Store-bought rotisserie chickens have a very high sodium content...475mg-500mg per 3 oz. serving (due to the brining for moisture retention).

Time permitting, perhaps you could have cooked your own birds. A dab of butter + your choice of herbal seasonings would have been far more healthier.

Rotisserie chicken = not good for those with diabetes or high blood pressure issues.

Remember this bowl wasn't designed to be the "healthiest." The nutrient levels were factored to match current consumption, or the common American diet. Yes, we knew about the sodium in the chicken. Interesting, we couldn't even saute in olive oil because it didn't fit the profile, we had to use vegetable oil.

>>> Remember this bowl wasn't designed to be the "healthiest."

Then 'Macrobiotic' might be a misnomer. A traditional macrobiotic diet only allows fish & is low sodium.

Web Link

"A traditional macrobiotic diet only allows fish..."

Then canned tuna is out due to the mercury content. Actually any of the larger fish that are towards the top of the fish feeding scale (shark, swordfish etc.).

Not sure if shellfish fall under the category of fish but most of them would be non-macro as well due to their siphoning of potentially polluted water.

Macrobiotic is an often misused term.

Macro folks - Please read the link to the first posting about this project, listed in the piece (2 weeks ago). This project is NOT about macrobiotics. The name is a play on words. "Microbe + biotic," get it? I lived at and studied macrobiotics at Vega Macrobiotic Study Center under Herman and Corneillia Aihara. We've Food Partied! about macrobiotics a number of times. Happy to talk more about the subject, but this article is not about macrobiotics (the study of macro (large) biotic (life).

Is it possible to conduct a micro-biotic study but with something more interesting (or enjoyable) to eat 3X daily?

If fat and sodium content are non-issues, why not have pizza and french fries on the menu? Or pre-approved fast-food options? Not every day but just to break the monotony.

Ribs and cole slaw would be amenable as well.

So long as the blood/stool/urine samples remained constant within the test group, what does it matter?

Good point Micro Query! We are looking at many small molecules that are different in different batches of the same foods, that is a broccoli that was bought today and one bought yesterday at a different market will have different small molecules. Also the cooking time and temperature will affect these. Because of these reasons, we wanted to get the food from the same source at the same time and control every aspect of the cooking and storing.
The choice of foods to include was based on the foods most frequently consumed by Americans based on the NHANES surveys.

To Each Her Own Micro Query. I think a grain bowl sounds like a good thing to eat, if I had to eat one thing for a week. You would choose pizza to eat all week, every day, every meal? Or ribs? Oink oink to you!

You know, the future of food and eating IS the grain bowl - a mix of grain, protein, veggies, sauce, maybe pickle, flavor accent, and crunch. It's the upcoming trend! Bowls offer us an easy way to eat all the things we should be eating but never get around to, mixed together with an interesting sauce to keep our palate interested and entertained. Mark my words Micro Query - you heard it here first at The Food Party!

>>>You would choose pizza to eat all week, every day, every meal?

I didn't say that...just mentioned some variables to break the monotony.

>>>You know, the future of food and eating IS the grain bowl - a mix of grain, protein, veggies, sauce, maybe pickle, flavor accent, and crunch. It's the upcoming trend! Bowls offer us an easy way to eat all the things we should be eating but never get around to, mixed together with an interesting sauce to keep our palate interested and entertained.

Haven't the Asians been doing that for centuries? Speaking of 'coming trends' as they pertain to food bowls...I would imagine that using chopsticks will also become part of it as the use a fork or spoon to devour a food bowl seems kind of gauche.

Those Crazy Rich Asians, and all the others - yes. We have much to learn from them, including the savory breakfast. The average America though? Good luck teaching about grains. No one ever comes to the Grains class! I am changing it now the the Grain Bowl class in the three series Healthy Eating: #1 Eat More Vegetables, #2 The Grain Bowl 3# Clean Protein. (available to corporations around the Bay - shameless plug!)

I'm surprised no one has pulled out the white rice in this bowl yet.

"I'm surprised no one has pulled out the white rice in this bowl yet."

Good point. No nutritional value in white rice. Just filler.

Sticky (short grain) vs long grain...only debatable choice.

That is why some people say they are hungry after eating Chinese food.

Eat more rice.

And once again, this bowl is based on NHANES data, representing the average America diet. I love Food Partiers! they like good healthy eatz. But the AVERAGE American? Alas Partiers! - ain't like us.

White is rice d'jour, all over the world actually

You know what's interesting about this bowl? It shows easily what we / the average American, eats. Look at the numbers. We used approximately 33 chickens. 20 people/ 7 days means participants eat more than one chicken a week.

So first question has to be... do you?

Will I lose weight eating Micro Bowels? How many total calories for the 3 meals?
Is 2000C still the basic guideline?

@Dietary Advantages
> Will I lose weight eating Micro Bowels?

I don't think eating bowels is what Ms. Stec had in mind.

> Haven't the Asians been doing that for centuries?

Asians invented Micro Bowl. Nothing new, just copycat.