A brand new scientific discovery has been revealed within the last few days, from a randomized control trial of ZOE membership, showing fascinating results.
Most people's future health is not predetermined by their genes, and bodies do not respond in exactly the same way to the same foods.
There is no one best diet for everyone, and ZOE's latest study is a randomized controlled trial of a personalized nutrition program, which showed improvements in participants' health.
Jonathan Wolff and Tim discuss the importance of conducting a randomized control trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of Zoe's approach to nutrition and health. They emphasize the significance of randomization and the challenges associated with conducting RCTs outside of medicine.
Sarah and Tim highlight the need for RCTs to focus on whole dietary changes rather than specific nutrients, and the lack of trials in this area. They stress the importance of considering the diet as a whole and the impact of Zoe's approach on individuals' lives.
Sarah and Tim describe Zoe as a way of living underpinned by the latest science, personalized advice, and educational nudges. They emphasize the holistic approach to food, the focus on individual health, and the educational aspect of Zoe's program.
Tim explains the importance of providing people with a standardized meal to assess everyone's response to the same meal, which is crucial for nutritional research.
The high-fat, high-carbohydrate muffins used in research were replaced with cookies for a more comfortable experience for users.
The study aims to assess people's responses to standardized meals in blood fat and blood sugar to understand their impact on long-term health.
The research found a 10 to 20-fold difference in the level of increase in blood sugar or blood fat among individuals.
The composition of the microbiome has a significant influence on metabolic responses to foods, making it crucial to understand the gut health and microbiome composition.
The study involves collecting various pieces of information, including blood fat, blood glucose, microbiome, and user-provided data, to provide personalized guidance on food choices and health.
Participants continue to monitor their blood glucose levels and receive daily lessons and advice through the app to educate them on various aspects of health and nutrition.
The study emphasizes the complexity of food and the need for personalized changes based on individual responses to different foods.
Tim discovered the cause of his awful feeling was a blood sugar dip, leading him to change his breakfast to avoid foods causing the dip.
Jonathan made significant changes to his meals after his wife, Justine, did a test with Zoe and got positive results.
Justine and Jonathan now have similar breakfasts, but Jonathan avoids dried fruit due to its sugar content, while Justine includes it.
Having an increase in blood sugar after a meal is a normal physiological response, but it's about looking at what is an excessive peak or a kind of response that actually you don't feel great about. That's what we want to be mindful about.
About 25% of people have these big dips, but 75% of people don't have any. The 25% of people that do get these kind of dips eat about 300 more calories than age-matched person that doesn't get these dips, they feel less energetic, they feel less alert and they have lower mood.
The Zoe program significantly reduced blood fat levels, weight, waist circumference, and measures related to blood glucose control and insulin sensitivity compared to the control group. Even when comparing adherence to the ZOE program guidelines with adherence to the population-based guidelines, the ZOE program still caused significant improvement in blood fats, body composition, and blood pressure.
Tim emphasizes the importance of research and the obligation to report results, even if they don't support the program.
ZOE's unique approach includes asking participants about their feelings and self-reported experiences, which yielded novel and positive results.
Adherence to the ZOE program showed greater improvements in various health markers, indicating a dose-response effect.
The sustained benefits of the ZOE program, especially on gut health, were highlighted, with the potential for even better results over time.
The program is continually evolving, with plans for a repeat RCT in a year to double the improvements.
Jonathan Wolff expresses excitement about the potential for continuous improvement in healthcare through data collection and analysis.
Sarah highlights the advantage of ZOE's approach over traditional medical device companies, emphasizing the flexibility and opportunity for improvement.
Tim emphasizes the importance of collecting more data and learning from it to create a program with maximum health benefits.
Jonathan Wolff summarizes the positive results of the randomized control trial, highlighting improvements in lipids, weight, waist circumference, blood glucose control, and insulin.
He also mentions the profound differences in how participants felt, with the ZOE arm showing significant improvements in energy levels.
Jonathan Wolff and the guests discussed the launch of another RCT in a year's time and mentioned a full written paper in the peer review process.
Jonathan thanked Sarah and Tim for sharing their research on Zoe's personalized nutrition program in a randomized controlled clinical trial.
Listeners were encouraged to learn more about Zoe and get 10% off by visiting zoe.com/podcast.