About three years ago, in my North London neighborhood, I began noticing many middle-class mothers sporting small, round, yellow patches on their upper arms. When asked, they’d often reply, “I’m doing ZOE.”

ZOE, which means “life” in Greek, is a personalized nutrition initiative launched by Dr. Tim Spector, an epidemiologist affiliated with King’s College London.

The yellow patch was actually a CGM, or continuous glucose monitor. This device tracked their blood sugar levels through an app.

The app would then analyze their dietary habits, offering recommendations on which foods to avoid and which to incorporate more of to improve overall health.

I recall one friend being taken aback when her blood sugar chart showed a significant spike after enjoying a bagel.

Such spikes in blood sugar are concerning due to their potential to cause energy crashes, mood fluctuations, and increased appetite, which could lead to weight gain.

This is before you mention long-term health problems such as insulin resistance, heart disease and increased ‘bad’ cholesterol.

My ZOE friends were also sending samples of their poo in a box to a lab, with a view to it being analysed for the contents of their micro­biome. 

Mirandy Levy writes that at 5ft 2in and 11st 7lb, she could do with losing a few pounds, especially around the middle area

This was another buzzword – essentially describing the ­collection of health-giving micro-­organisms that live in your gut and lower the inflammation in your body – another health ‘plus’.

The main principle of Dr Spector’s programme is that you should eat more plants for vitamins and fibre – that’s fruit, veg, pulses and seeds.

The friendly bacteria in your gut love these: the ZOE ideal is to aim for eating 30 different varieties of plant a week.

ZOE always seemed a bit fiddly to me and so, while it sounded ­interesting, I never got round to signing up. It was also pretty ­expensive at £24.99 a month – that’s before you added the £299 for ­getting your sample analysed.

But then I got offered the ­opportunity to try the new and improved ZOE. No CGM, no test – just a £9.99 app that miraculously analyses photos of your food and makes helpful suggestions as to how to improve your diet. I leapt at the chance.

Federica Amati is ZOE’s head nutritionist, as well as nutrition topic lead at Imperial College ­Faculty of Medicine. ‘ZOE’s philosophy is to change the way we think about food and encourage habits that stick,’ she says. ‘It’s about ­positive nutrition: increasing the quality and diversity of our food.

Miranda took a photo of a vegetable lasagne with green beans and salad in her local cafe: ZOE scoped out the hidden mushrooms and could tell a tomato in a lasagne from a red pepper. Score: an encouraging 70 (veg good; pasta, not so much)

‘After users teach themselves to eat mindfully, the evidence shows they report increased energy, better mood, better sleep and improved digestion.’

Yes, we’d all love a healthier gut, but what about the real reason most people do ZOE – if they are being honest – which is to lose weight?

‘ZOE is not about crash-dieting or calorie-counting,’ says Dr Amati. ‘But our evidence does show that those who adhere the most strictly to the plan see the greatest improvement in weight loss, especially if they were overweight to begin with.

‘Our research shows that in four months, people see an average four per cent reduction in body weight.’

Perhaps more importantly, she says, users experience a reduction in their waist measurements, ­suggestive of a loss of ‘visceral’ (or abdominal) fat. This information is key, as fat round the organs raises the risk of metabolic illnesses such as type-2 diabetes and heart disease; losing it can lower that risk.

I’m 5ft 2in, 11st 7lb and a size 14. I count myself as pretty fit, and some of the weight is muscle – at least, that’s what I tell myself.

But there’s no doubt I could do with losing a few pounds, especially around the middle area. And who would say no to more energy and better sleep?

I decide to give ZOE 2.0 a whirl.

WEEK 1

Pride of the new ZOE is a function where you photograph your dinner and receive immediate nutrition feedback. Using AI, the app ­analyses your meal and its ingredients, giving a score out of 100.

Ingredients have a ‘traffic light’ system: green for healthy, amber for so-so, red for ‘should be avoided’, etc. An animated yellow bean called Ziggie pops up with suggestions for how to make your meal healthier.

A ZOE-friendly Quaker plain porridge oats gets a green score of 64

You can also sync ZOE to your Apple Watch to track your sleep and exercise, and it delivers you little homilies about healthy eating.

The AI camera function is great fun. I take a photo of a vegetable lasagne with green beans and salad in my local cafe: ZOE scopes out the hidden mushrooms and can tell a tomato in a lasagne from a red ­pepper. Score: an encouraging 70 (veg good; pasta, not so much).

I spend the rest of the week ­analysing my usual diet to see what I should eat more of and what I should cut back on. The results are mixed. My healthy go-to of salmon with roasted tomatoes, sweet potato and salad scores 85. ‘Enjoy regularly,’ trumpets ZOE. I beam.

On the other hand, a bagel with cream cheese scores 29 and solicits a stern: ‘Enjoy once in a while.’ (ZOE is very careful not to tell you off, exactly, but to encourage good behaviour.)

Porridge oats with blueberries and chia seeds (upping Miranda’s plant scores), plus a dollop of Greek yoghurt to increase her protein intake and keep her fuller for longer

Friday night sees a train trip to Devon to visit a friend: my gin and tonic scores an unsurprising ‘red zone’ 18. ‘While a refreshing choice, this can impact blood sugar due to the added sugar in tonic water,’ warns ZOE. ‘You can always try diet soda water or a diet tonic for a zero-sugar, hydrating alternative.’

