At ZOE, we use a mix of cutting-edge science, machine learning, and your personal data to help you understand how your body responds to food. Here's how we calculate your results across Blood Fat, Blood Sugar, and Gut Health.
🩸Blood Fat Score
Your ZOE Blood Fat score provides insight into how efficiently your body clears fats from your bloodstream after eating them. We calculate this score using the following information:
Your predicted fasting triglyceride levels
Your predicted fasting cholesterol levels
Your triglyceride levels after eating the test meal (muffins or cookies) on your test day
Your cholesterol levels after eating the test meal (muffins or cookies) on your test day
Your risk factors for cardiovascular disease are assessed using your health profile
🔬 In our research, we discovered that blood fat responses 6 hours after eating could differ by as much as 10x between different people, even identical twins. Interestingly, fasting blood fat levels didn't change nearly as much. This is why your Blood Fat score considers the dynamic nature of your body's response after eating a meal.
Remember, your Blood Fat score is just one part of how your body deals with the fats you eat and is only one part of your overall health and well-being. A higher or lower score doesn't automatically mean you're healthier or not as healthy. Instead, the score simply indicates how efficiently your body is at clearing dietary fats from your bloodstream after you've eaten.
🍭Blood Sugar Score
Your Blood Sugar score essentially tells us about your blood sugar control, which is how efficiently your body removes glucose (sugar) from your bloodstream after eating. But please remember, this score is not directly linked to or reflective of being more or less healthy; rather, it's about understanding your body's unique responses to food.
Your Blood Sugar score is calculated based on several factors that help us understand how efficiently your body manages blood sugar levels after you eat. This is predominately assessed based on your test day measurements, including how your body processes sugars in your blood after eating our standardised test meal. However, we also consider the overall patterns of how your blood sugar levels change after meals and how much they vary over the entire time you wear the CGM.
We also look at the data you’ve disclosed in the health profiling survey, such as your medical history and your family's. Although these are important for us to gain a more comprehensive understanding of health, they are only used to help us fine-tune our understanding of your blood sugar control and, therefore, your score.
Your Blood Sugar score is important because it helps us provide you with personalised advice on which foods will be most favourable for your metabolism. It can help you understand how your body responds to different types of foods. This can guide you in making food choices that help you maintain stable blood sugar levels and feel your best!
🐛Gut Health Score
Your gut health results provide a detailed analysis of your gut microbiome. They include:
An updated ZOE Microbiome Health Score, indicating your overall gut health.
A breakdown of 50 "good" and 50 "bad" bacteria in your gut, linked to health outcomes. These are based on our analysis of 35,000 stool samples and represent bacteria associated with good and bad health markers.
Updated Gut Boosters and Suppressors, which are foods that can positively or negatively impact your gut health.
Comparison with your initial test results, if applicable, showing how your gut health has changed over time.
These results help you understand how your diet and lifestyle impact your gut health, guiding you towards making informed decisions for improving your overall well-being.
Next Steps
Your results are the start of your personalised journey. The ZOE app and Foundations Programme are here to help you turn insights into lasting habits.
Tips to get started:
Go slow – explore your results and take time to absorb them
Start small – little changes add up and are easier to stick with
Add before you take away – try adding 50+ scoring foods like beans, veggies, or whole grains
Mix and match – balance lower scoring foods with higher scoring ones
Listen to your body – eat when you're hungry, stop when you're comfortably full
Check the Improve tab – when you're ready, pick one new area to focus on
Remember, only work on one thing at a time.
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