Color and Psychological Effect on Patients' Appetite

Over the years, psychology scholars have researched to find out the relationship between color and appetite. The results have shown that color has either a positive or negative impact on the appetite of an individual. In regards to the patient, the color embedded either in food or the utensil which a patient is using has proved to lower the appetite of the patient. Hence colors in food or utensil used reduces the appetite of the patient (Breyer, 2015). As the studies indicate, appetite towards a certain meal is affected by the psychological perception of the color, and one can perceive food to be delicious by seeing the color associated without tasting the food. Different colors have varied levels of chances of it being received positively by patients.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

In the past, our ancestors were not so precise on what kind plants on to be taken as fruits and cooked as a meal (Elvidge, 2019). Through the research conducted it has been determined that they used the color of fruits to determine the fruit to be consumed. As provided, ancestors used to link fruits with black, blue, and purple color to be poisonous and as time goes by, when served with meals with black, and purple color their appetite is lowered hence the color downplayed the appetite for the meal.

As the patient is admitted in hospital or under medication, there is various medication which the patient is subjected to, continuous use of drugs can lead to boredom. Drugs have been colored differently, and continuous use of them will make a patient develop a negative attitude towards the color, providing a patient with food with the same color as the drug will make the patient have a reduced appetite towards that meal (Caro, 2014). With this in place, we can note that indeed color has an impact on the appetite of the patient.

As the scientists have proofed it, the part of our brain called neuron is the one which is majorly associated with the perception we create towards the meal we take. As it has been put, different colors have different likelihood of making food to be more appetizing or less appetizing to patients (Breyer, 2015). The research indicates that a patient served on a red plate or food with red color has a reduced appetite on the provided food. In most cases, we have witnessed the red color being associated with danger and blood hence upon seeing it, the thought of danger is sparked in our minds. From this, we can deduce that the memory of danger associated with then red color reduced the appetite on food.

Blue colors have been known to reduce the appetite of an individual. Serving a patient with a blue plate will have his or her appetite reduced significantly because of the color. Blue is one of the colors which is not more pronounced in the environment; thus its chance of sparking appetite of a patient is reduced (Caro, 2014). Despite the reduced occurrence of the color, it is dull hence reduced attractiveness hence then reduced appetite it causes to the patient. Having a person say blue food is delicious sounds not normal, "Wow blue food looks delicious!" this sounds ridiculous and unrealistic since the color is dull and not found naturally easy.

With the patient's appetite, gray color have not been alleviating the appetite; instead, it suppresses it. This color looks dull and not much pronounced in the environment hence serving a person with plate with grey color will result in the reduction of the appetite of the patient. Most of the meals when they are overcooked their color turns brown or gray hence serving a patient with gray food or using grey plate brings the thoughts of the food being overcooked hence reducing the appetite.

With the link which has been in existence between the appetite and color or the food and plates, various manufacturers of utensils have been on the run to produce utensils with the color which boosts the appetite (Hartel, 2018). Despite this target, it is not clear if this will be a sellable idea as there are other various factors which affect the appetite of the patient. Various hospitals have adopted this fallacy and ensured that the plates used in serving patients have colors which have a high likelihood of boosting the appetite. There are colors like red which have been known to be anti-appetite, such plates have been avoided in hospitals since this color is mostly associated with blood hence signifying bad situations.

Despite the research which have been put forward by the scholars pertaining the relationship of different colors and appetite of patients, there are some cases which are not worth to hold and count that the color has the impact on the appetite. In some cases, the appetite of the patient is not determined by the color of the meal of plates used in serving the meals but determined by the smell attached to the meal being served to the patient.

The red color has been linked to the reduced appetite on the patients citing that the color has been linked to negative incidences (Elvidge, 2019). If that is the reason, then we can argue that color can also stimulate appetite since the color is also associated with positive situations like love flowers. During the valentine's day, red is the more pronounced color; hence it should be promoting the appetite instead of decreasing it. Appetite towards food can be traced to the experience of the patient with the food. If a person had initially eaten food with a specific color and did not like it or had a negative impact on the health of the person, if he comes across another meal with a similar color, then definitely the appetite will lowered drastically, hence, the reduction in appetite will have been provoked by the experience of the meal.

The appetite of the food is not only determined by the color, but the scent of the food has a major role in determining the appetite of a patient as compared to the color (Breyer, 2015). In some instances, a patient can be at a distant place from the kitchen but when he or she smells the scent of the food being cooked, he or she can either have elevated appetite or reduced appetite about the scent attached to the food. If the patient is impressed by the scent, then the appetite will rise, and if not pleased with the scent then the appetite will be reduced. Therefore, in this situation, we note that the appetite will have been determined by the scent of the food and not the color.

In some situation, it is worth to note that the appetite cannot be determined by either the scent or color of the meal (Hartel, 2018). Consider a situation where the patient has been starving and then at a one-time meal is brought before him or her, definitely the patient will not have time to associate the meal with any scent or color but will start eating. In such a situation we can say that the appetite of the patient have been raised by the extent of hunger he or she had. With this in mind, we can deduce that in some instances, the color of the meal does not count in determining the appetite of the patient.

The association of the color and appetite does not have solid evidence that indeed color affects the appetite. There are many cases where the color of the food provided to the patient is appealing, but the patient has no appetite towards the food (Elvidge, 2019). Having a negative experience with certain food will make one have a negative attitude towards that particular food regardless of the color; hence this argument will fail to hold here. There are situations where the patient does not feel about eating a particular food, but upon tasting it, the appetite rises hence in such cases we say that the taste of the food has contributed to the appetite and the color of the food or the color of the plate served it becomes insignificant.

In conclusion, we can note that over the years, there has been research conducted by scholars to find out the relationship between appetite and color of the meal and the plates served. It is evident that there are various colors which have been linked appetite boost and others to reduce the appetite. Red color has been portrayed to be reducing the appetite and the green color to boost the appetite. Despite the results found, there are situations where the appetite is not affected by the color, for instance, if one has been starving. The scent of the food is also important in determining the appetite of the food. Some food has an appealing scent, and despite the color it has, the food will boost the appetite of the patient. With this note, we know that the appetite of the food is not only affected by the color of the food or plate served; there are other factors which contribute to the appetite gain or reduction.

References

Breyer, M. (2015). care2. How Color Affects Your Appetite. Retrieved from https://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-color-affects-your-appetite.htmlCaro, J. (2014). Color Psychology. Red Plates Make You Eat Less. Retrieved from https://www.laweekly.com/restaurants/color-psychology-red-plates-make-you-eat-less-4421683

Elvidge, s. (2019). Science project ideas. The Effect of Colour On Taste and Appetite. Retrieved from http://www.scienceprojectideas.co.uk/effect-colour-taste-appetite.htmlHartel, K. (2018). FITDAY. How Colors Can Change Your Appetite and Eating Habits. Retrieved from https://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/how-color-can-change-your-appetite-and-eating-habits.html