The Traffic Light Diet (sometimes called the Stop Light Diet) was developed by Leonard H. Epstein and colleagues for their family-based childhood weight research. This group of scholars has been responsible for a large portion of the best research on childhood weight issues over the past decades. The Traffic Light Diet has become broadly recognized and improved over the years.
Traffic Light Eating is easy to understand and is customizable based on personal preference in each category. The word “diet” has been turned into a negative, restrictive, eating plan, so we teach the Not-a-diet-Diet. There are no rice cakes on my watch! The goal is to incorporate foods that your taste buds will love as much as your body does! Once you learn this, you will learn more about what your body needs. There are GO foods (what your body needs more of), SLOW foods (what your body doesn’t need and cannot use, so it's stored) and STOP and think (what we call special-occasion foods.)
We all know what we should do when we enter an intersection on the roadway with a traffic signal.
- If the light is green, we GO!
- If the light is red, we STOP!
- If the light is yellow, we SLOW! Use caution and consider all the other factors.
The green light and red light are fairly simple. Where we get into trouble is when the light turns yellow.
There are a great many things to consider before moving forward when we see a yellow traffic signal. Are there cars in the intersection? If you hit the brakes, will the person behind you hit you? Is the car in front of you stopping? Is there a police officer or traffic light camera?
If you are a licensed driver, you have most certainly been-there-done-that. This mental picture offers us a visual for making day-to-day, and meal-by-meal choices.
Let’s break down the Traffic Light Diet and use the traffic lights to easily understand food categories:
It must be all three of these:
- Grown or farmed, (not manufactured)
- Very colorful (think colors of the rainbow)
- Whole food that can be eaten raw
Green light foods are grown, not manufactured (or GMO). They are very colorful like the colors of the rainbow: reds, blues, purple, yellow, orange and of course the all-powerful greens of all shades. And they can generally be eaten raw.
This is good food, but there are other factors to consider, so pay attention to QUALITY and QUANTITY in this category. In other words, proceed with caution, consider the quality and factor in portion control. They contain a wide variety of vital nutrients for your body to function well. So, buy quality, (organic is usually best) from this category and control the amount of them you consume. Too much of a good thing is still too much.
Here you will find:
- Fats
- Proteins
- Carbs (Grains, starches, etc.)
Pasta, rice, bread, tortilla, quinoa, eggs, nuts, seeds, oils, soy foods, dairy, cheese, yogurt, fish, poultry, lamb and red meat. These foods provide the necessary nutrients in the amount your body requires, but most of us need LESS of these.
The quality of food in this category is actually most important to your body, so there will be disclaimers to come as we unpack this category and cover each more thoroughly. Until then, remember the Traffic Light Diet. Both yellow and green light foods make us strong, healthy, and smart if we make wise decisions about how to buy them, how to cook them, how to eat them, and the amounts of them we consume. To keep these foods healthy, they require quality, moderation, and portion control.
Red light foods are usually devoid of nutrients, high in calories, high in sugar, highly processed and contain many artificial ingredients and colors.
Candy, cakes, cookies, chips, donuts, pastries, pies, white bread, white rice, fatty meats, ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs and other processed meats ice creams, frozen yogurts (even many conventional flavored yogurts).
These are special occasion foods, so if every day is a special occasion, there may be a problem, but enjoy your birthday cake and anniversary desserts. Enjoy a reasonable amount of alcohol (responsibly) while on vacation and have the occasional cookie or candy bar. Just don’t make this your lifestyle and expect to maintain your girlish figure or your manly physique.
Consider asking yourself some questions BEFORE buying or eating anything questionable (from the list above, like I needed to say that):
- Will that (food item) make me strong, healthy, and smart?
- Do I want that more than I want to reach my goal of a long and healthy life?
- Will my body be able to USE that for energy, or STORE it as fat?
- Do I really need that? Do I really need that right now?
- How will I feel after I eat that?
- Is there a better choice?
The choice is ultimately yours but be in control of the choice and know what you’re choosing! Saying yes to something, often means saying no to something else. So, if you want to gain, lose or maintain a proper healthy weight consider the Traffic Light Diet. Eat a few RED, and eat some (quality) YELLOW, but eat A LOT of GREEN!
Care you will love.
First Stop Health providers are here to care for you! You can schedule a visit with our primary care providers, certified diabetes educators and registered dietitians to talk about your health concerns. All our visits are virtual, so you can get care from where you're most comfortable!
