Most replayed moment: The hormone that controls your weight | Dr Andrew Jenkinson

Are some of your "healthy" foods actually high-risk ultra-processed foods?  For decades, nutrition advice seemed relatively straightforward. Eat less sugar. Less salt. Less saturated fat. Then it all fell apart. In today’s episode, we examine the research that has forced us to rethink what makes food harmful in the first place. Two of the world’s leading nutrition scientists, Professor Tim Spector and Professor Sarah Berry, tell their own story of why they’ve changed their minds about it. We explore why sugar, salt and fat aren’t the whole story, explain why ultra-processed foods are making us sick, and share groundbreaking insight that only a small portion of them are really harmful. By the end of the episode, you’ll know what to watch out for and what to worry less about when you’re food shopping. Next time you reach for a "healthy" yogurt or a quick pasta sauce, would you still choose it if you knew exactly how it was made? 🌱 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 02:24 The biggest myth about spotting ultra-processed food 07:52 How much of your diet is actually ultra-processed 12:09 Why people ate 500 more calories on ultra-processed food 13:47 The study that changed how scientists see ultra-processed food 17:52 The hidden artificial sweeteners nobody noticed they were eating 20:29 What sweeteners did to mice in this gut bacteria experiment 23:57 What emulsifiers might be doing to your gut lining 28:27 Why food additive combinations are impossible to track 31:30 Can food texture alone change how much you eat? 33:08 Two ultra-processed diets, 369 calories apart 37:10 How the tobacco industry invented food's "bliss point" 39:33 Why hyperpalatable food makes you eat the whole bag 42:17 Does skipping cakes and soda avoid ultra-processed food? 46:38 The "ultra-processed" foods that are actually protective 48:32 How ZOE built its own ultra-processed food risk score 51:01 Why 72 calories a minute is one sign of a risky food 53:48 The 25% of ultra-processed food causing most of the harm 56:11 The one-question test for spotting ultra-processed food 59:32 ZOE says 25% of food is high risk, not NOVA's 60% 01:01:54 Why some "healthy" yogurts are full of hidden sweeteners 01:03:16 Why children's food is designed to make kids overeat 01:05:41 Two pestos, one full of hidden sweeteners 01:10:20 Ultra-processed food uses the same trick as cigarettes 01:11:41 Why you shouldn't fear all processed food 📚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 Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain, Cell (2019) Personalized microbiome-driven effects of sweeteners, Cell (2022) Food Emulsifiers and Metabolic Syndrome: The Role of the Gut Microbiota, Foods (2022) NutriNet-Santé Study Eating rate has sustained effects on energy intake from ultraprocessed diets, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2026) The role of hyper-palatable foods in energy intake, Eating Behaviours (2025) ZOE’s PREDICT studies: What we’ve learned Episode transcripts are available here.

Floating through all of our bodies is a complex network of hormones. You can think of it as an internal postal service, delivering vital messages and instructions to different organs and systems. But what happens if these messages get intercepted, mixed up, or worse, not delivered at all? In this episode, Dr Andrew Jenkinson tells us about a hormone that plays a crucial role in weight regulation and the undesirable consequences when it isn’t functioning properly. He also shares three simple tips you can do tomorrow to make sure your hormones support your health. 🌱 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 Listen to the full episode here

Growing up, many of us were taught to just stay calm and carry on - as if stress was all in the mind, with no real effect on the body. But chronic stress can change your brain, raise your risk of heart disease, and even shorten your life.  In this episode, we ask: what happens when a stress response built to last minutes never switches off? Today, Professor Carmine Pariante, one of the world's leading researchers on stress, helps us understand what’s happening in your body during a stressful moment and why chronic stress disrupts sleep, appetite, and energy levels. Carmine also explains how worried you should be about cortisol, and whether "cortisol face" and "cortisol belly" are backed by evidence. By the end, you’ll understand why stress can be so powerful, when it becomes harmful, and have some evidence-based ways to manage it. Next time you reach for wine, your phone, or something sweet after a hard day, ask yourself: is this helping you cope, or helping you avoid how you feel? 🌱 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 01:10 Should you be aiming for zero stress? 06:13 Inside your fight-or-flight response 11:19 Can stress actually cause a heart attack? 13:15 Why your stress response won't switch off 15:33 Why stress eating isn't a willpower problem 17:15 Why emotional stress feels physical 21:00 The earliest sign of chronic stress 22:05 There's no such thing as "it's all in your head" 25:15 Stress causes the same inflammation as a cold 29:54 The blunt truth about chronic stress 31:07 How stress clogs your arteries 32:55 Why chronic stress can steal your joy 35:10 What a brain scan reveals about chronic stress 37:07 Is "cortisol face" actually real? 38:49 Does the viral cortisol cocktail actually work? 41:20 Why control is the key to coping with stress 42:46 How singing for one hour lowered cortisol 45:15 Why exercise is such powerful stress relief 47:57 Foods with the strongest evidence against stress 49:45 Why alcohol doesn't actually relieve stress 50:58 Is your phone making your stress worse? 54:04 The first thing to do when stress overwhelms you 56:06 Why modern life never switches your stress off 📚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 Effect of anti-inflammatory treatment on depressive symptom severity, The American Journal of Psychiatry (2025) Implementing a group singing intervention for depression, Frontiers in Medicine (2024) The Relationship between Diet and the Occurrence of Depressive Symptoms, Nutrients (2023) Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Today we’re talking about gut microbes. Professor Tim Spector often refers to the microbes in our gut as ‘mini pharmacies’. This is because they provide us with powerful chemicals that help support our health. But not all gut microbes are on our side. In fact, there’s an ongoing battle in our digestive system between the beneficial bugs and those that wish to do us harm. I’m joined by Tim Spector and microbiome researcher Nicola Segata join me to explore this microscopic war, and explain how simple changes to your diet could help tip the balance toward the good guys. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 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 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 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.

