Sitting in the park with her grandchildren one afternoon, Becky Tucker decided to overhaul her life.
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Tucker → sit → life
As the four of them played and ran around, Becky, then 48, simply lacked the energy to join in.
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Becky → play → energy
It was, she says now, a wake-up call.
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she → say → ?
The risk management consultant from Poole, Dorset, had been struggling with fatigue, anxiety, mood swings and hot flushes as perimenopause took hold.
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perimenopause → struggle → hold
And for as long as she could remember, she had experienced intense, debilitating migraines for a week every month, linked to her menstrual cycle.
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she → remember → cycle
She was also significantly overweight – something she had struggled with her whole life.
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she → struggle → ?
At more than 13 stone and with a BMI of 29 – bordering on obese – Becky had spent the previous 25 years on various weight-loss plans.
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Becky → border → plans
They'd worked, to begin with, but then she piled on the pounds again when she returned to her usual diet of chocolate bars and what she calls 'beige stodge'.
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she → work → what
It will be a familiar scenario to many in midlife – the pounds creep on until it no longer feels possible to shift them.
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it → creep → them
But three years on, it is no exaggeration to say that Becky is transformed.
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Becky → say → ?
Indeed, as our photos show so clearly, she is almost unrecognisable.
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she → show → ?
Fizzing with energy and an astonishing four stone lighter, she says she feels like a different woman.
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she → fizz → woman
Becky Tucker shed four stone by following the ZOE diet.
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Tucker → shed → diet
The risk management consultant from Poole, Dorset, had previously struggled with fatigue, anxiety, mood swings and hot flushes
At more than 13 stone and with a BMI of 29 – bordering on obese – Becky had spent the previous 25 years on various weight-loss plans
Previous diets worked, but then she'd pile on the pounds again when she returned to her usual routine of chocolate bars and 'beige stodge'
Her enviably slender figure has shrunk by more than four dress sizes, from a 16 to an 8 or 10.
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figure → struggle → 8
Her near-lifelong migraines have vanished, as have those limiting menopause symptoms.
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those → vanish → symptoms
She is now running around the park with her grandchildren, no longer stuck on a bench at the sidelines.
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She → run → sidelines
But what is extraordinary is that Becky achieved it – and she says this almost apologetically – 'without really trying'.
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she → achieve → this
Instead, Becky overhauled her diet with the help of gut health science company ZOE, co-founded by Professor Tim Spector, the scientist at the forefront of discoveries in diet and gut health and their impact on our overall health – and, research increasingly suggests, our mood.
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research → overhaul → health
Research by Professor Spector, an honorary consulting physician and expert in epidemiology at King's College London, suggests that simple changes to our food choices can have remarkable benefits – from helping us lose weight without going hungry to improving our mood, boosting energy and potentially protecting our brains against the effects of ageing.
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us → consult → ageing
And now, in an exclusive new six-week newsletter series launching on Monday, October 26 the Daily Mail's readers can discover how to put his research into practice – with the chance to feel happier and healthier within days, and potentially as a bonus even lose up to a stone in time for Christmas.
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readers → launch → Christmas
Based on Professor Spector’s research at ZOE, and including recipes from his new cookbook Good Mood Food, the series will guide you, step-by-step, through a new way of eating that could transform not just your waistline, but most importantly how you feel every day.
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you → base → waistline
You'll discover the surprisingly simple foods that nourish the trillions of bacteria living in your gut, why these microbes may hold the key to better mood and brain health, and how to feed them.
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microbes → discover → them
We'll show you what to put in your shopping basket – and what to leave on the shelves – and how to build delicious, filling meals.
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We → show → meals
There will be exclusive recipes, from hearty breakfasts and satisfying dinners to indulgent desserts, along with expert advice on eating to support your mood and thinking as you get older.
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you → eat → mood
Half-way through, Professor Spector will make a live appearance on dailymail.com to answer readers' questions and talk about his cookbook.
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Spector → make → cookbook
And as Christmas approaches he'll reveal how to enjoy your favourite festive foods without undoing all your hard work – and, crucially, how to make these changes stick for life.
Indeed, research by Professor Spector's gut health company ZOE found that 35 per cent of around 5,000 participants lost at least 5 per cent of their body weight in just three months.
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cent → approach → months
Their approach to diet has become a global phenomenon, refined through years of research involving hundreds of thousands of people.
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approach → become → people
Although more personalised recommendations are available to ZOE subscribers, anyone can follow the basic principles, for free.
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anyone → follow → principles
Becky overhauled her diet with the help of nutrition science company ZOE, co-founded by Professor Tim Spector, the scientist at the forefront of discoveries in diet and gut health
These include eating 30 different plants a week, by making simple tweaks such as sprinkling seeds, nuts or fresh herbs over a salad or soup, or adding chopped fruit or greens to a plate.
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These → overhaul → plate
Professor Spector encourages dieters to swap meat, particularly processed meat such as sausages, bacon and salami, for plant-based proteins including beans, lentils and chickpeas, and to aim for at least 30g of fibre a day.
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Spector → encourage → fibre
However, chicken, lean meat and especially oily fish can still be enjoyed as part of his approach.
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chicken → enjoy → approach
Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs – industrially-produced foods lacking in nutrients and containing cosmetic additives designed to make food irresistible to eat – are discouraged.
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food → produce → additives
Instead, meals should be based on whole foods, with a rainbow of different-coloured plants to maximise nutrients.
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meals → base → nutrients
'Studies have found that people who eat healthy diets, full of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, significantly improve their mood,' Professor Spector says.
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Spector → find → mood
On the other hand, people who eat the most UPFs such as crisps, biscuits, sausages, sugary soft drinks, chicken nuggets and sugary cereal, have the biggest risk of mental health problems and dementia.
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who → eat → problems
'When people have moderate depression, giving them a gut-friendly diet can improve or reverse symptoms in a significant proportion of them.'
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giving → have → them
Despite this, processed foods such as baked beans, Weetabix and high-fibre or seeded bread are on the menu.
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foods → process → menu
Fermented foods, including natural yogurt, sourdough bread, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi, also have a role to play, as do dark chocolate and peanut butter.
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chocolate → include → role
Most of these feature in the cookbook.
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Most → feature → cookbook
'It's not about restriction or cutting out all processed foods,' he explains, 'it's about cutting back on the worst unhealthy ultra-processed foods and replacing them with real whole plants.
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it → cut → plants
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
