How the colors in our living environment affect mood, sleep, muscle strength, and other biological functions, and how to use this fascinating research to improve your health.
Does color affect our health? Can it change our mood, make our muscles weak or affect our sleep even if the room is dark with no color actually visible to the naked eye?
Modern research suggests that, yes, color has a profound impact on how we feel. It also curiously affects our internal biological functions.
Research as early as 1932 showed that visible wavelengths of light may have a direct effect on the endocrine system.
This is because the wavelengths representing each unique color are able to reach the pineal and pituitary glands.
These organs reside in the brain and receive information through neurochemical channels that operate independently of the optic nerve.
This means that color may not actually have to be “seen” to have an effect!
Further research in this area in 1978 suggested that the color pink has a tranquilizing effect. It calms hostile or angry emotions, even to the point of weakening muscles within 10-15 minutes.
The research conducted by Glen Wylie and photo-biologist John Ott showed that out of 153 people, only 2 failed to lose strength in their arms when viewing a large, 2×3′ piece of pink construction paper.
Strength loss from the color pink ranged from 6-23%. In contrast, the color blue caused the subjects’ muscle strength to quickly return.
Based on this research alone, the commanding officers at the Seattle U.S. Naval Correctional Center decided in 1979 to try painting the holding cell used for initial confinement of new inmates completely pink. The only exception was the floor.
Newly confined inmates tend toward aggression much more than any other inmates.
Violence was “a whale of a problem” at this particular facility according to the prison administrator at the time.
223 days of continuous use of the pink holding facility for new confinees showed no incidents of erratic or hostile behavior during the initial confinement phase.
The impressive results of the first 156 days were detailed in a memo to the Bureau of Naval Personnel, Law Enforcement and Corrections Division, Washington, D.C.
The memorandum described that only 15 minutes of exposure to the pink holding cell were necessary to reduce the potential for violent behavior.
The beneficial effect lasted for 30 minutes. This was long enough to process the inmate and relocate the individual to a permanent cell.
Similar results were reported by the San Bernardino County Probation Department, the Santa Clara County Jail, and others.
Can the Color Pink Win Football Games?
The University of Iowa took the application of the color pink for weakening aggression and muscle relaxation to a whole new level.
The university painted the visiting team’s locker room in the football stadium Pepto-Bismol pink. This color scheme even included the toilets!
No word on whether this color gamble actually paid off with a long, unbroken string of football wins at home!
Dr. Francis Kolar’s Experiments
Dr. Francis Kolar studied the effects of color on mice at a research hospital in Wichita, Kansas in the 1940s. Spinal fluid was drawn from a group of mice and analyzed.
Half the mice then went about their normal activities while the other half were subjected to a strenuous round of exercise on a treadmill to the point of exhaustion.
When the spinal fluid was drawn from the mice at that point, the exhausted mice showed no color whatsoever in their spinal fluid whereas the non-exhausted mice showed color from the full spectrum of visible light.
As the energy of the exhausted mice returned, so did the color of their spinal fluid.
Dr. Kolar performed many experiments to examine and understand the healing properties of color noting that when people are sick or even simply have a grey skin pallor, they actually have little to no color in their spinal fluid.
The most lively, energetic people had vibrant color not only in their skin but also in their spinal fluid. In short, externally visible, vital color in the skin seems to denote internal color and health.
Dr. Kolar’s research as practically applied by his assistant, Dr. Hazel Parcells, in her own practice indicated that understanding the effects of colors on human physiology is very helpful when planning its use in the home environment.
Feng shui, an ancient Chinese system for harmonizing people with their surrounding environment, teaches the same with each color an expression of one of the five feng shui elements:
- Fire – Passion and high energy.
- Earth – Nourishment and stability.
- Metal – Clarity and Preciseness.
- Water – Ease and abundance.
- Wood – Growth and vitality.
In the fascinating book, Dr. Hazel Parcell’s In Her Own Words, Dr. Parcells recommends several guidelines for applying color appropriately in the home environment.
Black
Black is the absence of color and as such, lowers energy.
A long road trip in a car with black upholstery virtually guarantees that the people inside the car will feel exhausted after an hour or more of driving.
Wearing black clothing reduces body energy and metabolism and hence is not the slimming effect that overweight individuals desire.
Better to wear colors that stimulate metabolism like yellow, magenta, violet, or red.
Soft Pinks, Blues, and Other Pastel Shades
Soft pinks, blues, greens, and other pastel shades are most restful and good for the bedroom environment.
Wild colors and patterns in the bedroom will affect sleep, relaxation, and even memory.
While falling asleep may still occur in a room with unrestful colors or patterns, full relaxation will not fully occur throughout the night.
The color of the sheets and pillowcases is most important to keep within the neutral/pastel color scheme.
White
White is always an acceptable color particularly in the kitchen when combined with full spectrum lighting.
Dr. Parcells also recommends pastels to complement the creative energy of the cooking environment.
Yellow
Yellow may be a good color choice for a bathroom as it is energizing and conducive to stimulating the intestinal tract and perhaps even alleviating constipation.
Orange
Orange may prove a great color for workout gear or decorating the home gym.
