Traffic Light Style Eating

This is a great style of eating that will not only benefit you but is a great way to teach your children how to pick healthy foods.

The Traffic Light eating style encourages healthy eating by guiding you to choose foods that are:

• High in Fiber
• Nutrient Dense
• Low in sugar
• Good sources of Healthy oils
• Low in Saturated fats (hard fats)

Foods are broken into three categories: Green, Yellow and Red foods.

Green foods are foods that should be eaten daily or often. They are low in sugar and saturated fats and high in fiber.

Examples:

• Whole grain bread, Brown Rice
• Regular or Quick Oatmeal
• Corn Tortillas
• Cheerios, Wheat Chex, Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Baked potato in skin
• Frozen fruits without sugar, frozen vegetables
• Nonfat/skim milk, sour cream or cottage cheese
• Low fat string cheese
• Legumes, Tuna canned in water, Veggie burgers
• Leans meats: chicken, turkey, game meats or lean cuts of red meats and/or pork
• Olive oil

Yellow Foods are foods that are weekly foods or sometimes foods. Often made with refined grains, and have a small amount of added sugar and moderate amount of fat.

Examples

• White Bread, rice, tortillas, pancakes, waffles
• Life cereal, Special K
• Bagels
• Dried fruit, Fruits in light syrup
• Avocado's
• Mashed potatoes
• 2% Milk
• Lowfat ice cream or sherbet, sorbet
• Cheddar, swiss, american, etc cheeses
• Extra lean or lean hamburger, lamb, Regular Peanut Butter
• Popsicles, graham crackers, cake

Red foods should be foods that are eaten monthly or rarely. Red foods are generally processed and contain high amounts of sugar and fat and have very little if any fiber.

Examples:

• Donuts, croissants, cheese crackers, Ritz crackers, tortilla chips, Macaroni and Cheese
• Corn Pops, Captain Crunch, Froot Loops, etc
• Fruits in heavy syrup
• Creamed soups
• French fries, Tator Tots, Potato chips, Instant Mashed Potatoes
• Ice cream
• Whole milk, Half and Half, Regular Sour cream
• Bacon, Bologna, Salami, Sausage, Pepperoni
• Mayonnaise
• soda, Kool-aide, Gatorade, Powerade, Energy Drinks

If anybody would like a full list of foods categorized into the green, yellow and red food categories leave a comment with your email address and I will send it to you.

Thanks, Jalaine