ZOE Science & Nutrition

Why do you catch every cold going, while others rarely get sick?

Many of the cold and flu tips you grew up with are myths, but in today’s episode, world-leading immunity expert Professor Daniel Davis and Professor Tim Spector explain the five everyday habits that can protect your immune system.

You’ll learn why some people get sick more often than others and test common beliefs about how to boost immunity and beat flu season: does getting cold and wet really give you a cold, and can vitamin C or immune-boosting supplements actually help? We explore the five habits that the science links to immune health and share three food tips, so you can learn how to stay well this winter.

If you get sick more often than your friends, this episode will break down why that might be, and give you the tools to help.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

05:57 Can you really boost your immune system?

07:51 Is man flu real? The science of who suffers worse colds.

11:55 Why you take a week to shake off a cold your friend beats in 2 days.

14:20 Is catching colds in your genes?

15:54 Why your immune system slows with age, and the inflammation link.

20:16 Why do we actually get more colds and flu in winter?

21:28 Why your snot is magical, and how it fights colds.

22:31 Can wet hair give you a cold?

24:06 Vitamin C, vitamin D or zinc: do any supplements stop a cold?

27:36 The truth about immune-boosting supplements and food labels

29:38 Should you feed a cold and starve a fever?

31:30 Should you avoid crowds to prevent colds?

34:09 Habit 1: What 4 hours’ sleep does to your immune system.

36:48 How to sleep better: Tim Spector's routine

38:56 Habit 2: what the stress hormone cortisol does to your cancer-fighting cells

42:24 How to lower cortisol: do tai chi, walks or laughter work?

45:22 Habit 3: is a glass of wine bad for your immune system?

46:13 Habit 4: why gut health is Tim Spector’s main reason for not getting sick.

48:04 How gut bacteria keep your immune system in balance

49:39 Does diet change how sick you get?

51:57 Habit 5: how exercise changes your immune system, and the truth about 10,000 steps.

54:28 Is it too late to start exercising for immune health?

55:42 Tim Spector’s 3 food rules for your immune system and gut health

57:47 The 5 habits that really protect your immune system.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

Good Mood Food by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks

Better Breakfast Guide

Mentioned in today's episode

⁠Immune Health: A Myth-busting Guide by Prof Daniel Davis

The science behind “man flu”, BMJ (2017)

Sleep and food choices, ZOE (2025)

Childhood adversity and inflammatory processes, Psychoneuroendocrinology (2013)

Effect of Sleep Deprivation on Response to Immunization, JAMA (2002)

Increased concordance of severe respiratory infection in identical twins, Pediatrics (2008)

Longitudinal dynamics of gene expression and metabolomics in an aging population cohort, Science (2026)

The nonlinear association between sleep duration, cognition and mental health, Nat Aging 2 (2022)

Effects of odors on sleep quality, Scientific Reports (2022)Diet quality and risk and severity of COVID-19, Gut (2021)

Episode transcripts are available ⁠here⁠.

Microplastics are everywhere. Tiny fragments we can’t see, taste, or smell and yet they’ve been found in our water, our food, and even our brains.

Emerging research has linked microplastic exposure to hormone disruption, chronic inflammation, and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. But with plastics embedded in almost every aspect of modern life, is there anything we can realistically do to reduce our exposure?

Today, Dr Sabine Donnai and Dr Federica Amati separate the fear from the facts. They explain where our biggest sources of microplastics come from, which everyday habits may be increasing our risk, and the simple, practical swaps that can meaningfully reduce the amount entering our bodies.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra  

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

Better Breakfast Guide

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here.

Episode transcripts are available here.

What does a healthy daily routine really look like?

In this episode, world-leading nutritionist Dr Federica Amati shares what she eats in a day, from breakfast to dinner, and her six everyday habits that may lower your risk of cancer, dementia and help you live longer. No 4am alarms, cryotherapy chambers, or other protocols - you’ll learn simple tips and trends you can skip.

Federica walks us through a normal day, from waking up to bedtime, and gives you six pillars of a healthy lifestyle to focus on to reduce your risk of chronic disease.

Learn how Federica builds a healthy morning routine that cuts your chronic disease risk by 80%, how to put together a quick lunch, pick snacks that keep you full, and slip oily fish into meals you already love. Plus, her simple wind-down rules for better sleep.

Which big habits are you missing while you chase the small ones?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:45 Circadian rhythms: what your hormones expect every 24 hours

06:50 The 6 lifestyle habits that prevent 80% of chronic disease

10:10 Why sleep scientists want to scrap the clock change

13:14 Coffee on an empty stomach: science vs. social media myths

14:46 Is eating the exact same breakfast every day bad for you?

16:57 The high-protein, high-fibre breakfast you can make in seconds

19:05 The no-cook lunch for busy workdays

20:35 Are pre-cooked grain pouches healthy?

23:10 Does microwaving fermented foods destroy their benefits?

