Color is a part of our everyday life. But it does more than add variety and visual stimulation to our life. It can actually affect our mood, health, and happiness. How you may ask? Here are four fascinating ways that color affects us on a daily basis.
Color Affects Our Perception
The military, for example, understands how the greens and blues of uniforms call respect to mind in soldiers facing those uniforms, but greens and blues in the base hospital are calming. Nursing scrubs come in colors dedicated to restfulness and peace. Police uniforms are neutral tans or browns or navy blues. Restaurant uniforms are usually navy blue or tan or black. People wearing these colors are perceived as protective and professional. It's amazing how much of our lives is actually organized by color without us realizing it. Color does affect our perception, and we should be aware of it.
Color Improves Health
Researchers at MIT know that color affects body functions and illnesses. Colors are being used in treating diseases. Called photobiology, research is showing that colors affect brain waves, blood pressure, respiratory characteristics and circulation. While photobiology remains in the realm of psychological effects, there is some evidence it has a physical effect. Color is known to have an effect on the endocrine system, which is controlled by hormones in the brain and thyroid. Colors are perceived by the brain, which sends messages to the thyroid that something needs healing.
Other examples include Russia, who uses ultraviolet light for their miners. This, they believe, prevents lung diseases. Blue appears to heal many ills. Bridges in England are painted blue to eliminate suicide attempts. Blue light is now used for newborn babies with jaundice.
Color Affects Appetite
Did you know that the restaurants you regularly attend likely use color to make you hungrier? Restaurants have known that the colors red and yellow stimulate appetite, so they will use that to make customers want to eat more of their food. Painters in Boca Raton will be happy to paint your kitchen red or yellow to make the kitchen a happy eating place. Take McDonald's for example. Red and yellow are their base colors, and they cover their restaurants in these two colors. So if you suddenly feel hungrier once inside McDonald's, color may be a part of that.
Conversely, blue and green are likely to suppress your appetite. So if you're trying to lose weight and eat fewer calories, consider putting yourself in an environment of comforting blue and green colors that are likely to suppress your appetite and help you eat less. You can also paint your kitchen these colors if you are overly concerned about eating too much at meal times.
Color Can Improve Behavior
Research in Canada shows that school children benefit from changes in the color of their classroom. Their classroom was changed from orange to light and dark blue. The children were tested and it was found their behavior improved due to a drop in blood pressure. The darker color stimulated the children, whereas the cooler colors calmed them.