Does Red Make The Heart Beat Faster?

Does colour and light affect our health and wellbeing? It it really true that red makes the heart beat faster? And what happens to you when you are placed in a pink room? Late-night colour chat.

The podcast starts with a discussion about what type of colour vision a unicorn would have if they existed (which they do of course). Eventually the Over The Rainbow team do get on to the effect of colour on health and wellbeing. Does pink make you weaker? Ever heard of drunk-tank pink? And what about colour and heart rate? The idea that red makes the heart beat faster is widespread and assumed to be true; yet the evidence of this is weak at best. On the other hand, light exposure has been shown to be effective as a treatment for seasonal affective disorder. 

If you like this you might like Steve's piece in The Conversation about the non-visual effect of light on the body. Or, for a deeper dive, consider this review paper.