Chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity are killing more people than ever before. Could your diet be the biggest driver of this risk? Today, Dr Mark Hyman explains why food matters more than genetics for long-term health, and how one diet change can make the biggest difference. Alongside Professor Tim Spector, Mark, a 15-times New York Times bestselling author and a practising family doctor, explores how modern eating is linked to chronic disease and what the science says reduces risk. We break down how food is designed to make us eat more, how this affects metabolism, insulin and inflammation, and why this matters more than your genes. By the end of the episode, you’ll understand the single most important dietary change Mark believes can lower chronic disease risk, based on clinical experience. If the modern world is driving these conditions, what’s one small change you can make to take back control of your future health? 🌱 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 Timecodes 00:00 The one change that could rewrite your health 03:15 Are chronic diseases really ‘chronic’? 06:30 Your genes don’t decide your future 10:05 Why healthspan is shrinking, not growing 12:30 Food is now killing more people than smoking 14:55 Who is funding nutrition ‘science’? 17:20 The moment soda taxes scared big food 19:45 Why cheap food isn’t actually cheap 22:10 How food hijacks your metabolism 24:35 Why ultra-processed food makes you overeat 27:00 Are these foods actually addictive? 29:25 The comparison that changes how you see carbs 31:50 Why ‘healthy’ guidelines backfired 34:10 The family transformation that shocked him 36:35 How cooking was engineered out of daily life 38:55 Kids are being targeted like smokers were 41:20 Countries that proved change is possible 43:45 Why calories in, calories out fails 46:05 What actually counts as food 48:30 Feeding your gut, not just yourself 50:55 The simplest way to choose better food 53:15 Why sugar shows up at breakfast 55:35 Milk, fermentation, and inflammation 57:05 The single answer he gives when pushed 59:10 Is it ever too late to change? 📚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: Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint | https://ZOE.com/brainhealth?utm_medium=zoe_podcast&utm_source=youtube&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 Food Fix Uncensored: Inside The Food Industry's Biggest Cover-Ups by Mark Hyman | https://amzn.to/4t0RClC Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss | https://amzn.to/4k7soxI Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us about Rediscovering Our Nutritional Wisdom by Fred Provenza | https://amzn.to/3ZOFlDf Global Burden of Disease study: Diet vs. smoking, Lancet (2019) | https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(19)30041-8/fulltext Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain, Cell (2019) | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31105044/#:~:text=Subjects%20were%20admitted%20to%20the,Published%20by%20Elsevier%20Inc. The study of food addiction, Appetite (2010) | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4354886/ Can fermented food fight inflammation? | https://zoe.com/learn/ferment-tim-spector-episode?srsltid=AfmBOopmXyIJYVCuHCZ6RfWvY_g7TzsVM9K38g6_ZLRWlYs9m86d3Im2 Breast Cancer Risk among US-Resident Polish Migrant Women, IJERPH (2021) | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34682540/#:~:text=Abstract,estimated%20with%20conditional%20logistic%20regression. Milk and Health, NEJM (2020) | https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1903547 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