Based on calorie content, we categorize food into "green light foods" that should be consumed daily, "yellow light foods" that should be limited, and "red light foods" that should only be consumed occasionally. Green light foods: Contain essential nutrients for the body, promote health, and must be consumed daily. This includes—
Dairy: Low-fat milk, skim milk, yogurt, low-fat cheese.
Eggs: Steamed egg, boiled egg, tea egg, marinated egg.
Soy products: Soy milk, cold tofu, marinated dried tofu.
Seafood: Steamed or boiled fresh fish and seafood.
Meat: Various lean meats that are steamed, braised, stewed, roasted, or boiled.
Staples: Rice, steamed buns, noodle soup, baked sweet potato or potato, boiled corn or water chestnut, low-sugar red bean soup, mung bean soup, or lotus seed soup.
Vegetables: Stir-fried vegetables with little oil, lettuce, kimchi.
Fruits: Fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice. Yellow light foods: Contain essential nutrients, but are high in sugar, fat, or salt, and must be limited.
Dairy: Whole milk, flavored milk, milkshakes, ice cream.
Eggs: Century egg, salted egg, scrambled egg, fried egg.
Soy products: Various fried soy products, such as fried tofu.
Seafood: Pan-fried, deep-fried, or stir-fried fish or seafood, canned fish, fish floss.
Meat: Pan-fried, stir-fried, or deep-fried lean meats and poultry, canned meat, meat floss, Western-style ham, hot dogs, pork shoulder.
Staples: Fried rice, fried noodles, fried rice noodles, sweet and savory bread, rice cakes.
Vegetables: Stir-fried green vegetables with a lot of oil, fried vegetables.
Fruits: Fruit salad, canned fruit.
Others: Hamburgers, pizza, rice crackers (with a sugar coating or powdered sugar). Red light foods: Provide only calories, sugar, oil, and salt, with very few other nutrients, and should only be chosen occasionally.
Seafood: Salted fish.
Meat: Chinese ham, cured meat, sausages, pork belly.
Staples: French fries, doughnuts, small pastries, mooncakes, instant noodles, popcorn.
Vegetables: Pickled vegetables.
Fruits: Preserved fruits, sweet fruit juice.
Fats and oils: Those high in saturated fatty acids (such as lard, butter, pork skin, chicken skin).
Others: Cream cake, candy, chocolate, soda, cola, sugary drinks.