memory stick (I understand ThyroidUK do some good ones) or a hard drive such as a 1TB one which are not too pricey these days.
I was frustrated by this too - After investing so much money into the program I felt I should still have some access.
I hate the all-or-nothing approach. At the beginning you get limited access to the app before they fill it with your results. I don't know why it can't just go back to that.
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