25:26 The science of beans: how fibre shuts down hunger for hours

28:23 Why sandwiches cause an afternoon energy crash

32:17 Is pasta actually bad for you?

36:04 The real reason you feel starving at 3 pm

38:14 Nutritionist-approved snacks: sweet & savoury ideas that work

40:22 The clinical evidence on red meat & cancer risk

41:15 SMASH: the 5 oily fish to eat for omega-3

44:38 Tinned tuna: mercury risk & missing healthy fats

46:52 Which cooking oil should you use?

49:19 Do gut microbes control your food cravings?

50:45 The overnight fast: should you eat dinner earlier?

52:50 The 1 screen habit that beats any sleep routine

54:29 The healthy habit wellness influencers get wrong about longevity

58:16 The single most overlooked life skill that makes healthy food cheaper

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks

Better Breakfast Guide

Mentioned in today's episode

Daylight-saving Time & Health Identifying Beneficial & Adverse Effects, Eur J Epidemiol (2026)

The Interplay between Early Mealtime, Circadian Rhythms, Gene Expression, Circadian Hormones, and Metabolism⁠, Clocks & sleep (2023)

Episode transcripts are available here.

Why is it so hard to stop eating certain foods? Most of us assume it comes down to willpower. But according to today’s guests, the answer may actually lie in the difference between taste and flavour. Because while those two words sound interchangeable, they describe very different experiences.

Taste is often engineered - carefully designed by big food companies to keep us craving more. Flavour, on the other hand, is something deeper. It’s the rich, complex experience that comes from high-quality produce.

Today, Spencer Hyman and Professor Tim Spector explain how ultra-processed foods manipulate our brains and why rediscovering flavour could help us eat less without feeling deprived. They’ll reveal practical ways that you can retrain your palate and reconnect with real food.

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra  

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks 

Better Breakfast Guide

Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Can using food as medicine protect your heart health, prevent chronic disease, and help you live longer?

In this episode, leading cardiologist and Director of the Food is Medicine Institute, Dr Dariush Mozaffarian, explains how modern diets increase your risk of heart attacks and why standard medical advice often falls short.

Dariush looks at how past dietary guidelines shaped today’s food system and why shifting focus to whole, protective foods improves your health. He also explains why counting calories fails, shows how ultra-processed foods took over our food supply, and asks whether saturated fat deserves its reputation as a cause of heart disease.

Through the idea that food is medicine, you’ll learn how to adopt healthy eating habits by identifying protective foods - forming practical diet shifts that can control your blood sugar, lower cholesterol, support your gut health, and cut your risk of heart attacks and strokes.

What if the most effective prescription for a longer, healthier life is already on your plate?

🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily30

🌿Let your gut microbes snack on the ZOE Gut Health Bar

Build healthy habits. Download the ZOE app today 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:22 Is a poor diet deadlier than smoking?

09:13 Why the foods you're missing may harm you more than junk food

10:33 Could diet prevent half of all heart attacks and strokes?

11:29: Can diet reverse gut problems in months?

14:25 Why diet-related disease exploded in just 35 years

15:40 Nutrition science is younger than you think

17:51 Why poor nutrition became a national security threat in 1941

19:27 Why do we refine grains, then put the vitamins back in?

21:03 How bomb factories changed the food on your plate

24:46 Why did we go low-fat? The 1980 dietary guidelines mistake

26:45 Did tobacco companies really own food brands?

31:09 The 3 things driving the rise of chronic disease

33:52 Is fat really the problem?

36:38 Exercising more but still gaining weight? Here's why

37:33 Has our resting energy expenditure gone down?

39:28 Is modern food starving your gut microbes?

41:02 Are dietary guidelines any good? A cardiologist’s verdict

43:02 What do dietary guidelines say to avoid?

45:37 Do we really need more protein?

47:21 Healthy eating made simple: 3 food groups to know

48:17 How many calories does your gut microbiome digest?

52:29 Is red meat bad for you?

54:11 Is saturated fat bad for your heart?

56:21 How to lower cholesterol with food: a cardiologist's 2 tips

57:13 Should your doctor prescribe food?

1:00:37 Can we fix the food system in 10 years?

📚Books by our ZOE Scientists

The Food For Life Cookbook

Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati

The Appetite Reset by Dr Federica Amati

Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector

Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector

Good Mood Food (preorder) by Prof. Tim Spector

Free resources from ZOE

The Smart Snacking Guide: How to feed your gut, fuel your day, and snack without guilt

The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra

Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint

How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health

Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition

Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks

Better Breakfast Guide

Mentioned in today's episodeFood Additives: Emerging Detrimental Roles on Gut Health, FASEB journal (2025)

Diet Is the Single Most Important Predictor of Health, Alternative and Complementary Therapies (2019)

Total daily energy expenditure has declined over the past three decades, Nat Metab (2023)