ZOE Science & Nutrition

What does a healthy daily routine really look like? In this episode, world-leading nutritionist Dr Federica Amati shares what she eats in a day, from breakfast to dinner, and her six everyday habits that may lower your risk of cancer, dementia and help you live longer. No 4am alarms, cryotherapy chambers, or other protocols - you’ll learn simple tips and trends you can skip.  Federica walks us through a normal day, from waking up to bedtime, and gives you six pillars of a healthy lifestyle to focus on to reduce your risk of chronic disease. Learn how Federica builds a healthy morning routine that cuts your chronic disease risk by 80%, how to put together a quick lunch, pick snacks that keep you full, and slip oily fish into meals you already love. Plus, her simple wind-down rules for better sleep. Which big habits are you missing while you chase the small ones? 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE Follow ZOE on Instagram. Timecodes 00:00 Intro 04:45 Circadian rhythms: what your hormones expect every 24 hours 06:50 The 6 lifestyle habits that prevent 80% of chronic disease 10:10 Why sleep scientists want to scrap the clock change 13:14 Coffee on an empty stomach: science vs. social media myths 14:46 Is eating the exact same breakfast every day bad for you? 16:57 The high-protein, high-fibre breakfast you can make in seconds 19:05 The no-cook lunch for busy workdays 20:35 Are pre-cooked grain pouches healthy? 23:10 Does microwaving fermented foods destroy their benefits? 25:26 The science of beans: how fibre shuts down hunger for hours 28:23 Why sandwiches cause an afternoon energy crash 32:17 Is pasta actually bad for you?  36:04 The real reason you feel starving at 3 pm 38:14 Nutritionist-approved snacks: sweet & savoury ideas that work 40:22 The clinical evidence on red meat & cancer risk 41:15 SMASH: the 5 oily fish to eat for omega-3 44:38 Tinned tuna: mercury risk & missing healthy fats 46:52 Which cooking oil should you use?  49:19 Do gut microbes control your food cravings? 50:45 The overnight fast: should you eat dinner earlier? 52:50 The 1 screen habit that beats any sleep routine 54:29 The healthy habit wellness influencers get wrong about longevity 58:16 The single most overlooked life skill that makes healthy food cheaper 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra   Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks  Better Breakfast Guide Mentioned in today's episode Daylight-saving Time & Health Identifying Beneficial & Adverse Effects, Eur J Epidemiol (2026)  The Interplay between Early Mealtime, Circadian Rhythms, Gene Expression, Circadian Hormones, and Metabolism⁠, Clocks & sleep (2023) Episode transcripts are available here.

Why is it so hard to stop eating certain foods? Most of us assume it comes down to willpower. But according to today’s guests, the answer may actually lie in the difference between taste and flavour. Because while those two words sound interchangeable, they describe very different experiences. Taste is often engineered - carefully designed by big food companies to keep us craving more. Flavour, on the other hand, is something deeper. It’s the rich, complex experience that comes from high-quality produce. Today, Spencer Hyman and Professor Tim Spector explain how ultra-processed foods manipulate our brains and why rediscovering flavour could help us eat less without feeling deprived. They’ll reveal practical ways that you can retrain your palate and reconnect with real food. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE Follow ZOE on Instagram. 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra   Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks  Better Breakfast Guide Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Can using food as medicine protect your heart health, prevent chronic disease, and help you live longer? In this episode, leading cardiologist and Director of the Food is Medicine Institute, Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, explains how modern diets increase your risk of heart attacks and why standard medical advice often falls short. Dariush looks at how past dietary guidelines shaped today’s food system and why shifting focus to whole, protective foods improves your health. He also explains why counting calories fails, shows how ultra-processed foods took over our food supply, and asks whether saturated fat deserves its reputation as a cause of heart disease.  Through the idea that food is medicine, you’ll learn how to adopt healthy eating habits by identifying protective foods - forming practical diet shifts that can control your blood sugar, lower cholesterol, support your gut health, and cut your risk of heart attacks and strokes.  What if the most effective prescription for a longer, healthier life is already on your plate? 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE Follow ZOE on Instagram. Timecodes 00:00 Intro  04:22 Is a poor diet deadlier than smoking? 09:13 Why the foods you're missing may harm you more than junk food 10:33 Could diet prevent half of all heart attacks and strokes? 11:29: Can diet reverse gut problems in months? 14:25 Why diet-related disease exploded in just 35 years 15:40 Nutrition science is younger than you think 17:51 Why poor nutrition became a national security threat in 1941 19:27 Why do we refine grains, then put the vitamins back in? 21:03 How bomb factories changed the food on your plate 24:46 Why did we go low-fat? The 1980 dietary guidelines mistake 26:45 Did tobacco companies really own food brands?  31:09 The 3 things driving the rise of chronic disease 33:52 Is fat really the problem?  36:38 Exercising more but still gaining weight? Here's why 37:33 Has our resting energy expenditure gone down?  39:28 Is modern food starving your gut microbes? 41:02 Are dietary guidelines any good? A cardiologist’s verdict 43:02 What do dietary guidelines say to avoid?  45:37 Do we really need more protein?  47:21 Healthy eating made simple: 3 food groups to know 48:17 How many calories does your gut microbiome digest? 52:29 Is red meat bad for you?  54:11 Is saturated fat bad for your heart?  56:21 How to lower cholesterol with food: a cardiologist's 2 tips 57:13 Should your doctor prescribe food? 1:00:37 Can we fix the food system in 10 years?  📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra   Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks  Better Breakfast Guide Mentioned in today's episodeFood Additives: Emerging Detrimental Roles on Gut Health, FASEB journal (2025) Diet Is the Single Most Important Predictor of Health, Alternative and Complementary Therapies (2019) Total daily energy expenditure has declined over the past three decades, Nat Metab (2023)

