The new programme saw participants lose more than two inches off their waist in 18 weeks (Image: Getty Images)
Weight loss is a common goal for many people. While for some it comes from a place of wanting to change how they look, for others it is actually crucial to their health.
In fact, more than a quarter of adults in England are thought to be obese, while a further 37 percent are classed as overweight. Both could raise your risk for dangerous health complications such as diabetes, heart disease and a fatty liver among others.
Therefore, finding a way to lose and maintain a healthy weight in a sustainable way is more important than ever.
And this is exactly what a group of experts say they have discovered. Branded an “anti-diet”, this new way of losing weight has helped participants shed more than two inches from their waists in just 18 weeks.
The regime, created by expert Professor Tim Spector and the ZOE Health team, has also been crafted to help people feel and sleep better, too.
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What makes it different is the fact that no food is “off limits” and users don’t need to worry about calorie counting.
It is meant to help people stick to sustainable healthy eating habits that will last.
However, there is no one size fits all here, and participants are provided a personalised plan based on results taken from poo samples.
Typically though, users are advised to avoid large amounts of dairy, processed carbs and alcohol.
To help curb hunger pangs they are urged to eat high fibre foods as well as plenty of fermented foods to aid gut health.
High fibre foods include fruit and vegetables, wholegrain bread, beans, lentils and chickpeas. And fermented foods include items such as sauerkraut, kim chi and kombucha.
The programme was devised by Prof Tim Spector and the ZOE Health team (Image: Getty)
Testing the effects of the programme, Kings College London researchers who are affiliated to ZOE, conducted a study for which the results have been published in Nature Medicine journal.
Taking part in the study were 347 obese volunteers aged 52 who had an average body mass index (BMI) of 34.
They were split into two groups. One group was given an 18-week ZOE membership, which saw users sent at-home tests including poo and blood sample kits that normally cost almost £300.
These were sent to a lab to calculate blood fat, blood sugar, and gut microbiome levels.
Using the results, ZOE scored 1.2 million food items from zero to 100, giving users personal advice on how their body responds to each.
Most participants were encouraged to eat more fibre (Image: Getty)
The app, which costs £59.99 monthly, also offered them diet and lifestyle advice over the four month period.
The other volunteers instead received a standard Dietary Guidelines for Americans leaflet, accompanied by a video tutorial, online resources and weekly check-ins.
All volunteers had a health check before and after the trial, including having waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels measured.
After 18 weeks participants who stuck to the ZOE strategy shredded 4.7 percent of their weight (4.78lbs or 2.17kg), on average, and lost 6.3cm (2.4 inches) off their waist.
In comparison, the other group lost 2.4 percent of their weight (0.6lbs or 0.3kg) and 5.35cm off their waist.
The ZOE participants also saw a bigger drop in cholesterol, of 0.4 mmol/L, compared to 0.1 mmol/L. They were also twice as likely to feel less hungry and four times more likely to report better sleep quality.
In the study, researchers said: “In our multilevel approach to personalization, the weight loss observed was moderate and below proposed clinically meaningful thresholds (five percent).
“However, moderate weight loss of this magnitude has been reported to improve health outcomes.”
As reported by the Mail Online, Prof Tim Spector commented: “We have shown that those who follow ZOE’s nutrition advice will see improvements in their overall health.
“It is clear some current population advice is out of date, over focused on calories and low fat foods and with low adherence unlikely to result in long term benefits.
“ZOE advice shows that thinking about foods in a totally different way with the emphasis on quality, personalisation and gut health can have massive benefits if adopted more widely.”