Health guru Tim Spector has revealed his seven science-based food tips that will “dramatically add years to your life and your health span.” The professor who founded Zoe Health, shed light on the foods that are “slowly killing us” on the Zoe podcast.
He appeared alongside nutrition researcher Sarah Berry who said: “There’s some great research showing that if you go from the kind of diet that many of us currently eat …that if we change from that diet, even at the age of 40, will add 10 extra years to our life.” Warning against the dangers of widespread ultra -processed foods, he said: “Just by making the right food choices, you can dramatically add years to your life and your health span. We’re surrounded by an environment that’s trying to do the opposite.”
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The doctor and geneticist added that around 60 per cent of Brits’ diets are ultra-processed food “designed to trick us and trick our brains into eating it”. These foods do not just degrade cardiovascular health, reduce sensitivity to insulin and cause you to gain weight, but they can also negatively impact mental health and energy levels.
Reduce ultra-processed food
The expert emphasised that so much of our food is essentially “baby food” and “pap that we can consume so quickly that we don’t need to chew”, so the signals that tell our brains we are full are not sent.
He said that the best way to identify an ultra-processed food is to “look in your fridge.” He added: “The real food doesn’t come with a health claim or a label, interestingly.”
Sarah Berry urged people to “put the crunch back in your lunch.” She said: “Having food that has a hard texture, the original texture from which the food comes from, I think is a really key thing for people to think about in 2025 as well.”
Even a small reduction will have fast, positive impacts. Spector said: “You may very rapidly see a change in your mood and energy, and that will be the first thing you see once you cut down these foods.”
Give yourself an eating window
In the US the average eating window is 16 hours. However, more and more evidence shows if you can eat within a smaller window it’s better for your health.
Eating within a six-hour window will lower your cholesterol and promote weight loss. However, the nutritionist recognises this is not achievable for many. Tim Spector added that “even a 12-hour window” would have benefits.
Aside from reducing your net calorie intake, he said this method also has fantastic impacts for the microbiome. He said: “Gut microbes get a real kick out of having a rest overnight.
“And they need time to recover and repair. So, when you’re not eating, a different team comes out, it’s like an offense-defence team, and a new team comes out and they’re the ones that will tidy up your gut lining.
“They actually nibble away at the little bits of sugar on the mucus lining of your gut, and that improves the barrier keeping your microbes from your blood and your immune system is in tip-top shape.”
Stop calorie counting
Dieters will often see a change in the first instance, but he warned “most people” will lose weight initially when they go on a calorie-restricted diet. He said the body has ways of altering not metabolism, so we burn less energy, which means we compensate.
He said: “So you need to keep reducing even more of your intake to stay the same, but also it ramps up our appetite signals in the brain so that it gets increasingly difficult to keep losing weight.” Thus, ultimately, in many cases people will return to their original weight as they cannot keep up with their new diet.
Drink mindfully
This doesn’t just apply to alcohol. Drinks account for 18 per cent of Americans calorie intake – so it’s an area to exercise some control if you can.
Don’t skip the caffeine. Green tea, matcha, black tea and regular coffee have all been shown to have positive impacts on the gut microbiome.
The professor said: “You can tell if someone’s a coffee drinker or not just from their gut microbes. And there’s this one microbe that is so fussy it only eats coffee, and it’s called Lawsonibacter.
“So you don’t drink coffee, but it’s waiting there in tiny amounts just for you to have that one cup of coffee, then it’s gonna go and explode. It’s incredibly exciting, and this is the first time anyone’s really linked a single microbe to a single food type.”
He added that kombucha, if its lower and sugar, and kefir are excellent additions to your diet. Adding that “milk should be avoided” unless in small amounts, he said that oat milk is not the healthy alternative we think it is. He said: “All the evidence suggests its not a healthy swap” and this is “especially if you’re sugar sensitive.”
Eat more plants
Swap out your five-a-day rule and opt for eating 30 plants if you can, as this encourages the most diverse gut microbiome possible. This includes all plants, nuts, herbs, legumes, vegetables.
The expert added that “small amounts of non-processed meat are shown to have no negative effects. There’s a middle ground for people who want to be healthier in 2025 – you can just reduce the amount you’re having.”
He said: “I think the lesson here is that if you can eat a small amount of meat and lots of plants, you’re going to get the best possible picture in terms of not only a good diversity of microbes across the board, but you’ll get a good ratio of the good guys to the bad guys.”
Stop worrying about getting enough protein
The emphasis on packing protein into your diet is rampant among gym influencers and food TikTokers, but it might not be the full picture. The expert said calls for more protein can be misleading.
He said: “Currently, there’s huge marketing saying that we’re deficient in protein and that we can’t be healthy without extra protein snack bars, protein added to nearly all kinds of ultra-processed foods and that we’re in a protein crisis. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
He added: “Normal food contains protein. Things like pasta, whole grains, bulgur wheats, really high protein levels in many foods.”
Snack Smarter
Nutritionist Sarah Berry said a lot of us are “undoing” the healthy meals we’re having with “poor quality snacks.” She said: “We are a nation of snackers in the UK.” But it’s not if you’re snacking its how you’re snacking. Stick to nuts, fruits and plant based snacks.
She added: “Now, if you’re not a snacker, I wouldn’t suggest you go and start snacking. But if you are a snacker, and that’s how you like to eat, our research shows that the snacking itself isn’t the problem, it’s what you’re snacking on.”
She advised people should avoid snacking after 8 or 9pm. She added always ask yourself: “Are you hungry or is it the habit of going to the cupboard because you have a minute between meetings?”