Is fat good or bad for your heart? For decades, we blamed fat and cholesterol for clogged arteries and heart attacks. Now you choose low-fat yogurt to protect your heart, while others cook with beef tallow. In this episode, Dr. Alice Lichtenstein, a world-leading expert on dietary fat and heart health, helps settle the debate. Dr. Lichtenstein explains which fats protect your heart and which to cut back on, you'll learn what raises your cholesterol, and why the type of fat you eat matters more than how much of it you eat. You’ll leave the episode with some practical food swaps to protect your heart and live longer. Have you swapped butter for "low-fat" alternatives loaded with sugar? Could that choice be working against your heart? 🌱 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 01:33 The most common myth about fat, busted in one word 03:20 What fat actually is, and why your body needs it to survive 11:29 Why butter and beef tallow turn solid at room temperature 13:12 How saturated fat raises your risk of heart disease 15:36 Heart attack or stroke: which one saturated fat actually raises 17:12 Are all saturated fats equally bad for you? 20:07 The flawed rabbit study that shaped decades of egg advice 21:41 What actually makes your cholesterol go up 24:04 How high cholesterol quietly clogs your arteries 27:04 The 1960s study that proved swapping fat saves lives 30:32 How your liver secretly turns sugar into fat 32:37 The verdict on beef tallow and butter 36:32 Simple food swaps for a heart-healthy diet 38:10 Does eating more fat make you gain weight? 40:35 The truth about grass-fed beef and omega-3 42:53 Is beef tallow really a healthy fat? 44:40 Is fermented dairy actually healthy? 45:19 The checklist to delay premature aging 47:52 The pantry check that could improve your heart health 49:56 The 1990s mistake we made with low-fat yogurt 51:47 Why knowing your cholesterol numbers matters most 📚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 Dietary trans fatty acids and cardiovascular disease risk, Current Atherosclerosis Reports (2014) Unsaturated fats, high-quality carbs lower risk of heart disease, American College of Cardiology (2015) Effect of Low-Carbohydrate and Low-Fat Diets on Coronary Heart Disease, JACC (2026) Rabbit models for the study of human atherosclerosis, Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2014) Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Today we’re talking about the immune system. It’s one of the most important systems in our body, yet it’s also one of the hardest to understand. You can’t see it, you can’t feel it working, and there’s no simple way to measure whether it’s strong or weak. But when it fails, we certainly notice. Everywhere we look, supplements and superfoods promise to ‘boost’ our immune system. But how many of these claims are actually supported by science? Professor Daniel Davis joins me to explain how our immune system truly works, and what the evidence says is the best ways to support it. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 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 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 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.

