Hara hachi bun me


is a Confucian teaching that instructs people to eat until they are 80 percent full. The Japanese phrase translates to "Eat until you are eight parts full", or "belly 80 percent full". There is evidence that following this practice leads to a lower body mass index and increased longevity, and it might even help to prevent dementia in the elderly.

Effects

Biochemist Clive McCay, a professor at Cornell University in the 1930s, reported that significant calorie restriction prolonged life in laboratory animals. Authors Bradley and Craig Wilcox along with Makoto Suzuki believe that may act as a form of calorie restriction, and therefore extend the life expectancy for those who practice this philosophy. They take the case of Okinawa, whose population rank at the top in terms of life expectancy: they believe that assists in keeping the average Okinawan's BMI low, and this is thought to be due to the delay in the stomach stretch receptors that help signal satiety. The result of not practising is a constant stretching of the stomach which in turn increases the amount of food needed to feel full.
Yoshida Iwase and colleagues have investigated the reasons why some centenarians are able to reach such old ages without signs of dementia, and among other factors, found that following the hara hachi bun me philosophy might contribute to healthier neurological markers for the elderly.

Okinawans

Okinawans are a minority culture who, although part of Japan, are descendants of the Ryukyuan Kingdom and who had influences from mainland China. Okinawa has the world's highest proportion of centenarians, at approximately 50 per 100,000 people. They are known to practise, and as a result they typically consume about 1,800 to 1,900 kilo-calories per day. The typical body mass index of their elders is about 18 to 22, compared to a typical BMI of 26 or 27 for adults over 60 years of age in the United States.

In other cultures

The philosophy of, is also found in other cultures.

China

From the teachings of Confucius, philosophies dating back to the 5th century BCE in China, a proverb found in Traditional Chinese Medicine states:

Middle East

The principle of avoiding surfeit also appears in Islam, dating back to the 7th century CE by the Prophet Muhammad, embodied in the proverb stating: "you should fill one third of the stomach with liquid, another third with food, and leave the rest empty."

Influence

Zen philosophy

In the 1965 book Three Pillars of Zen, the author quotes Hakuun Yasutani in his lecture for beginners advising his students about the book, written circa 1300, advised them to eat no more than eighty percent of their capacity, reinforced by the proverb.

American culture

was popularised in the United States by a variety of modern books on diet and longevity.