Dr. Giulia Enders

Welcome to ZOE Science and Nutrition, where world-leading scientists explain how their research can improve your health.

It's 3am and you're wide awake.

Streamy nose, sore throat and the distinct feeling that your body has let you down.

But what if it hasn't?

What if the sneezing, the runny nose, the fever, all of it, is actually your body doing exactly what it should?

And what if the symptoms we spend so much energy suppressing are in fact the whole point?

That's the idea at the heart of Julia Ender's new book, Organspeak.

Julia is a gastroenterologist and an author whose previous book, Gut, sold 8 million copies and helped convince the world that gut health was worth taking seriously.

Now she's turned her attention to the whole body and the remarkable language it uses to communicate with us.

Today, she joins us to completely reshape how we think about illness, immunity, and what it means to feel well.

By the end of this episode, you'll know whether to reach for a decongestant the next time you have a cold, why boosting your immune system might be a very bad idea, and which simple habits genuinely do keep your immune system in balance.

Julia, thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me.

So we have a tradition here at Zoe where we always start with a quick fire round of questions.

And we have these very strict rules.

You can say yes or no, or if you have to, a one sentence answer.

Okay.

Does drinking Coke increase your risk of rheumatoid arthritis?

Yes, it does.

Is boosting your immune system a good idea?