How the colour of your house can make you feel itchy and eat too much

Normally, the advice to those wanting to safeguard their health is to examine their lifestyle. But the latest research now suggests you should overhaul your home, too.

Start by dimming the lights. Having bright lights on at night is said to confuse our natural sleep and wake cycle, which can interfere with other bodily functions, such as hormone production, and has been linked to health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and possibly even cancer.

Breast cancer researcher Dr Richard Stevens wrote in the journal Philosophical Transactions recently: 'It is becoming clear that typical lighting is affecting our physiology.' He urges people to use dimmer and 'redder' lights in the evening, as these are less disruptive to the body clock.

But just how else could your living environment be affecting your health?

Stressed out? Blame the colour of your walls...

If you have orange or red walls, watch out - according to an NHS advice report on lighting and hospital design, these colours increase stress and anxiety and are more likely to make skin itch (possibly because they remind us of inflamed skin).

Brian Wansink, an eating behaviour specialist from Cornell University in the U.S., says bright colours stimulate the brain and make us eat quicker. But, he says, bright white kitchens can have the same effect.

As for bedrooms, blue seems to be the best choice. A Littlewoods survey found that those sleeping in a blue bedroom had sex more often than those sleeping in more neutral beige or grey rooms (three times a week, compared to twice a week).

And a blue room also helped people sleep for longer, a study by Travelodge found.

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