by On the contrary, it may seem that there is absolutely no relationship between sex and sauerkraut. But for Dr Federica Amati, head nutritionist of Zoe, the personalized health app that has achieved cult status, what we eat affects every aspect of our health – including the people we attract as sexual partners.
“Eating fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut and kefir helps promote good gut health along with a high fiber diet, so both together offer gut health benefits that will make us healthier and sexier ,” says Dr. Amati. “If we take care of ourselves, we become healthier, feel better and attract good people.”
Zoe, co-founded by epidemiologist Professor Tim Spector, encouraged us all to talk about our microbiome. And Dr. Amati, his new book, Every Body Should Know This: The Science of Eating for a Lifetime of Health to be published this Thursday, still passionate about nurturing the bugs within us. She says that microbes in the gut regulate the release of pheromones, chemicals that play a key role in attracting a partner.
“We have to remember that we choose sexual partners, evolutionarily, to procreate. So what is really important for the success of conception and offspring is a strong immune system. Having compatible immune systems is really important.”
Dr. Amati went into nutrition because she always wanted to help people. The death of her father, aged 63 from bowel cancer, had a huge impact on her work. “What he went through was preventable – maybe we couldn’t have stopped him getting cancer, but age and the course it took certainly did,” she says.
But despite such a terrible loss at such a young age, Amati’s ethos is one of joy, and this runs through his book. Even as she spreads the chilling news that we are setting up children for a worse life than we had, for example, and that 80 percent of chronic diseases could be prevented through diet or lifestyle changes, she does so in a way that celebrates eating. She talks about abundance rather than deprivation: diet culture is the complete opposite.
“It’s much easier to make the principles of positive nutrition a part of life,” she explains. “I’m Italian. I grew up in a house where food was king. I was in Italy in my youth [until eight] and he was lucky to be born into a happy food culture. I don’t think we talk enough about the impact of hunger: it’s not a joy for anyone to be hungry.”
Dr Amati now lives in London with her husband Paul Sculfor, founder of the supermodel and addiction charity Stride Foundation, and two daughters, aged six and four. Here in the UK, a whopping 65 per cent of an average child’s diet comes from ultra-processed foods, which have been linked to serious disease later in life. Our nutrition is so bad that the height of children is actually decreasing compared to other European countries. It’s terrifying – and she’s horrified. “Do I think politicians need to make this a priority? Definitely. The problem is, right now, our food, nutrition and health environment isn’t even on the list. So when I say ‘let’s vote for people who really care’, there is nobody I can think of, in any party, who has this as a priority.”
Although her work with Zoe is about individual eating plans, it is clear that everyone’s health will improve if they follow the Mediterranean diet: high in vegetables, seeds, grains, beans, fibre, some oily fish and dairy, low in red meat. Even if you wait until your forties you can get over 10 years by switching to it, and in your seventies you can add five years, she says.
In her book, she offers advice on what to eat for every stage of life – for example, teenagers should eat eggs (high in iron) and mushrooms (for B vitamins and vitamin D), and teenage boys and young men. zinc and omega-3s.
Women need iron when they menstruate, and during menopause they should eat more plants with the aim of gaining a healthy body weight to relieve symptoms, and build more muscle to optimize health. When people hit the age of 50, she recommends limiting alcohol to wine drunk socially over dinner, rather than on an empty stomach or to combat stress.
“I hope it makes people feel empowered and that they can take advantage of their own health,” she says.
She dedicates a chapter to the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to two years of age, and emphasizes the importance of good nutrition during this time. introduction of allergens; Avoid UPFs whenever possible; let children play with whole foods and get messy, and join them in family meals. She says breast milk is better than formula and believes it should be made available to all women and their babies through breast milk banks.
“My point is: knowledge is power. Hopefully what we come across as a species is that we are incredibly resilient. So it’s not going to scare people,” she tells me. “It’s a call to arms to make sure we’re informed. My mother started taking care of herself after my father died, actually, well into her sixties. So it’s never too late. Her health has changed.”
Dr Amati hopes that, over time, our Government will support us all to be healthier, at all ages. She points to Singapore, which has responded to a rise in type 2 diabetes by subsidizing healthy food and giving it more advertising space. “Voters have the power to change the situation, and if we are aware of the power of food, we have the power to make changes.”
Five ways to a healthier and sexier microbiome
- Instead of five a day, aim for variety with 30 different plants a week: eat fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts, legumes and whole grains
- Increase your fiber intake
- Avoid ultra-processed food
- Eat fermented foods such as kefir, sauerkraut and yogurt, daily. Little and often works best
- Avoid eating after 9pm and give your gut microbes an overnight break
Currently, although the environment outside our homes is far from ideal, we can be our own “health architects” within our homes. Dr. Amati and Zoe’s founder, Tim Spector, talk about the 80/20 rule, where 80 percent of what they eat is very healthy food. Dr. Amati says it’s how her family fills the food cupboards. “We don’t have ready meals, they are cooked from scratch,” she explains. “Paul is passionate about nutrition and very supportive, but I’m Italian so I do the cooking with my mum and our Italian motto.”
It’s encouraging to hear a successful woman with young children admit to the help of a nana – and be honest about raising a young family. The 20 percent of their less helpful diets, she says, include ice lollies, Percy Pigs or Kittens Candy. “The days before my period, there’s no way I’m not eating at least three types of chocolate”, she says.
Although she is a proponent of intermittent fasting, it is not a ‘rule’.
“I often eat within a ten-hour window,” she says. “I eat according to circadian rhythms and avoid eating after 9pm, so I let my body rest overnight. I’ll wait to eat in the morning until I’m hungry.”
But she prioritizes socialization. “When you see people not going to dinner parties, we’ve lost touch with the time-constrained point of eating,” she believes. “Aligning with our circadian rhythm is so important, but if it starts to interfere with your social life, no. Social connection is key to good health.”
She is concerned about how disconnected the UK is from food, hunger and our body’s signals. It starts in childhood, she says, when a child tells a parent they’re hungry and gets the response: ‘But you’ve just eaten’ or ‘Have a drink’. “If they say they’re hungry, that means their body is telling them they’re hungry,” she says. “I want to go back to a place where we understand the importance of food: how great it is for our health, how it affects every single system including our mood; how we respect our hunger.” Her work as a nutritionist is helping people rebuild their relationship with food. Once they start eating a diet that helps them feel good, rather than starving them, they usually stop craving food that doesn’t help their body.
Although the junk food lobby is powerful, it may have outmatched Dr Amati. I’m not sure anyone else could make gut microbes sexy. “Focusing on our own health and happiness is the best way to attract the best kind of partners,” she says with a laugh.
Every Body Should Know This: The Science of Eating for a Lifetime of Health Published by Michael Joseph on Thursday 25 April 2024 (£22)
