Meal Planning: Learn How to Use the 60/40 ratio

Alexandra Sargent: November 1, 2020

There is a saying that goes “Our food should carry us through our labors and our rest”. Meaning we are meant to have steady, even energy throughout the day, including deep, restful sleep at night, and what we consume should contribute to just that. To our vibrancy! We should feel good after we finish our meal. Not hungry a couple of hours later, nor uncomfortably full from overeating or too much heavy food. 

Myra Lewin of Hale Pule created the 60/40 bowl, meaning when you make a meal 60 % percent of your food will be building, and 40 % of your food will be cleansing. 

So what are building and cleansing foods? 

Building or augmenting foods do just that, they add to the body. They build and nourish all of your tissues and replenish them as well. For example when a baby is growing and building body mass at a rapid rate, it is crucial to make sure they get enough augmenting foods that will support their growth. One way to think about them is that these foods will generally have the sweet taste like wheat, rice, carrots, or beets. Building foods nourish us and give us the energy we need for our day. 

Cleansing or extractive foods take away from the body, in other words the body has to give something up for them to be digested. Cleansing foods also assist in the breaking down of fatty acids. This idea makes the concept of ‘salad eaters who are looking to lose weight’, make sense. But unfortunately, a diet with too much extractive food will leave you ungrounded and ultimately leads to malnourishment over a long period of time. Cleansing foods usually have the bitter, astringent, or pungent tastes like chard, cauliflower, bok choy, and kale.

How To Plan A Meal:

When making a meal you want to keep this concept in your mind as you plan out which foods you will cook with. For optimal energy, vitality, and to fight off disease you want to have slightly more building foods than cleansing foods, hence the 60/40 ratio. There of course is some room for variation; such as if you were wanting to lose weight you could move the ratio to 50/50, likewise if you needed to gain some weight or are very active, you could do 70/30. But in general, it's a wonderful concept for you to start interacting with! 

Example Of A Meal Using The 60/40 Ratio

Grain + Legume + Building Veggie + Cleansing Veggie + Sauce

You can make simple to more complex meals using this ratio. There is also a lot of room for variations and additions; like soups, breads, chapatis, biscuits, chutneys and more. You can even use this principle to make meals with pasta, pizza, risottos, stews, and sushi!

See the recipe section for further inspiration!

Your new motto is I love the food I make.  It should feel like a fun creative process, and should leave you feeling deeply satisfied afterwards.

Once you see how easy it is to use this ratio as your template, you’ll find that meal planning and preparation become second nature, and a fun creative process as you allow inspiration to flow! This concept has truly changed my life, in its simplicity and how much it makes sense. Wishing you balanced eating and living!