It’s exciting and great fun as I snap everything in my sight. ‘This is not a meal,’ says ZOE, when I ask the nutritional content of my 21-year old son.

WEEK 2

It makes sense to start with breakfast, and here I have a ­revelation. My usual fare is sourdough toast with butter and jam – but I do increasingly find myself getting hungry by mid-morning and in need of a snack. Zoe agrees that toast (even sourdough) with butter and jam is not an ideal way to start the day and awards me a desultory, amber 35.

I ask: are carbs bad for me? The reply: ‘ZOE’s science shows the “type” of carbohydrates really matters. Refined carbohydrates, like those found in white bread, white rice, and sugar drinks are rapidly absorbed and can be turned into fat… However, other types of carbohydrates, especially those rich in fibre, can be really beneficial for your gut health and overall wellbeing.’

I’ve read that porridge oats fall into this latter category.

So the following day, I try a ZOE-friendly combination of Quaker plain porridge oats with blueberries and chia seeds (upping my plant scores) plus a dollop of Greek yoghurt to increase my protein intake and keep me fuller for longer. This scores a green 64.

‘The combination of oats and chia seeds delivers a boost of fibre, which slows sugar absorption for steady energy and ­promotes healthy digestion,’ ZOE tells me. ‘Greek yoghurt adds probiotics to support gut health, while blueberries add natural sweetness and vitamins.’

If I was really going to ace my ZOE breakfast, I’d choose a high-fibre avocado and toast with poached eggs. This scores a fabulous, bright green 82.

Miranda’s healthy seeded sourdough with hummus, feta and salad only scores 49 and a lukewarm ‘enjoy in moderation’ which surprises her

But do I honestly fancy this every single morning and can I be bothered to make it? At least the porridge sachets can be done in the microwave.

I’m doing well on my plant score, though, adding seeds, spices and herbs where I wouldn’t previously use them in my cooking and getting plaudits from ZOE. Is it my imagination or do I feel myself needing to hook my belt a notch tighter?

WEEK 3 

ZOE and I go to the cafe. I now realise why all the Gail’s mums switched to black coffee in the summer of 2022. A latte – or any coffee with milk, scores 75, while a black coffee is even more of a triumph – 83 and ‘enjoy regularly’. Nutritionists want you to get the full health benefits of the coffee’s inflammation-fighting antioxidants without added fats and sugars that are in milk.

‘A great boost of energy and improved focus, coffee provides an abundance of polyphenols that help support your gut and heart health,’ says ZOE of my espresso.

We then swing into Sainsbury’s. The app has a clever function where you can scan the barcode of your shopping and it analyses the ingredients. Five per cent fat Greek yoghurt scores well (80), but a strawberry-flavoured fat-free ‘gut health’ yoghurt only gets 51 and an amber warning.

Nutritionists often counsel that – whatever the marketing says –fat-free yoghurts are often high in sugar, especially if they are flavoured. It’s interesting to see this in action.

On the other hand, all this being virtuous is getting to me. That night, I fall off the wagon with a 42-scoring apple crumble. ZOE is happy with the fibre in the apples, but not so crazy about the white flour, ­butter and sugar in the topping.

WEEK 4 

Some of ZOE seems a little contradictory. For example, I’m very proud of my healthy seeded sourdough with hummus, feta and salad – but this only scores 49 and a lukewarm ‘enjoy in moderation’ which surprises me.

There appears to be a pattern where the app slightly demonises bread – even the healthy, non-processed varieties. One can’t live on ­hummus and salad alone: surely this will set you up to fail?

Miranda lost 5lb: ‘Nothing dramatic,’ she writes, ‘but I’m closer to 11st than when I started. If I continue on this trend, I’ll be dropping a dress size before Christmas’

Then, on the other hand, a glass of red wine wins 58 points. It’s great to know that the poly­phenols in the red grapes are good for our health – and who doesn’t want to enjoy a drink without guilt – but can this really be right? (‘The app does have a problem with alcohol that we need to sort out,’ concedes ZOE’s nutritionist Dr Amati when I ask her about this).

Overall, I have found that a month on ZOE – and following its mindful eating programme – has been good for my health.

Probably the biggest change is that I’ve permanently given up the toast and jam and am sticking to the porridge, berries and Greek yoghurt combo.

I’m no longer hungry before lunchtime and dashing into a cafe for a croissant. It’s definitely true that eating all these extra vegetables has been good for my digestion: I’m more regular in that department. My skin looks clear and my hair shiny.

I’ve always been an energetic person, so don’t see huge changes on that score. But when I step on the scales, I’m pleased to see I have lost 5lb: nothing dramatic, but I’m closer to 11st than when I started. If I continue on this trend, I’ll be dropping a dress size before Christmas.

Perhaps you don’t need to shell out on an app to tell you that cutting out bread and eating more veg will make you thinner. But my month with ZOE has been fun – and snapping your friends’ food is certainly a good conversation starter at meal times.