Well-Being: Hara Hachi Bu (February 2018 Newsletter)

Okinawan couple, 1880s-1890s. "Photography was first successfully practiced on Okinawa before it was in Mainland Japan."

I don't watch much TV, and it's mostly news when I do. But it appears that on the one hand, the TV commercials are constantly promoting the worst of foods by displaying them as healthy, energy-creating, aesthetic, and ultimately seeming to be homemade - the true test of good food. Nothing wrong in that!

On the other hand, many of the other commercials are about meds, some to settle the stomach enough to enjoy the good life, the best life - full of community and fun. Nothing wrong with that either.  However, many of these sicknesses are often of self generated. Guess how? It's due to the food that is being presented as picture perfect but is not belly perfect.

Be discerning... what looks good is deceptive. Those luscious doughnuts will come back to haunt you tomorrow with a rock hard stomach, fatigue, constipation and much worse in the long term.

Eat right and eat less: The residents of Okinawa in Japan are very healthy with unusually low BMI (body mass index), and often live active lives well over 100 years of age. They practice what is known as 'Hara hachi bun me' or 'hara hachi bu' which suggests that you should eat till you are 8/10 full. The idea is that you don't eat till you have a feeling of fullness. The connection between the two is thought to be the delay in the stomach stretch receptors that help signal fullness or satiety. The result of not practicing hara hachi bun me is a constant stretching of the stomach which in turn increases the amount of food needed to feel full.

Think hara hachi bun me, for every meal. 'Doggie bag' a quarter of your meal before you start eating, when you eat out. AND drink lots of water. Pop/soda may appear to satisfy your thirst but it doesn't really do so, and you need more, since it has all those additives to make it delicious and addictive. Who wants those?