Key points from article :
Zoe, a personalized nutrition company, offers tailored food advice based on blood, stool, and glucose monitoring data, claiming to be backed by "world-leading science."
Despite scientific advisors and collaborations, the personalized nutrition field lacks strong evidence supporting claims of superior results compared to standard dietary advice.
Zoe's use of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to track blood sugar spikes is questioned by scientists, who emphasize the minuscule impact of glucose fluctuations on overall health in non-diabetics.
Personalized nutrition research often relies on large-scale data analysis, which can lead to misleading associations and false positives, not proving causation.
Stool analysis, another tool used by Zoe, is deemed questionable due to the lack of knowledge about a healthy microbiome and the inaccurate identification of gut bacteria.
Zoe focuses on personalizing less critical factors like glucose and gut bacteria while neglecting crucial health markers like LDL cholesterol and blood pressure.
The company's recent study, claiming positive outcomes, faced criticism for its design, control group selection, and limited generalizability.
Zoe operates as a wellness company, avoiding the stricter regulations applied to healthcare providers, despite offering health-related advice.
Consumers pay significant sums for Zoe's services, essentially funding a research project with their personal health data.
The study is published in the journal Science.
