How colours affect your moods

Our sex lives, moods, appetites and how well our brain works are all affected by different colours. Here's how different hues affect your body ... 

Sexy billionaire Christian Grey may have his red room of pain in the saucy bestseller Fifty Shades of Grey.

But it turns out that purple is actually the sexiest colour you can paint your bedroom.

A new survey has found that people with a purple colour scheme in their boudoir have the most sex - clocking up 3.49 intimate encounters each week. And despite the title of the EL James blockbuster, those with grey bedrooms notch up a paltry 1.8 weekly romps, according to Littlewoods.com.

But it's not just our sex lives that are influenced by colour. So are our moods, our appetites and how well our brain works. Here's how different hues affect your body.

BLUE

If you want to lose weight, try painting your kitchen blue. One study found that diners who eat in a blue room, compared to one painted red or yellow, eat a third less calories.

"Most people are unaware of the profound effect colour has on their behaviour," says Kenneth Fehrman, co-author of Color: The Secret Influence. "For instance, blue is an appetite suppressant. In tests, many people could not bring themselves to eat foods coloured blue.

"We have deep-seated instincts to avoid blue foods, or anything linked to them, as they tend to be poisonous."

PINK

Katie Price and her fiance Leo might be interested to learn that if you and your partner row a lot, you might want to think about painting your walls pink.

Studies have found the girly hue has a calming effect on the body - and reduces muscle strength.

Dr Alexander Schauss, director of the American Institute for Biosocial and Medical Research in Washington, was the first to discover how the shade dampens down anger and anxiety in the late 70s.

Since then, many prisons in the US have painted cells this hue to keep inmates calm.

Dr Schauss explains: "Even if a person tries to be angry or aggressive in the presence of pink, he can't. The heart muscles can't race fast enough.

"It's a tranquillising colour that saps your energy."

Perhaps it's no surprise that women respond more positively to pink. In one study, researchers found they were more likely to vote for politicians if their names were written on pink ballot papers, rather than green ones. Men favoured the names on the green slips.

Both genders have also been found to be more likely to respond to surveys if they are printed on pink paper instead of white.

RED

Looking for love? Than it turns out that being a scarlet woman really could do the trick.

The colour red has been found to make men more attracted to the opposite sex, researchers at the University of Rochester, New York, found. Nearly 100 men were shown photographs of women in different coloured clothes and those in scarlet were rated as much more desirable - and the men said they would spend more cash on them on a date.

It also works the other way around. In the experiment, women also rated men in red as more attractive. Scientists believe it is because the human mind unconsciously associates red with arousal - as well as power.

YELLOW

There is a reason that Post-it notes are yellow. Studies show that the colour improves concentration, because it literally "wakes up" the brain and nervous system.

Smiley faces are also this colour because looking at yellow has been found to trigger the release of feel-good brain chemical serotonin.

Colour psychologist Kate Nightingale, who advises clients how to use colour to make the right impression, says that how our bodies respond to colours depends on the emotions the shades evoke.

"These reactions are often linked to our experiences of nature," says Kate.

"When we see a certain colour, it makes us feel certain feelings. For example, yellow makes you think of the sun and of summertime.

"These emotions act on the hormones and neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers in our brain - and this in turn changes the ways our bodies feel and behave."

GREEN

As it appears in the middle of the colour spectrum, and has a wavelength easily seen by the eye, green is the least offensive colour to look at.

As a result, it has a calming effect, which is why TV studios have "green rooms" to calm guests' nerves before they appear.

Before the arrival of interactive classroom displays, blackboards were painted green because it was easier for students to look at them.

And in one study, office workers who could see green out of the window liked their jobs more, were happier and healthier. Several other surveys have also found that because green puts consumers in a more relaxed state, they stay longer and spend more cash in shops painted this shade.

WHITE / BLACK

Although white is associated with simplicity, tests by US space agency, NASA, found workers in white rooms work less well than in pastel rooms, possibly because they find the stark contrasts around them distracting.

However, white is also a calming colour. In one test, people with hand tremors were found to shake less in white rooms.

Kate Nightingale says: "White implies honesty and purity, and wearing it has also been found to make people act in a more altruistic way, which is why doctors and nurses wear this colour."

Because black is often seen as a powerful colour, it can also be interpreted as aggressive.

In one experiment by the University of Florida, two hockey teams were made to swap their black and coloured sports uniforms. Whichever team wore the black jerseys saw their players penalised for more fouls.