Abstract: The disclosure relates to methods of treating obesity, abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, pre-diabetes, or diabetes, or any related disorders thereto; and preventing or attenuating weight gain, including the regain of weight after weight loss, or alleviating or slowing the onset of weight related symptoms and/or disorders. Furthermore, the disclosure teaches methods of administering compositions comprising one or more aquatic plants to shift/optimize the gut microbiome of a patient in need. Additionally, the disclosure provides methods of enhancing the probability of maintaining weight loss and its associated health benefits by sampling a patient's gut microbiome during a period of optimal weight, generally from weight loss, and administering autologous or allogenic microbiota to the patient or to a second patient in order to maintain the weight loss and/or to further prevent or attenuate weight regain.