PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 7-10

This blog post is the eighth in a series on my participation in the PREDICT 2 study. Click the links below to read earlier parts of the series:

• • Forging the Future of Personalized Nutrition: My Experience, My Contribution
  • PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Set-up Day + The Study Pack
  • PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 1 Reflection
  • PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Day 2 Reflection
  • PREDICT: The Science – Part 1
  • PREDICT 2 Study Experience: Days 3-6
  • Predict 2’s Sponsor and Collaborators: ZOE, Tim Spector, and 25 Years of Science

I’m writing to you from Day 11, which means I’ve finished the study and am officially free from my glucose monitor, activity tracker, and morning muffins! Today, I’m just mailing back the devices and scheduling my Quest Diagnostics appointment, so I’ll reflect briefly on the tail end of the study.

Day 7

I had another glucose drink to consume the morning of Day 7. I guzzled it down on my way to work and counted the minutes until I could eat again! I’m not sure how the glucose drink affects other people, but I was the most eager to eat lunch on the two days of the morning glucose drink.

Day 8

This was my last day of standardized breakfast!

Day 9 and 10

For the first time in over a week, I chose my own breakfast (and reported it in the study app). At this point, the study team let me know through the study app’s chat feature that I could experiment with different foods over the next two days to – hopefully – be able to see in my results how my body responded metabolically to this variety. 

Reflecting on the End of the Study

People tease me because I regularly like to reflect on things. But I think a reflection is particularly important here because participating in the PREDICT 2 study was such a valuable, insightful, and well-structured experience. The study process was impressively organized, and I felt fully supported by the study staff throughout my whole time as a participant. 

Food logging is a lot harder than most people realize, and the study team truly provided me all the tools needed to be as successful as possible. I wasn’t getting paid to complete the study – the only benefit I might receive would be my metabolic results – so I was passionate about following all of the “rules” as closely as possible. In my mind, the more accurately I logged my food or making sure to refrain from eating during fasting periods meant that I was maximizing the chance my results would be accurate and meaningful.

Now that the study is over, I don’t have much to do other than wait. I’ll continue to follow ZOE on social media and read more about initiatives in personalized medicine, but it will be awhile before I receive any feedback based on data analysis from my activity in the study. According to the study team, my results will be in the form of an app that is currently in development at ZOE. I can expect the results of my food responses within a few months and at least six months for my microbiome results.

The story doesn’t end here, though. I’m still waiting on the results from two DNA tests I did a couple weeks ago, and I have a microbiome test to submit as well! So while it may take some time before I have results to blog about, I do plan to keep the conversation going on PREDICT’s progress and the ZOE story, personalized nutrition, and the interplay between genetics and environment in the context of health.