How testing works
Once you’ve picked your start date, tasks will show on the relevant days in your app. Make sure to do these tests in the right order and mark them as complete with the correct timings.
Day 0: Preparation day
All members:
Read through the leaflets in your test kit boxes to familiarise yourself with some of the processes.
Stay hydrated all day and drink 1-2 glasses of water in the evening to give you the best chance of a successful blood test tomorrow.
Study members only:
You'll be guided through this in the app with the 'Set up blood sugar sensor' task.
Important: Log into the LibreLink app using the ZOE credentials provided in the app task, do not create a personal account as then we won't have access to your sensor data.
Important: Complete the 'Check your sensor' task promptly after the 1-hour calibration period has finished.
Day 1: Test day
All members:
Fast overnight for a minimum of 8 hours
Do your gut health test
This can be done today or over the next few days
Eat and log your breakfast cookies (20 mins)
Fast and avoid exercising for 4 hours
Eat and log your lunch cookies (20 mins)
Fast and avoid exercising for 2 hours
Halfway through this 2 hours, you’ll prepare for your blood test
Do your blood test (20 mins)
Eat, drink and exercise as normal for the rest of the day
Do I need to log what I eat after my blood test?
Do I need to log what I eat after my blood test?
No. Food logging starts on Day 2, so you don’t need to log anything else on test day.
Does it matter when I collect my stool sample?
Does it matter when I collect my stool sample?
No. Your stool sample can be collected on any day during testing (pre- or post-cookies).
Is it an issue that I'm testing and returning samples over the weekend?
Is it an issue that I'm testing and returning samples over the weekend?
No. Please just post your samples back to us as soon as you can on the next business day.
What should I avoid in fasting periods?
What should I avoid in fasting periods?
Don't eat or drink anything except plain still water, black coffee, black tea or herbal tea.
Don't exercise. A gentle walk is okay, but don't do anything that elevates your heart rate.
Days 2-4: Diet assessment
All members - food logging:
Eat and drink normally on these days, just log everything you consume via the yellow '+' icon in the bottom right of the ZOE app. This helps us understand your baseline dietary quality.
You won’t be able to see your personal scores or any nutritional information just yet. This information will become available as soon as you have your results.
All members - blue stool:
Look out for blue (or green) stool and log the first time you see a colour change in the ZOE app.
Not everyone will see blue and that's fine. You can read more about this here.
Day 5+: Experimentation
Study members only:
Put your blood sugar to the test using the 'Experiment with your sensor' section of the app you've unlocked. You'll be able to see how your body responds to different dietary and lifestyle interventions.
You can also check your blood sugar response to foods you regularly enjoy. Do you notice any patterns in your response? What effect does combining these foods or exercising have?
Blood sugar sensor experiments are entirely optional and for your own learning. They don't contribute to your results.
End of testing: Remove your sensor
Study members only:
The blood sugar sensors are designed to last for up to 2 weeks. If they end early, please don't worry - we'll have enough data to accurately calculate your results after the first few days, the rest is just for fun!
End of testing: Results
All members:
We send your results to you as soon as we can. Results take around 4 weeks to come back, and often metabolic results (blood sugar and blood fat) are ready before microbiome results.
You can check the status of your results in the 'Profile' section of the app by tapping on the 'person' icon in the top right of your screen.
Issues
If you have questions not answered here, you can browse our help centre article by:
Tapping on the 'person' icon in the top right of your ‘Home’ screen
Tapping on the 'cog' icon in the top right of the screen
Selecting 'FAQs'
Please reach out to our Customer Support team if you have any urgent testing day queries or concerns. You can reach them by:
Tapping on the ‘person’ icon in the top right of your ‘Home’ screen
Tapping on the ‘headset’ icon in the top right of the screen
Selecting ‘Send us a message’ and going through the flow, if the bot can’t answer your question, you’ll be put through to our team
Good luck!