360: Tim Spector: 'Food is not a religion, the rules keep changing'

<div>In 2015 a book was published that, for millions, was their first introduction to the gut microbiome.<br> <br> “<a href="https://tim-spector.co.uk/the-diet-myth/">The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat</a>” looks at the relationship between microbes, genetics, and diet.<br> <br> A few years later, along came “<a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/spoon-fed/tim-spector/9781529112733">Spoon-Fed</a>” – a book which claimed to expose the bad science behind many government diet recommendations.<br> <br> The author of both is, of course, <a href="https://foodmatterslive.com/person/tim-spector/">Tim Spector</a>, one of the most interesting, engaging, and knowledgeable speakers in the world of food.<br> <br> He is also one of the most qualified. He is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/">King’s College London</a>, honorary consultant physician at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital, and he is one of the top 100 most-cited scientists in the world.<br> <br> He has been on the podcast before, and we were delighted to welcome him back to talk about his new book “<a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/food-for-life/tim-spector/9781787330498">Food For Life</a>”.<br> <br> <strong>Tim Spector, Professor of Epidemiology<br> </strong><br> Tim Spector is a medically qualified Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the <a href="https://twinsuk.ac.uk/">TwinsUK</a> registry at King’s College London. <br> <br> His current work focuses on the microbiome and nutrition, and he is co-founder of the data science company <a href="https://joinzoe.com/">ZOE Lt</a>d which has commercialised a home kit for personalised nutrition. <br> <br> He is also the lead researcher behind the world's biggest citizen science health project - the ZOE Covid study of over 4 million people, for which he was awarded an OBE. <br> <br> Having published more than 900 research articles, he is ranked in the top 100 of the world’s most-cited scientists by Google. <br> <br> He is the author of four popular science boo