Which: Zoe lessons without the subscription

Adapted from Which February 2025

Which recently surveyed their readers about their personal use of the Zoe app. As a reader, I contributed too, but was dissuaded from buying the App as I have wheat intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome, both of which make their food recommendations impractical. I was impressed with their integrity about this, as they could easily have taken my money, and then given me advice that wouldn’t have helped me.

Zoe is a self testing and nutrition plan, headed by Professor Tim Spector. Zoe has signed up more than 120,000 people so far. 241 Which members contributed to their survey about it.

67% said that they wanted to find out about their gut microbiome. 44% wanted dietary advice. 37% wanted to improve their health. 30% wanted to lose weight.

The top five changes that they made to their diets after using the app were:

They ate fewer carbohydrates, ate more protein, ate more nuts and seeds, ate more vegetables, and ate less red meat.

The response was generally very positive with most people getting out of the app what they wanted.

78% had a better idea of what to eat, 48% said their guts worked better, 42% said they felt healthier, and 41% had lost weight.

29% said it was good value for money. 46% said it was reasonable value for money and only 20% said it was poor value for money.

Subscriptions to Zoe costs between £400 for four months and £600 for a year.

When you join up, you have to eat various biscuits that they supply, and then send off faecal samples and blood samples. After this you get feedback on the variability of the bugs in your gut, and how well or not you handle fat and sugar in your body.

For the next stage, you log in all your meals, snacks and drinks. You are advised as to whether they are “green”- go ahead, “amber”- just now and then, or “red” -you really should avoid. One user was advised to eat more avocado, green lentils and olive oil, and to avoid canned chicken soup, rice, white bread and ice cream. She was also advised to add wholegrains, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Reading this, I could understand why I had been advised not to purchase it.

The app contains tutorials, information, recipes, and support groups. To increase meal “scores” you generally need to eat more plant food, less refined carbs, sugar, processed meat and processed food. Such advice is common to many healthy diets, so whether it is truly individualised, is difficult to ascertain.

Although the Zoe app also measures blood sugars, for most people who are not diabetic, this becomes unnecessary, when sugars and starches are restricted, as these are the culprits when it comes to blood sugar spikes.

In general, users are advised to increase the range of plant foods that they eat, such as lentils, pulses, legumes, nuts, wholegrains and seeds. Reduce ultra processed foods. Include fermented foods such as kefir, kimchi, kombucha, cheese, yoghurt, coffee and some teas.

Finally they also advise lifestyle improvements such as being active, managing stress, get enough sleep, and look after your mental health.