Is gut health just about taking a probiotic? Or could the bacteria in your gut be shaping your body fat, inflammation and cholesterol? In this episode, Professor Nicola Segata, a pioneer of new gut technology, and ZOE’s Chief Scientist Professor Sarah Berry, explain a major breakthrough in gut science. After analysing more than 34,000 microbiomes, the team identified 50 gut bacteria strongly linked to better health. Even more striking, many of them were previously unknown to science. Nicola explains how his team ranked hundreds of gut bacteria to define the “top 50” linked to better health, and explore how these bacteria group into patterns connected to inflammation, blood sugar, heart health and body fat. We uncover how you can improve your overall health in weeks by optimising your microbiome, ask whether probiotics do what we think they do, and examine why plant diversity may matter more than any single supplement. This episode also reveals what happened when these findings were tested in trials, and why the results surprised even the scientists. Are you feeding the right gut bacteria? And, if not, what will happen to your health if you start today? 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily 30+: https://zoe.com/daily30?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=d30 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: https://zoe.com/buymembership?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=BAU Follow ZOE on Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/zoe/ Timecodes 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook | https://amzn.to/4amfIMX Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati | https://amzn.to/4blJsLg Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector | https://amzn.to/4amZinu Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector | https://amzn.to/4hU1Df5 Free resources from ZOE: The Hormone Harmony Guide: Tuning Your Body’s Internal Orchestra | http://ZOE.com/hertility?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=audio&utm_campaign=hertility Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint | https://ZOE.com/brainhealth?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=audio&utm_campaign=betterbrainhealth How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health | https://zoe.com/2026?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=How to eat in 2026 Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition | https://zoe.com/freeguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=freeguide Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks | https://zoe.com/gutguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=gutguide Better Breakfast Guide | https://zoe.com/breakfastguide?utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=youtube&utm_campaign=breakfastguide Mentioned in today's episode Huge microbiome breakthrough from ZOE, thanks to community science | https://zoe.com/learn/new-microbiome-breakthrough?srsltid=AfmBOootBEsGeMTKviPDvX1p6sUX6HWpZG8Ro_69ohYd89_KgR-NKUq4 Does ZOE work? The evidence | https://zoe.com/learn/does-zoe-work-evidence Introducing gut bug clusters | https://zoe.com/learn/gut-bug-clusters-gut-microbiome Sending babies to nursery completely reshapes their microbiomes, Nature (2026) | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09983-z The foods you must avoid to live longer | Dan Buettner | https://youtu.be/0H8_xP1VcHg Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here: https://gf6hx47iu5g.typeform.com/topicsuggestion Episode transcripts are available here: https://zoe.com/learn/category/podcasts