.

Blue.

I never really thought about it, but they say that the color blue is an appetite suppressant.  Apparently there are very few, if any, foods that are naturally blue.  Even BLUEberries are actually purple.  So, I wondered if seeing a blue food would be a turnoff for real, or if it just sounded good on paper.

  Blue rice.  Looks pretty gross



                                       Blue pancakes?  Not so yummy!











So, what does this mean?  If I eat on a blue plate, will that make me less hungry?  Or, what if I put a blue light in the refrigerator - will that make all the food look unappealing to me and thus keep me from eating random snacks?  Interesting thought.

And what about the idea of eating on smaller plates to make me feel like my plate is fuller?

Is my brain really tricked by these things?  Supposedly so!  There have been scientific (and some not-so-scientific) studies done that all seem to indicate our minds can be tricked. 

I understand that yellow promotes eating.  Hence McDonald's and their golden arches! 

I have always thought I was fairly intelligent.  But intelligence has nothing to do with our instincts.  Our mind (and appetite) can be triggered by colors and even smells, no matter how smart we are.  We might be able to overcome the impulse, but we can't stop the initial reaction. 

Not that I'm saying I want to trick my mind by making my food look unappetizing.  Somethow I don't think that's a long term solution to anything.  After all, I like food.  It's a big part of my life and I don't want to make it into something unpleasant.

But I expect that eating on a blue plate MIGHT do something.  And eating on a smaller plate might as well.  So those are worth a shot.

And while I'm not sure what these things might or might not do for my appetite, as long as there MIGHT be something to these ideas, I'm certainly not going to paint my kitchen yellow!