Recent studies show that the colors you use in your home can influence how your food tastes, sharpen your concentration, improve your sleep, and even enliven your sex life. Here’s how to make color work for you.
1. Enhance your food's flavor: Using orange dishes makes your food taste sweeter. Participants in a recent experiment, published in the Journal of Sensory Studies, discovered that hot chocolate tasted more chocolatey when served in either orange or dark cream-colored cups, compared to red or white cups. Researchers suggest that you can use serving pieces in these colors to fool your taste buds into thinking low-sugar food or drinks are sweeter than they really are.
2. Sleep more soundly: Try decorating with cool blue. Blue calms the nervous system and reduces anxiety so you'll sleep better. But if you want to improve that other thing you do in the bedroom, try a rich purple paint job or decor. According to a survey of 2,000 British adults, people with purple bedding or furniture reported getting frisky more often.
3. Perk up your workout: It's as simple as adding green to your exercise area. A study published in Environmental Science & Technology found that cyclists rated their rides as easier when there was a green backdrop. Natural, green environments have been shown to spark interest and provide positive distractions, which might be why participants felt less fatigued after exercising.
McClatchy-Tribune News Services
