The Traffic Light Diet

The Traffic Light Diet received its name from the color coding it uses in terms of distinguishing among foods that should be eaten, should be avoided, or should be eaten in moderation – based on the typical stoplight. The Traffic Light Diet is based upon calorie reduction instead of the strategic consumption of the macronutrients – fats, proteins, and carbohydrates – which has become so popular over recent years. Instead of cutting back on carbohydrates, as some more modern diet plans suggest, it recommends that you limit the number of calories you consume in a day. This is not necessarily a revolutionary diet, as many dieting plans until now have been heavily reliant upon calorie counting and keeping those numbers down.

Restricted caloric intake diets like the Traffic Light Diet, however, have had mixed reviews over the years by doctors, dieticians, and users alike. While some people find that they are very successful and swear by them, others struggle, plateau, and will finally give up before reaching their goal weight.

The Traffic Light Diet concentrates on splitting foods into three different categories of foods: red, yellow, and green. The red light foods are the ones that are highest in calories and yet have very low nutritional value. For this reason, red light foods should either be eliminated altogether from your diet or should be dramatically reduced.

Yellow light foods in the Traffic Light Diet are those that are – like red light foods – still high in calories, but that are quite high in nutritional value so that it can make it worthwhile to eat these foods within some degree of moderation.

Lastly, green light foods are the ones with low caloric levels and yet have high nutritional values. These are the core of the Traffic Light Diet and will be those consumed most frequently.

The premise of this diet is that you can eat as many green light foods as you’d like, as often as you’d like throughout the day. Yellow light foods can be added within moderation to some of the daily meals. Red light foods, though, should not be consumed at all. That being said, red light foods are not entirely banned, so it is possible for you to consume them in small amounts on the odd occasion so that you can enjoy a treat every now and then. This makes this diet less challenging to stick to for some because you can still have the opportunity to enjoy a few higher calorie foods that you like.