5 simple nutrition changes to boost energy, lift your mood and beat fatigue (in just 72 hours!) | Prof Tim Spector & Dr Federica Amati

Jonathan Wolf (0:00)

Welcome to ZOE Science and Nutrition, where world leading scientists explain how their research can improve your health.

Dawn filters softly through the bedroom blinds. The house is still quiet, but Sarah is already awake, and things feel off. She's tired and irritable, despite not even being out of bed yet. She wonders whether this is simply midlife, a phase to be endured, a change to accept. And yet deep inside, she hears her quiet voice whispering, this isn't right, I deserve to feel better. Lucy's morning looks different. In her 20s, she's outwardly fine, but she too is running on empty. Energy dips, brain fog, and a constant sense that her body isn't on her side. Two people at very different stages of life, both feeling that something isn't working, but not knowing why. So we designed an experiment. Could we improve how they feel and their health markers only by changing their diet? And can we achieve all this in just six weeks?

Today, that experiment has just completed, and Lucy and Sarah are here in the studio to share their experience. We're also joined by Professor Tim Spector and Dr. Federica Amati to decode exactly what they've been through. Join us and discover their tips, their challenges, and their overall experience.

Lucy and Sarah, thank you for joining me today.

Lucy (1:34)

Thanks for having us.

Sarah (1:35)

Yes, thanks for having us.

Jonathan Wolf (1:37)

And Tim and Federica, great to have you with me as well.

Sarah (1:39)

Excited to be here.

Tim Spector (1:40)

Yep.

Jonathan Wolf (1:41)

So we always like to kick off our show here at ZOE with a rapid fire set of questions and answers. And we try to have quite a strict rule, which is to say yes or no or one sentence if you have to.

Starting with Tim, can you transform your health in six weeks just by changing what you eat?

Tim Spector (2:00)

Maybe that's what we want to find out.

Jonathan Wolf (2:04)

Is it true that dietary changes can help improve menopause symptoms?

Tim Spector (2:09)

Yes, I can reveal that.

Jonathan Wolf (2:12)

Federica, do you have to eat perfectly 100 percent of the time if you want to improve your health?

Lucy (2:17)

No, consistency over perfection.

Jonathan Wolf (2:20)

Lucy, in your experience, can changing your diet change how you feel?

Lucy (2:26)

Yes.

Jonathan Wolf (2:27)

Sarah, does starting to eat in the ZOE way feel really restrictive?

Sarah (2:33)

No.

Jonathan Wolf (2:35)

Finally, Lucy, what's the most important thing that you've learned as part of this journey?

Lucy (2:40)

Addition over restriction.

Jonathan Wolf (2:43)

I'm really excited to have this conversation. It's the first time I've met Lucy and Sarah, but I'd like to start at the beginning of the story. We like a challenge here at ZOE.

My producer, Rich, said that for a lot of people, how we talk about nutrition on the podcast can feel very abstract. There's lots of scientists and scientific studies and numbers, but what does it actually mean to an individual if they go and do this? He came up with this idea. He said, what if we did an experiment where we put ZOE to the test and we make this real for people who are watching it, instead of very scientific? We recruited three individuals to see if we can improve their health markers only by changing their diet in just six weeks, and then follow their whole journey really closely to actually understand what that feels like and what it means. We've just released the documentary on YouTube, and I'm not a scientist, so I wasn't allowed to be involved in any part of this experiment, and I only got to see the documentary yesterday.

I'm obviously a bit biased, but I thought it was totally compelling viewing, and I'm very excited to have two of the participants, Lucy and Sarah, join me today to talk about their experience. So Lucy, can I start with you? Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what your lifestyle was before coming into this experiment?

Lucy (4:06)

Yeah, sure. So before starting ZOE, I was very much in the pub all the time, going to work, coming home, going to bed because I was just so fatigued, stuck in a bit of a rut really, just like no energy and no motivation for anything.

Jonathan Wolf (4:21)

And Sarah, same question for you.

Sarah (4:23)

Well, I was wondering why I was feeling so fatigued and tired all the time, because I thought I was eating really well. I hadn't really changed my diet too much. I'm quite active. I'm with my job. I'm physio and a Pilates teacher.