It appears to stimulate oxygenation and normalize metabolism.
Indigo (Blue and Violet)
Shades of indigo (blue and violet) are wonderful colors for the bedroom where the person sleeping there suffers from insomnia.
These colors are calming and conducive to a deep and restful slumber.
Red
Red is not a good color to use in children’s rooms as it is too stimulating.
Even red drapes or other accessories can disrupt sleeping patterns and make it difficult to settle children down at night for bed.
Dr. Parcells had great success normalizing children’s sleeping habits when the colors of the bedroom were changed to calming pastels.
My Experience with Color and Behavior
When I read Dr. Parcells book which includes a chapter on color and health many years ago, it got me thinking about the color scheme in my boys’ bedroom.
When they were young, they shared a room that was decorated with a sports theme. This included bold red drapes and a large rug that blended more red and bright orange throughout the pattern.
While my boys have never had sleep issues, they did tend to wrestle and get rather boisterous in their room on a very frequent basis.
I wondered if the color might have something to do with that.
So, while they were away at camp for 10 days one summer, I took the opportunity to completely redecorate their room with blue pastel paint and deep blue/grey curtains, sheets, and pillowcases.
The effect? The roughhousing in that room completely stopped when they came home from camp never to return months and even years later.
Coincidence?
Perhaps.
But, it is extremely interesting to note that they preferred to play musical instruments and study in their room after the color change. This was not a frequent occurrence when the color scheme was more energizing.
I certainly look forward to more research in this area. I find the effects of color on health to be nothing short of fascinating!
What color schemes do you use around your home? Have you noticed that behavior and energy levels vary depending on the colors of your environment?
References
(1) Tranquilizing Effect of Color Reduces Aggressive Behavior
(2) Pink Paint Used to Win Football Games and Calm Prison Inmates
(3) Dr. Hazel Parcells in Her Own Words
Long ago I had an interior room that was red, bordering on terra cotta red, but pretty intense. I had bought it that way. It was a cavernous interior room. On rainy days, which were few in CO, that was the room I play in with my young son. He was always very anxious on those days…I couldn’t wait for nap time, his anxiety affected me so. One day, I had had enough. I knew the room was slated for renovation, but the red had to go…NOW! When he went down for his nap I put primer on all the red. Now it was really ugly and messy looking but was a muted pink. Anxiety problem disappeared. Eventually the room became a sage green. I will never have red beyond an accent again!
I comprehend colours definitely influence however disagree that wearing black is draining and have never experienced this. Lots of people wear black especially for jobs including priests and they don’t appear drained to me.
My guess is that they get used to it somewhat. They would no doubt feel more energized wearing other colors.
Long ago I read about a man who tried to follow every rule suggested in the Old Testament of the Bible. Then he wrote all about it. One thing that stood out to me was that he started wearing all white. He talked about how it changed his mood and that it was hard to be “down” when dressed that way.
This is very interesting, I was just reading about the spectrum this week. I was just wondering, though, if it really is possible for color to have much affect in darkness, as darkness is a lack of wavelengths in the visible part of the spectrum. I’m also wondering if black, as we would wear or in paint, would have the same effect as black as darkness, since in terms of light, black is lack of color, or visible wavelengths, but with pigment it’s usually a combination of many colors, hence not actually a lack of color. (in light this produces white).
I’ve been informally studying the impact of color for 30 years now. I have an unusually colorful house and have been very intentional about the colors I choose. The color D’Ann mentioned above – turquoise blue. The typical response I see when guests walk in the room is a look of wonder and they breathe deeply. To a one, people love being in that space. It feels alive.
Red stimulates appetite and so is good for dining rooms – high intensity may create turnover of patrons at a restaurant but if you pick a lower intensity shade (like terra cotta), guests will linger at the table.
Kara was wondering about blue in a kitchen. It is supposed to suppress appetite so if you want to break the snacking habit, that would be a good choice, but the more common advice is not to use it in a kitchen. (I use cobalt blue as an accent in my yellow kitchen.)
Amy’s comment about cobalt blue is interesting. The walls in my husband’s art space are cobalt blue. That color spurs his creativity.
I found the part about pink causing weakness and blue causing strength very interesting from the cultural standpoint that we tend to dress our girls in pink and our boys in blue.
Both my daughter and son were conceived on/in “cobalt blue” (sofa/ shower tiles)! Not sure what that color does. It’s an intense blue – not dark like navy or light pastel – right in-between. Interesting coincidence!!
I read somewhere that blue is a appetite supressor and recommended for the kitchen? I just bought a slate color blue and was going to paint an accent wall in the kitchen. It’s all cream colored now and I wanted to change it up a bit.
I know for sure green is calming. I had read it was a good color for learning environments and I found a fabulous creamy green paint by Pottery Barn and used it in our homeschool room. It’s by far my favorite room and the kids love to go out into their homeschool room to color and do crafts on their own.
I never liked the red wall trend. It’s just too much.
Is the color you used svelte sage? I’m considering using it in our living room. We currently have a red accent wall that I want to get rid of. I’m hoping it will calm my two boys down and keep them from bickering all the time.