Fig. 1: Research framework diagram.

A Consort Flow Diagram of the study outlining the participant recruitment, assessment for eligibility, randomization, intervention allocation, and follow-up phases, concluding with the analysis stage. B Study design: The dietary intervention was administered to both groups over a period of up to 16 weeks. Blood samples were collected at baseline, week 4, week 8, week 12, and week 16. Additionally, dietary records were maintained, and both anthropometric measurements and body composition tests were conducted. We also conducted OGTT at baseline, week 8 and week 16. Fecal samples were collected at baseline, week 2, week 4, week 8, week 12, and week 16. We profiled the fecal metagenome on all fecal samples and conducted targeted metabolomics of fecal and serum samples collected at baseline, week 4 and week 16. Lipid profile and glucose homeostasis biomarkers were assessed in all blood samples collected across five time points. For the metagenomic data, we undertook taxonomy annotation and functional characterization. The functional annotation encompassed the construction of non-redundant gene sets, annotation of carbohydrate-active enzymes, and annotation of functional pathways. Created in BioRender. Latypov, O. (2024) https://BioRender.com/w88p289.