Red foods are essential for maintaining heart health, memory function, urinary tract, and lower risk of prostate, breast and esophageal cancer.  Red foods contain essential nutrients such as Lycopene, magnesium, selenium, Ellagic acid, Quercetin, and many important antioxidants such as Anthocyanins. 

Fruits:  red apples, blood oranges,  cherries, cranberries, raspberries, red grapes, red currants, pink/red grapefruit, red pears, red plums, pomegranites, strawberries,  and watermelon.

Vegetables:  beets, red peppers, radishes, red onions, red potatoes, rhubarb, tomatoes, aduki beans, red kidney beans, red lentils, black eyed peas, beetroot, eggplant, Jerusalem artichokes, mustard and cress, red cabbage, red chilis, red-skinned onions, spinach (green with red stems), watercress and any vegetable containing iron, such as horseradish or parsley.

Other red foods include:  salmon, beef, red wine  

Red herbs include:  cayenne, hibiscus flowers, mint, mustard, peppermint, pineapple sage, red, white and black pepper, rosemary, thyme, ginger, nettles, rosemary, and watercress.

Red herbal teas:  bergamot flower, raspberry, rosehip, hibiscus flower.

Red energy essential oils: 

Black pepper - stimulating and good for intense cold
Camphor - stimulates the heart, low blood pressure, coldness, warm stiff muscles
Clary sage - for inflamed skin conditions, muscular aches and pains, asthma, nervous tension.  Do not
                      consume internally while using externally!
Ginger - promotes self-awareness and acceptance; warming and stimulating (not to be used during
               the first trimester of pregnancy)
Jasmine - sexually stimulating, good for apathy, rigidity, secretiveness
Rosemary - for tiredness and apathy; a nerve stimulant

Each of us comes into the world with a predisposition toward one color or another.  You may have a red predisposition if you:

1.  ...have red hair, red in your hair, or are a strawberry blond.
2.  ...have a ruddy complexion, or get flushed easily.
3.  ...are impatient, or have a quick temper.
4.  ...have parents who had heart disease or high blood pressure.
5.  ...like to get things done quickly.

To balance the tendency toward too much red energy, eat green foods.

Green foods generally are alkalizing for the body and remove toxins. Green vegetables can be eaten in unlimited quantities. Green foods include green bell peppers, green leafy vegetables, green grapes, kiwi, limes, lettuce, celery, cucumber, green peas, green beans and zucchini.

To see a complete list of green foods, herbs, and essential oils, see the entry for January 20th.

As mentioned before, the more vivid the color, the more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants a food has.  White foods should be eaten as little ss possiible as they have lower nutritional valud and require a drain on the body's vitamin stores in order to metabolize them:  potatoes, pasta, white rice, anything made with white flour.

If you have a red energy predisposition, you may also need to watch how much you eat red food dyes and additives.  Are you having a problem with anger, impulsiveness, or high blood pressure?  Cut down on the red foods and eat more green.  Are you anemic, tired, fussy, nervous?  Experiment with whether or not yuu need more red or green energy.  Beef, salmon, and legumes would have more iron and strengthen the blood.  However, many vivid green foods have a lot of folic acid, a deficiency of which can mimic anemia.  Also, green foods contain a lot of chlorophyll, and our bodies easily convert the magnesium in chlorophyll to hemoglobin for new blood cells.

In Feng Shui, red is the color of fame, success, and reputation.  It's element is fire and it's shape is the triangle or pyramid.

Once again, when considering the question of why do so many foods in nature have varied, vivid bright colors?  On the one hand, it has to do with the frequency shift these foods cuse when we eat them.  But also, I'm convinced that animals in the wild have a certain predisposition toward certain foods and the color helps them identify the foods they need to eat.   We should take a hint from the animals.

Why are buzzards and vultures such ugly animals?   It lends some truth to the statement, "You are what you eat."