ZOE Science & Nutrition

How do you build muscle and stay strong as you age?

For most of us, muscle loss starts in our 30s. It’s easy to think that you can combat this and stay strong into old age by strength training and eating plenty of protein.

Exercise and macros matter, but scientists are uncovering another important piece of the puzzle - a direct connection between your gut health and healthy ageing. It could change how we think about staying strong as we get older.

In today's episode, Professor Claire Steves - a world-leading expert in ageing and health - and Professor Tim Spector explore the gut-muscle axis - how your gut microbiome influences your muscle health. They explain why maximum protein doesn't mean maximum muscle, how gut bacteria ‘talk’ to muscle tissue, and why an unhealthy gut can make muscles resistant to growth.

For listeners looking for simple ways to support their muscles today, this episode includes practical advice you can easily fit into your routine. Claire and Tim share quick daily habits and explain how to get your protein from diverse plant sources.

Could changing what you feed your gut microbes today be the key to keeping your body strong for decades to come?

🌱 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 and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:08 Why muscle matters for healthy aging, not just the gym

06:37 The hidden organ: how your muscles talk to your body

10:35 Why it gets harder to keep muscle as you age

11:37 Can you have a 20-year-old's muscles at 70?

13:29 Can muscle loss increase your risk of cancer?

15:51 Why skinny doesn't mean healthy

17:40 What is sarcopenia?

20:52 How 4 days of bed rest can shrink your muscles

23:31 Gut-muscle axis: how gut bacteria talk to your muscles

23:53 Why protein stops working as you age

26:11 Can improving your gut health build stronger muscles?

28:57 Can strength training change your gut microbiome?

30:57 Can the Mediterranean diet make your legs stronger?

34:01 The diet trial that improved muscle and bones, no gym

34:55 Is there a magic gut bug for building muscle?

39:38 Intermittent fasting: should you exercise before breakfast?

44:43 Can too much protein weaken your muscles?

46:32 How much protein do you really need per day?

49:20 The best protein foods to feed your gut and muscles

52:26 Carnivore diet: what meat and shakes do to your gut

53:46 Strength training, cardio or balance: what do you need?

56:04 The easy 2-minute toothbrush habit for better muscle health

57:21 Key takeaways: muscles, microbes, and the protein myth26:11 Can improving your gut health build stronger muscles?

📚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

Master Cyclist Study, King’s College London (2018)

Physical Activity and Reduced Cancer Risk, Nat Rev Cancer (2008)

Bed Rest and Muscle Loss, Diabetes (2016)

Microbiome Interventions and Inflammation, Cureus (2025)

The Gut Microbiome and Muscle Strength, BMC Geriatr (2021)

Resistance Training Reshapes the Gut Microbiome, Sports Med Open (2026)

The Mediterranean Diet and Muscle Strength, Physiotherapy Theory and Practice (2025)

Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Muscle Mass, J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle (2024)

Mitochondrial Properties in Skeletal Muscle Fiber⁠, Cells (2023)

Episode transcripts are available here.

Every one of us runs on a biological rhythm - a finely tuned system that controls when we feel alert, when we feel tired, and even how we process food.

But here’s the problem: modern life doesn’t always respect this rhythm. Late nights, early alarms, and irregular meals put many of us out of sync with our own biology.

I’m joined by Professor Debra Skene to explain why this mismatch matters, and how you can transform your health by aligning your lifestyle with your internal ticker.

🌱 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.

Most of us think of inflammation when an ankle swells or a cut turns red. It’s our body’s immune system, and without it, we couldn't fight infections or repair injuries.

But when it stays switched on, this chronic inflammation can drain your energy, can affect your health over the years, and even lead to heart disease. Eventually, 1 in 3 of us will develop an inflammatory disease.

In today's episode, Professor Luke O'Neill - one of the world's top 1% immunologists - explains why that matters and what you can do about it. He explores how everyday foods can push inflammation up, or help calm it. He also explains why balance matters more than banning foods like sugar, red meat, gluten, and dairy. As for your gut, you’ll learn how anti-inflammatory foods like plants, fibre, and a healthy microbiome can help keep inflammation down.

By the end of the episode, you'll know how to eat, rest, and enjoy life in ways that can keep inflammation in check.

Could the way you eat help your body's healer do its job without going into overdrive?

