ZOE Testing

[missrees]

Just wondering if anyone has done the Zoe glucose Monitoring system? And if you have whether it’s been a help?

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

I did, quite some time ago now, I found it very interesting.

I learned most from wearing the continuous glucose monitor.

I could have done without the second but following their diet, it didn’t suit me, it was very time consuming logging everything. I didn’t learn much from the gut microbiome study despite an enormous document listing endless details.

A few others here did it too.

If I were to do it again I’d buy or hire a libre link separately and do my own trials on different food types.

Here is an old post link from the time. Some useful replies healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Jefner in reply to Regenallotment]

how spooky we were only talking about it earlier and then a post pops up. Found your post and found it interesting reading

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to Jefner]

Yes it gets people thinking and starting their own post which is great, one of the many wonderful things about this forum 🌱

[Judithdalston in reply to Regenallotment]

Interesting missed the conversation a year ago!

[WaystarRoyco]

I did the whole ZOE thing over a year ago. I discovered that my blood sugar was all over the place and scored low for blood sugar control. I’ve since changed my diet so that I’m eating fewer carbs and if I eat carbs to do so with healthy fats. I do feel better for it.

[CyclingMummy]

I did Zoe, in desperation before diagnosis with hypothyroidism/ trying a gluten free diet. It was really interesting, and I have adopted quite a few new habits afterwards- eating a much greater variety of plants. I wish I had known about my thyroid problems and been able to fix those first. I really struggled with blood sugar control at the bottom end of the range- no really high blood sugar reads but constantly “in the red” low blood sugar, especially overnight. I wonder how much of that was linked to thyroid hormones, and am wondering about whether to save up to repeat the testing once my thyroid meds and vitamins have optimised, to see whether anything changes. I didn’t feel amazing. I did lose some weight but regained it all, but feeling rough and gaining weight may have been all down to the (then) untreated thyroid issues! You can access a lot of their research content via the podcast, with a discount code for the Zoe programme on the podcast too.

[WatermelonW]

I also did, some six months ago and found it very useful and helpful. Wearing the continuous glucose monitor, showed me how I process sugar, what to eat and what to avoid, and how different combinations of food affect me. Also how concentration of sugar accumulates during the day.

The Zoe recommended diet afterwards helped me feel more energy and it has definitely reduced the skin itchiness that I suffer from. The whole process is expensive and logging food can be time consuming as someone pointed out above, but it was very revelatory to me and it’s helped me feel better.

[Purplesash]

I did it, but didn’t really gain much from it, I found out I had good blood sugar control and good blood fat control, I also scored good for the gut micro biome which was a surprise to me after being on continuous antibiotics for 10 years. The diet didn’t suit me at all and I not only gained weight but I felt dreadful, with overwhelming fatigue. I enjoyed the testing phase and found it fascinating using the glucose monitor. It seems some people really benefit from the Zoe programme and others like me do not, I bailed out of doing it after 2 months, due to it making me feel worse. The only thing that I got from it was my bowels improved.

It is expensive and it will all depend on your reasons for doing it, if it is just for finding out your blood sugar control I would just get the CGM from Amazon, LibreLink is the one Zoe uses.

[AKatieD]

Yes as the others have said, knowing I could process fats and was terrible with carbs was helpful. But following their diet was going to be too difficult.

[Judithdalston]

Abbott the manufacturer of the Freestyle Libre 2 offer free sensors, recording BG for 2 weeks to ‘diabetics’ ..try their website. Have to have a compatible mobile phone, and you can record detail of exactly what you’ve eaten/ drunk, what you have done etc to pick up patterns of BG levels, and why. 2 weeks isn’t really long enough but you should catch major ‘problems’ that need changing like wrong breakfasts or snacks! Not all carbs work the same, nor if combined with for eg fats….