1 in 4 people have insulin resistance, which quietly raises your risk of heart disease and cancer, often without any change in your blood sugar. And most of those who have it have no idea. It can remain completely hidden for years, with no obvious symptoms and no warning signs… But it can be reversed. Today, Professor Rob Semple, a world-leading expert on insulin resistance, explains what insulin does in your body, why you need it to live, and what happens when it stops working properly. By the end of this episode, you will understand how to spot the warning signs and have practical steps you can take to protect yourself. If your last blood test came back "normal," how confident are you that it tells the whole story? Are you overlooking one of the biggest drivers of chronic disease? 🌱 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 00:46 Why insulin might be the most important hormone in your body 01:53 What happens if your body stops making insulin 05:20 Why not having insulin used to be a death sentence 11:19 What happens to your brain when blood sugar drops too low 14:01 Why "just lower your insulin" advice can backfire 17:12 The shaky, sweaty feeling an hour after eating, explained 18:42 The exact moment insulin resistance turns into diabetes 21:47 Why high insulin can affect your ovaries 24:15 A visible skin sign that insulin levels are too high 25:40 The organs most at risk when blood sugar spirals 27:17 How common insulin resistance really is in the US and UK 30:23 Why your ovaries can be an early sign of insulin resistance 32:49 Debunking the online "signs" of insulin resistance 35:37 Is insulin resistance actually reversible? 36:47 Why your weight matters more than your BMI number 38:53 The DEXA scan that revealed hidden visceral fat 41:14 Why white bread might not be so different from a can of Coke 43:56 Why one type of exercise burns blood sugar best 45:17 Do you really need two hours in the gym to see results? 46:38 How stress directly changes your blood sugar 48:32 Why irregular sleep might be hurting your blood sugar 49:38 The one piece of advice for anyone worried about insulin resistance 55:00 Why insulin resistance may have once been a survival advantage 📚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 Insulin resistance is a risk factor for 12 types of cancer, Nature (2026) Association of insulin resistance with cancer, American Journal of Cancer Research (2016)  Global prevalence of insulin resistance, Frontiers in Endocrinology (2025) Risk Reclassification Beyond BMI, (JACC) (2026) Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Today we’re talking about food additives. Take a look at the back of some ultra-processed packaged food and you’ll see a long list of unfamiliar ingredients. Complex, sciencey sounding names that most of us can barely pronounce. These are called additives. But what exactly are they? How are they tested? And, most importantly, are they truly safe for us to eat? Food policy expert Professor Marion Nestle joins me to explore how additives became so deeply embedded in modern food production — and why, now more than ever, it’s essential for you to understand the things that are hiding in your food. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 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 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 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.

There's a hidden fat that matters more for your health than your weight.  This is visceral fat: it wraps around your organs, raises your risk of heart disease and cancer, and builds up even in people who look slim and healthy.  In today’s episode, Professor Jimmy Bell, a world-leading expert in measuring visceral fat, explains how we can shrink this dangerous belly fat in just 12 weeks. Jimmy explores why two people can weigh exactly the same and carry completely different amounts of this hidden fat, what it is, where it hides and why it matters. By the end, you'll have a completely new understanding of body fat, and what it really means for your long-term health. If your weight has stayed exactly the same for years, what do you think is happening underneath it? 🌱 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 02:47 The DEXA scan result that didn't match how thin he looked 09:46 Why your body composition can get worse even while your weight stays the same 11:47 What does it actually mean to be "skinny fat"? 14:06 The real reason some people end up "skinny fat" 15:58 Why people carrying more fat might actually be happier 18:10 How visceral fat sends inflammatory signals through your body 21:50 Why having almost no body fat can also make you unhealthy 25:19 Could a supermodel have more visceral fat than a sumo wrestler? 26:44 Why your body stores visceral fat around your organs on purpose 28:08 Why visceral fat is the first fat to disappear when you diet 29:22 How your diet directly reshapes the fat in your body 33:25 How long it actually takes to change your body fat 35:47 Does Ozempic actually get rid of visceral fat? 37:05 Why dieting alone can quietly cost you muscle 38:55 What does yo-yo dieting actually do to your body? 41:20 The pattern he sees again and again in long-term dieters 42:39 Why being thin is no guarantee you don't have visceral fat 44:07 Why diet alone won't get rid of visceral fat 45:24 The exact mechanism that makes exercise target visceral fat first 49:03 Why inflammation and visceral fat together wreck your metabolism 49:50 Why any amount of alcohol is bad news for visceral fat 51:32 How fast visceral fat can actually shrink (as little as 12 weeks) 54:14 Why menopause redistributes fat to your belly 57:20 Resistance training: the single best thing for visceral fat 📚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 Fat cell turnover in humans, Nature (2008) New study investigates ‘optimal’ diets for healthy aging Study of visceral, subcutaneous, liver and pancreas fat changes after 12 weeks, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice (2023) MRI assessment of adipose tissue fatty acid composition, Obesity (2024) Phenotyping, Body Composition, and Precision Nutrition (2024) Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.

Today we’re talking about sleep. The more scientists study sleep, the clearer it becomes that it’s not just about resting our bodies - it’s much more than that. In fact, sleep is the foundation upon which a healthy diet, exercise, and overall wellbeing are all built upon. So what happens when that foundation is shaky? Recent research suggests that poor sleep quality may significantly increase your risk of heart disease and even heart attacks. Dr. Nour Makarem joins me to explore the powerful connection between sleep and heart health - and why both too little and too much sleep is a cause for concern. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30 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 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 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.