Zoe programme

[Ascb]

Hi, I was really interested in this but the prices are so high. Has anyone tried the programme and found it helpful and worth the money? And are there any other additional costs apart from the payment for the programme and the blood test at the beginning?

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

I'm afraid I can't answer your questions, Ascb, but I am looking forward to reading any replies

[Juppy 2 stone]

I have just signed up (it starts in October). It’s very pricey- £299 to start and then a monthly fee ranging from £29.99 to £59.99 (depending on if you sign up for a year or month-by-month). So I guess minimum £359.98 if you quit after one month. To get the blood sugar monitor you also need to agree to be part of the study and share your anonymised data. The monitor only lasts 2 weeks but I’m looking forward to that. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and I’m hoping it will help me figure out which foods give me energy. With the blood sugar monitor I’m hoping to figure out which foods spike my blood sugar and make me hungrier (although I think I’m figuring this out for myself - all dairy even full-fat, peanut butter, watermelon, and any time I eat anything without including some fat). I haven’t started yet so I can’t vouch for it. I’m part of another online weight management group and people there mentioned they had learned a lot about their personal individual gut biome and which foods worked for them and which didn’t. Most said they lost weight. More importantly most also said they felt better. I will report back In November! (Also note many people said they had learned all they needed to in the first month. I signed up for 4 months).

[Ascb Visitor in reply to Juppy]

Thank you Juppy. I'd be really interested to hear how you get on. Also good to know that most information is gained in the first month 🙂

[Juppy 2 stone in reply to Juppy]

Well I’ve started. I really liked the blood sugar monitor and tests. It was really helpful for thinking about blood sugar regulation. I’ve just got my test results and am finding it a little overwhelming and also no necessarily consistent with what I expected. Apparently my gut biome is excellent but my blood sugar control is poor. It gives you scores on foods but still gives high scores on foods that are bad for blood sugar but good for gut biome. So that makes me think the scores might be generic rather than custom. Also it didn’t say I have any problems with dairy, which is counter to my experience. It does recommend a lot more beans so maybe I’ll try that. Maybe I’ll update in a few weeks.

[Ascb Visitor in reply to Juppy]

Thank you for your update Juppy, I hope you find the inconsistencies get fewer. Please do keep me updated, it's interesting

[Juppy 2 stone in reply to Juppy]

Update: I did it. I found the blood sugar monitor and challenges very helpful… but that’s just 2 weeks and could be done a lot cheaper. However the rest didn’t help me… I thought I would learn very customised things I should avoid and actually I don’t think I got that. It seemed to group people according to their handling of 3 wide categories- blood sugar, blood fat, and gut biome. And I think the foods were then generically scored across those 3 things. I learned I have trouble with blood sugar and blood fat, but my gut biome is excellent. Thus it scored sugared foods and most carbs very low. However I was hoping for something that really seemed broken down by actual food - like “your body doesn’t process grapes well” or “doesn’t process dairy well” but it did not seem that specific. I think it just scores foods according to their “macros” not your own personal gut reaction to every food. Although I did just check and it does give about 10 “gut booster” foods and 10 “gut suppressor” foods that are custom to me. However, it did not note things I already know cause problems for me. A lot of the “course” I already knew. And it does make you a bit obsessive of what you’re eating… I found myself eating more to get my scores lower for the day. I did like some of the recipes, especially better use of lentils. After a month I had gained 4 pounds. I stopped doing it because I found I was getting too obsessed with what I was eating. It did get me improving my variety of foods and eating more fibre. And I really loved the blood sugar monitor part- it was great to see specifically what foods, combinations, and eating order made a difference to my personal blood sugar in real time. It’s very expensive… if you have the money and you’re looking for new ideas and a plan to help your weight loss, I’d say it’s worth a try because there will be some learnings for each person, but I wouldn’t recommend anyone stretch their budget to get it…. It was not the custom health breakthrough I was hoping for.

[Ascb Visitor in reply to Juppy]

That is a really helpful update Juppy! Thank you. It's a shame it wasn't personalised enough, considering the not inconsiderable cost involved, but it sounds like it was helpful in some ways.

Thanks again 👍🙂