Beans are ZOE's way of helping you track and celebrate gut-friendly choices throughout the day. Every time you log a meal or snack, you can earn beans. The more gut-friendly your meal is, the more beans you'll earn.
Beans are designed to help you see your progress in real time — a bit like watching your step count build up during the day.
How do I earn beans?
You earn beans by logging meals and making gut-friendly choices, such as including:
More plants
More fibre
Healthy fats
Healthy protein
Less processed foods
Balanced meals that score well for you
You'll also earn beans simply for the act of logging your meals. This is because mindful eating — paying attention to what you eat and how it makes you feel — can help you build healthier habits over time.
What do beans tell me?
Beans give you a live signal of how your day is going. As you log meals, your bean total builds up to show the gut-friendly choices you've made that day.
If your bean total is lower than you'd like, don't worry — you can always add something gut-friendly to your next meal or snack. For example, adding beans, lentils, vegetables, nuts, seeds, olive oil, or another plant-based ingredient could help increase the number of beans you earn.
Why are beans in the app?
At ZOE, we don't believe in restriction, calorie counting, or focusing only on what to avoid. We created beans to make healthy progress feel more visible and encouraging — helping you focus on positive additions and swaps that support your gut health.
Beans are there to:
Celebrate the gut-friendly choices you're already making
Encourage small, positive changes throughout the day
Help you understand which meals support your health goals
Show your daily progress in a simple, motivating way
Move you along your ZOE journey in the app
How are beans different from my Meal Score?
Your Meal Score is a personalised score for one meal or snack — it helps you understand how well that specific meal works for you. Beans are different. They're the points you collect across all your meals and snacks throughout the day, building up as you log food and make gut-friendly choices.
Think of it like this:
Meal Score = how one meal scores for you
Beans = your live progress throughout the day
Diet Score = a broader view of your overall diet quality over time
Can I lose beans?
No. Beans are designed to be encouraging, not punishing. Your beans can only go up as you log meals and make gut-friendly choices. If one meal doesn't score as highly as you hoped, you can still earn beans for the positive things it includes — and you can keep building your total with your next meal.
Do I need to hit a certain number of beans every day?
You may see a daily bean target or benchmark in the app. This is there as a guide to help you understand your progress, not as a strict rule. Some days you may earn more beans, and some days fewer — that's normal. The goal is to build awareness and make small, consistent changes that work for you.
What happens when I collect beans?
Collecting beans helps you progress along your ZOE journey in the app. As you continue logging and earning beans, you'll move through levels and unlock more guidance to help you learn about your body, your food choices, and your long-term health.
The main thing to remember: beans are there to help you build momentum — one meal, snack, and gut-friendly choice at a time.