Intervention groups
In this study, the intervention group received a soup containing 30 g of functional foods (peeled wheat, rice, mung, pea, apple, quince, carrot, cowpea, almond, onion, fresh garlic, parsley, coriander, leeks, mint, pennyroyal, spinach, beets, ground celery seeds, alfalfa sweat, yarrow sweat, chamomile sweat, olive oil, roasted sesame, roasted black seed, and roasted turmeric), and the control group received a barley soup for 7 consecutive days. Before the intervention, the soups were provided by the Amadeh Laziz Co. and packaged identically. On intervention day, the soups were given to the participants at 10 am as a snack before lunch.