Fermented foods have evolved from a niche health trend into a supermarket staple. Kefir, kimchi, kombucha. Our shelves are now filled with products rich in beneficial bacteria. But with so many options to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Today, Professor Tim Spector shares simple, practical ways to incorporate fermented foods into your daily meals. He’ll also show why fermenting at home is much easier than most people think, taking us inside his fridge to demonstrate how to make four of his favourite homemade ferments. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE Follow ZOE on Instagram. 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra   Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks  Better Breakfast Guide Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Can what you eat protect your memory, ease brain fog, and lift your mood? For a long time, we thought the brain was separate from the rest of the body. It's easy to assume that mood, energy, and memory have little to do with what's on your plate. But in today's episode, one of the world’s leading experts in nutrition, Professor Tim Spector, explains how your gut health shapes your brain health. From low energy and anxiety today to dementia in later years, he shares what to eat to protect your brain throughout your life. Tim shares nine foods to add to your diet - from mushrooms and eggs to tofu and fermented foods - with easy ways to eat more of them, all drawn from his new book, Good Mood Food. By the end of the episode, you will have learned quick, budget-friendly recipes that support the gut-brain connection and will clearly understand the four principles you need to start boosting brain function today.  What if your tiredness, brain fog, and low mood are linked to the food on your plate? What might change if you ate differently for two weeks?  🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE Follow ZOE on Instagram. Timecodes 00:00 Intro  04:24 Why better gut health shows up in your brain first 06:05 Gut-brain connection explained: the vagus nerve is 80% gut to brain 10:30 Is the “chemical imbalance” theory of mental illness wrong? 12:28 What a week of fried chicken does to your brain 15:20 How a gut-friendly diet sends calming signals to your brain 17:17 How inflammation and blood sugar spikes damage brain cells 19:33 Does type 2 diabetes really triple dementia risk? 23:03 SMILES trial: can a gut-friendly diet ease depression? 26:06 How many plants should you eat per week? 30 or 40? 28:22 Why ultra-processed food is bad for your brain:t’s not just additives 29:56 Can intermittent fasting lift your mood? 32:44 Always tired? Why it might be a brain signal 36:19 Healthy comfort food: mac and cheese, fish and chips 39:16 Are mushrooms linked to 25% lower dementia risk? 42:18 Are eggs good for brain health? How many a week is OK? 44:03 Best omega-3 foods for brain health: the SMASH fish rule 46:27 Is tofu good for your brain? How to cook it in 30 seconds 49:52 Do herbs and spices help your brain? What we know so far 52:10 Is your brain really made of fat? Why nuts and seeds matter 54:29 Do you need to soak beans and lentils for hours?  56:41 Don’t pour away chickpea water: egg white swap 58:52 Does heating fermented foods kill the benefits? Postbiotics explained 1:00:17 Where to start for better mood and brain health: try this for 2 weeks 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra   Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks  Better Breakfast Guide Mentioned in today's episode Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector The ZOE METHOD study, ZOE (2024) Daily30: Does it work?, ZOE (2026) ZOE’s Fermented Food study, ZOE (2025) The ‘SMILES’ trial, BMC Med (2017) Type 2 Diabetes and Dementia, J Int Neuropsychol Soc (2004) The Big IF Study, ZOE (2023) Mushroom Consumption and Dementia, J Am Geriatr Soc (2017) Egg Consumption and Brain Function, Nutrients (2024) Tofu Consumption and Reduced Cancer Risk, Nutrients (2024) Unlocking Saffron’s Potential in Brain Health⁠, Cureus (2025)  Episode transcripts are available here.