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ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE Science & Nutrition

By: ZOE
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 The world’s top scientists explain the latest health, nutrition, and gut health research and translate it into practical advice to improve your health & weight. Join ZOE Science & Nutrition, on a journey of scientific discovery. Hosted by Jonathan Wolf.Copyright 2024 ZOE Hygiene & Healthy Living Science
Episodes
  • Tired, anxious, gaining weight? It could be your hormones | Dr Helen O’Neill

    Tired, anxious, gaining weight? It could be your hormones | Dr Helen O’Neill
    Mar 5 2026
    Hormones control almost every system in your body. They are like an orchestra playing, so when one instrument is a little off-key, it affects the whole system. If you feel tired, anxious, or are gaining weight, your hormones may be involved. In this episode, leading reproductive expert Dr Helen O’Neill explains how hormone health affects fertility, metabolism, and mental health for both men and women. The core question is simple: if hormones run your body, how much influence do you have over them? Alongside ZOE’s head nutritionist, Dr Federica Amati, Helen explores the links between hormones and fatigue, anxiety, weight gain, fertility, and metabolic health. The episode covers thyroid health, chronic pain, sperm health, and why gut hormones play a central role in appetite and weight regulation. We also examine why some female-specific conditions remain misunderstood or undiagnosed, and how better data may help change that. Most importantly, this episode focuses on what you can do to take back control. With emerging science suggesting that diet plays a key role in hormone regulation, you’ll hear how fibre, plant diversity, healthy fats, and key micronutrients support gut hormone production and fertility. You’ll also learn why changes made over three months may meaningfully influence fertility, and why conception is always a shared responsibility. Help keep your hormones in tune with this guide to the relationship between gut, diet and hormones, produced in partnership with the hormone experts at Hertility. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily 30+ 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. Timecodes 00:00 Intro 03:50 One hormone can change everything 09:50 Injecting testosterone can shut this down 12:30 You were born with all the eggs you’ll ever have 15:15 The subtle signs your hormones are off 17:55 The most common thyroid problem no one spots 20:30 ‘Balancing hormones’ — myth or medicine? 23:10 The condition affecting one in 10 women 25:40 Why PCOS impacts weight and mood 28:10 Why women were excluded from medical trials 30:25 The data breakthrough changing women’s health 32:30 The devastating disease that mimics cancer 35:15 It takes nine years to diagnose this 37:00 The symptom doctors often miss 39:15 Your gut is a hormone factory 41:00 As powerful as a drug? 43:00 The ‘gourmet meal’ your hormones love 44:05 The flash of zinc at fertilisation 46:15 A handful of walnuts improved sperm health 48:50 Your sperm affects your child’s future 50:30 The fertility habits that really matter 52:40 The biggest takeaway about hormones and food 📚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 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 Mentioned in today's episode Hertility Health Effect of Walnuts on Male Fertility, Current Developments in Nutrition (2019) Sperm health and risk of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, Nature (2023) Interplay of Gut Microbiota in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Pharmaceuticals (2023) Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.
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    57 mins
  • Recap: How to build strength from the comfort of your home | Andy Galpin

    Recap: How to build strength from the comfort of your home | Andy Galpin
    Mar 3 2026
    Today we’re talking about strength. Building muscle doesn’t have to mean lifting heavy weights in a fancy gym. In fact, you can do it from the comfort of your living room. No expensive memberships, no extra long workouts, no excuses. To prove it, I asked human performance expert Andy Galpin to design an at-home strength session for someone who’s never lifted a weight before - my sister. It’s quick, cheap, and a sure fire way to add years to your healthspan. If you’re new to strength training, this episode is the perfect place to start. 🌱 Try our new plant based wholefood supplement - Daily30+ *Naturally high in copper which contributes to normal energy yielding metabolism and the normal function of the immune system 📚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 Free resources from ZOE How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term healthLive 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 hereListen to the full episode here
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    16 mins
  • The 4 breathing secrets that will transform your health today | James Nestor

    The 4 breathing secrets that will transform your health today | James Nestor
    Feb 26 2026
    Most of us never question how we breathe. Yet many of us over-breathe or mouth-breathe without realising it. In this episode, investigative journalist and international bestselling author James Nestor shares four breathing techniques to retrain your nervous system and support better health. This episode is for anyone who feels stressed, snores, wakes up tired, or wants a simple way to improve their health. James, who has spent over a decade researching breathing science with leading respiratory experts, guides us through daily breathing habits to help calm your body, improve oxygen efficiency, and support long-term wellbeing. We explore why nasal breathing is more efficient, how slow breathing can influence the nervous system, and how modern lifestyles may have reshaped our airways. If breathing is something you do 20,000 times a day, what might change if you retrained it? 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily 30+ 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. Timecodes 00:00 Intro 04:15 The change that fixed my sleep and energy 09:55 Could your headaches start with your breath? 11:40 Are you telling your brain you’re stressed? 15:25 Is this the junk food of breathing? 17:30 Snoring isn’t just annoying 19:35 Can you strengthen your airway? 23:35 The moment modern food changed our faces 27:10 How early habits shape how you breathe for life 28:10 Why your nose is more powerful than you think 30:20 Why slower breathing gives you more oxygen 32:35 The molecule you activate just by using your nose 35:20 The 10-day mouth breathing experiment 37:05 One night of mouth breathing changed everything 39:15 The surprising asthma connection 42:35 The fix is boring — and that’s the point 43:00 The one rule that changes everything 44:45 The truth about mouth taping 47:05 The safe way to try mouth tape 48:05 The five-minute breathing reset 49:25 Can you calm your nervous system in 20 seconds? 52:30 How fast will you feel a difference? 📚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 Free resources from ZOE 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 Breath Reset: Free guided audio tracks from James Nestor Breath: Improve your health and wellbeing by discovering the lost art of breathing by James Nestor Asthma & anxiety, Biological Psychology (2022) Different breathing techniques in the management of asthma, Thorax (2006) 61% Self-Identify as Mouth Breathers, Sleep Review (2015) Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here. Episode transcripts are available here.
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    59 mins
All stars
Most relevant
really good insight into menopause .Found it really useful. Definitely need a name change to women's hormone disfunction.

fab insight

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Information given in an easy to understand way. Great advice for food hacks to manage blood glucose.

Informative podcast Zoe Nutrition

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Once again, it is like Jonathan is reading my mind and asking all the questions I have! (except for the one on tomatoes...). Thank you for explaining the science and debunking the latest myth, which although one can see it's just aimed at selling a miracle cure in the form of one supplement, it's good to have the tiny doubts it raises squashed.

Great episode!

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I've listened to this several times because I've found it so interesting. I was totally ignorant of this subject before hearing this podcast, and I'm not able to get the CGM test done, but the advice given is something anyone can take up, whether or not they know their blood glucose level. Thank you for this, and all the Zoe free podcasts.

Very helpful

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Just listened to the programme about vitamins, and was amazed that the fact that BAME people deaths from covid were over represented and a link was made to lack of vitamin D. The advice given about vitamin D was clearly targeted at white people/those living in sunny climates. Those of us with melanin living in UK don't absorb enough vitamin D from sunshine. And if also a vegan then surely supplements should be taken? Also, there is an issue with absorption of vitamin D supplements. Even though I take supplements, my levels are still low. Why no research into why people of colour seem to not absorb vitamin D as a supplement?

Good information, annoying posh voices!

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