An identical sugar pill acts differently depending only on its color

Red, yellow and orange placebo pills are reliably rated as more stimulating; blue and green ones as more calming — even though they're chemically identical. In one classic trial, students given blue 'sedative' placebos reported feeling drowsier than those given pink ones. It's part of why real stimulants tend to be sold in warm colors and sedatives in cool ones.

— A.J.M. de Craen, A.J. Roos, A.L. de Vries and J. Kleijnen, Effect of colour of drugs: systematic review of perceived effect of drugs and of their effectiveness — BMJ, 1996

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