Lay summary
Will the consumption of an Aotearoa NZ Diet that includes a preponderance of plant-based foods, together with lean protein (seafood, lean red meat, and dairy), offer health benefits to people at risk of cardiometabolic disease? What is the role of the gut microbiome in these responses? Such plant-based dietary patterns (e.g., Mediterranean diet, MedDiet) can improve metabolic, cardiovascular, and wellbeing profiles in at risk of cardiometabolic disease. The gut microbiome is increasingly recognised to modulate the protective associations between MedDiet and cardiometabolic disease risk; however, these associations are unknown for an Aotearoa NZ Diet. With the high rates of cardiometabolic disease in NZ, and our unique population, understanding these associations is fundamental to improving health. This project aims to understand the influence of such a diet on the composition and function of the gut microbiome and associations with metabolic health outcomes and biomarkers of cardiometabolic disease risk.