🌱 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 and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

04:14 Why 1 in 3 people will get an inflammatory disease

06:49 When inflammation turns from healing to harmful

10:23 Why does your immune system now damage your heart and brain?

13:46 Why does chronic inflammation make you so tired?

15:35 The link between depression and inflammation explained

18:10 Does inflammation speed up ageing?

19:56 Testing for chronic inflammation - what CRP tells you

23:01 Does belly fat cause inflammation? What Ozempic reveals

25:46 Does your gut microbiome affect inflammation?

28:04 Are ultra-processed foods inflammatory? Sugar and fat explained

30:18 Does sugar make inflammation worse?

33:15 Insulin resistance and inflammation

35:07 Fructose: fruit vs processed food

39:35 Is red meat inflammatory? How much is too much

41:52 Does gluten cause inflammation?

44:29 Does dairy cause inflammation?

46:13 Seed oils and inflammation

46:40 The anti-inflammatory diet

49:38 Anti-inflammatory plants: how willow bark led to aspirin

51:32 Do polyphenols fight inflammation?

53:44 Do anti-inflammatory supplements work? Are they worth it?

54:34 How to reduce inflammation today: why morning sunshine matters

📚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

Daily 30: Does it work?

The Mediterranean diet and CRP levels, Nutrients (2018)

Metabolic Reprogramming in Stromal and Immune Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis, European Journal of Immunology, (2025)Episode transcripts are available here.

The world around us is louder than ever. From booming speakers to roaring traffic, our ears can take quite a beating. But have you ever stopped to consider the long-term impact of all this noise?

Because hearing loss isn’t just about your ears. Emerging research suggests it could also affect your brain health in surprising ways.

I’m joined by Professor Marcelo Rivolta to explore how noise exposure can cause lasting damage. He shares the early warning signs to look out for, what to do if your hearing begins to decline, and simple steps you can take to protect these vital organs on the side of your head.

🌱 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.

Supermarket shelves are full of foods promising to be healthy: high-protein, low-fat, gluten-free, sugar-free. How do you know what's true?

Today, Professors Tim Spector and Sarah Berry, world-leading experts in nutrition and diet, share the six rules they use for their own weekly grocery shopping. They cover which food labels are worth trusting and which are just marketing scams, how to make snacking a part of a healthy diet, and why your daily staples, like bread, matter more than the occasional treat.

By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly what to reach for on your next shop, and what to leave on the shelf.

How many "healthy" scams are sitting in your basket?

🌱 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 and start your trial for just £2.30 for your first week. 👉 Join ZOE

Follow ZOE on Instagram.

Timecodes

00:00 Intro

03:20 Why supermarkets stock 30,000 products (and why that's bad for you)

08:10 Is low-fat food actually healthy? A nutrition scientist explains

11:39 Why 'sugar-free' labels should make you suspicious

14:48 Why this professor avoids gluten-free food (unless you need it)

16:40 The protein label that tricks 70% of shoppers into buying junk food

19:27 How a cheap dairy waste product got rebranded as a health food

21:59 How many ingredients are really in a bag of Pringles?

24:37 The 30-second trick to spot ultra-processed food at the shop

27:33 How to tell a healthy granola from a fake one

29:24 Is cheese actually bad for your heart? Doctors got this wrong

33:37 The snack swap that cut heart disease risk by 30% in a real study

38:36 The 6 everyday foods that matter most for your long-term health

41:08 The simple fiber-to-carb ratio for picking a healthy bread

43:43 The 'unhealthy' breakfast a nutrition scientist admits to craving

46:47 Switching to whole grain could lower your risk of dying early

49:42 The label trick that makes fake kefir look healthy

50:07 What to check on a kombucha label before you buy it

52:51 Why 30 plants a week beats the old '5 a day' rule

53:42 The 'diversity jar' hack for hitting 30 plants a week fast

55:45 The pantry staple that quietly boosts your plant count

57:10 The most underrated vegetable for lowering blood pressure

59:56 The 6 rules two nutrition scientists use to shop for food

📚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

The effect of snacking on nuts on heart health, The American journal of clinical nutrition (2020)

Low fat diets for long-term weight loss, The Lancet (2015)

Wholegrain consumption and all cause mortality, BMJ (2016)

ZOE Snacking Study

Episode transcripts are available here.