Who is ZOE? And should I be friends with her?
The hype around ZOE membership is hard to ignore, with its distinctive yellow arm patches becoming as ubiquitous as lulu lemons at my local yoga class. But beyond the trendiness, what lies beneath the patch and is investing in their membership truly beneficial? In this opinion piece, we delve into the world of ZOE to determine if it lives up to its promise of personalised nutrition and if it's the right fit for you.
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Unveiling ZOE:
Launched in April 2022, ZOE quickly gained traction, boasting over 130,000 sign-ups by the end of 2023. Marketed as a personalised diet program, ZOE aims to tailor it’s approach to your body's unique needs. But does it deliver on this promise?
What ZOE Offers:
ZOE aims to tailor a diet plan that leads to understanding your body's response to food. It begins with preliminary testing, including a continuous blood glucose monitor (CGM), a stool test and a fat metabolism assessment. These data points are then fed into an algorithm to provide insights into a general overview of your microbiome, blood glucose levels and fat response to different foods. Your plan involves maintaining the traffic light system of food scores. This is also accompanied by daily lessons on healthy food choices.
Advantages of ZOE:
Provides a basic overview of your gut health, assessing microbial diversity and balance, and encourages ways to improve it.
Popularises the concept of individualised food responses
ZOE maintains the advice focuses on improving metabolic risks rather than solely targeting weight loss
Disadvantages of ZOE:
Personalisation is limited to algorithmic analysis especially without individualised coaching support for behaviour change or individual health requirements.
Data provided lacks contextual understanding, particularly concerning continuous glucose monitor readings. These are viewed solely through the app interface, easily leading to misinterpretations and potential food anxiety.
The gut test results offer only a surface-level assessment of bacterial diversity and balance. These fail to provide comprehensive insights, especially for individuals with existing health issues.
Active engagement with the app, including time spent learning and inputting data, is necessary to derive program benefit
Not recommended for individuals that do not have a healthy relationship with food or suffer with health anxiety.
Conclusion;
If you are interested in general health and enjoy a bit of health tech, then the programme may be a fun for you. If you are looking for a truly personalised plan however, a deeper analysis into the data taken or have a health concern that you would like addressing, then maybe you should consider investing your money into a more personalised plan.