Pharm Table Mantra #3: The 80% Rule

The Pharm Table kitchen follows 10 mantras based on Ayurveda, cuisines from the Blue Zones, and heritage foods of the Southwest. Our third mantra: Eat until you are 80% full. Maintain a balance of 30% food, 30% air, 30% water in your stomach while eating and chew each bite 20-30 times.

This mantra is borrowed from a practice in Japanese culture, called hara hachi bu, which translates roughly to "belly 80 percent full." Residents of the Japanese island of Okinawa still commonly practice hara hachi bu in addition to a generally active lifestyle and healthy diet, and often live over the age of 100.

The 80% rule builds on our first mantra, Breathe & Be Mindful, in that mindfulness is essential in listening to your body. Oftentimes we eat until we are completely full, which can make us feel overly full once our brains are able to process the signals our stomachs are sending out.

Listening to your body during meals, and asking yourself, "How full do I really feel right now?" can make a huge difference both in the quantity of food consumed and the quality of how you feel afterward. 

By combining this practice with the Ayurvedic concept of maintaining a balance of 30% food, 30% air and 30% water in your body during meals, you can greatly improve your digestion.