I’ve been asked what I eat on a daily basis. I answer this directly on this blog
both specifically and generally (with recipes, reviews, etc). I have found Dr. Greger’s “daily dozen” and “green, yellow, red light” approaches to be very helpful.
Dr. Greger divides foods into three categories:
- Green light – whole food plant based foods
- Yellow light – slightly processed
- Redight – meat, dairy, oil and processed foods that should be avoided.
Dr. Greger suggests focusing on eating a diet rich in “green light” foods, minimizing “yellow light” foods and avoiding “red light” foods.
His presentation of this is refreshing and helpful. Rather than a leaglistic “don’t eat this” or “you must eat that” he presents an approach that is doable. For example if the only way you’ll eat salad is with “oil and vinegar” then go ahead. But keep in mind oil (all oil) is red light and should be avoided. Dr. Greger’s rationale is the benefit of the salad is better with the oil than not having the salad at all. This allows you to make modifications to your diet over time and make the meal better.
I’ve now come to enjoy my salad without dressing and using balsamic vinegar and herbs instead.
In his explanation of the traffic light approach Dr. Greger also explains how to determine if a food is “healthy” by asking “compared to what?”
If you have the book “How Not to Die” then I’d recommend you read chapter x in part two for more information. Even if you don’t have the book you can get the information directly from Dr. Greger through his website nutritionfacts.org.
