Healthy Living | Medical College of Wisconsin

Health Living & Healthy Eating

Find activities and tips for a more healthy and active lifestyle.

Eat the Rainbow

Fresh, filling, and healthy, fruits and vegetables are an important part of an overall healthy eating plan. They are high in vitamins, minerals and fiber and low in fat and calories.

Learn some simple tips to increase your vegetable consumption:

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Keep it colorful

Challenge yourself to try fruits and vegetables of different colors. Make it a red/green/orange day or see if you can consume a rainbow of fruits and vegetables during the week.

Add it on

Add fruit and vegetables to foods you love. Try adding frozen peas to mac’n’cheese, veggies on top of pizza and slices of fruit on top of breakfast cereals or yogurt.

Mix them up

Add fruits and vegetables to food that’s cooked or baked, or mix vegetables in with pasta sauces, lasagnas, casseroles, soups, and omelets. Mixing fresh or frozen berries into pancakes, waffles, or muffins is another great way to make fruits and veggies a part of every meal.

Enjoy vegetable dippers

Chop raw vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Try bell peppers, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery, and dip your favorites into healthy dressings. Dip tip: Read the food label of sauces and dressings to make sure they are not overloaded with saturated fat and salt.

Roast away

Try roasting vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, onions, carrots, tomatoes, or eggplant. Long exposure to high heat will cause these foods to caramelize, which enhances their natural sweetness and reduces bitterness.

Sip Smoothies

Smoothies are a great way to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat and they’re easy to make.

Examples of Healthy Foods by Color

Yellows and Oranges

acorn or butternut squash, apricots, cantaloupe, carrot, corn, grapefruit, lemons, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, orange juice, orange peppers, papaya, peaches, pineapple, pumpkin, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tangerines, yams, yellow apples, yellow peppers, yellow squash

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Whites

bananas, cauliflower, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke, mushrooms, onion, potatoes, parsnips, shallots

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Greens

artichokes, asparagus, avocados, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery, collard greens, cucumber, green beans, green cabbage, green grapes, green onions, green peppers, kale, kiwi, leeks, limes, mustard greens, okra, pears, peas, romaine lettuce, snow peas, spinach, sugar snap peas, watercress, zucchini

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Blues and Purples

blackberries, blueberries, currants, dates, eggplant, purple grapes, purple grape juice, plums, prunes, purple figs, raisins

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Reds and Pinks

beets, cherries, cranberries, pink grapefruit, pomegranates, radicchio, radishes, raspberries, red apples, red grapes, red peppers, red potatoes, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato juice, watermelon

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