The Impact of Colors on Humans: Chromotherapy

What if your can of fizzy drink already made you feel good before you’d even taken a single sip?

Our colors are bursting with energy (and it’s not just about the look)

If you’ve ever spotted a Smile can on the shelf, you know we don’t play it safe. Between the bright pink, sunny yellow, turquoise, and our Newstalgia style; this mix of neo-retro and modern vibrancy, our bottles aren’t here to blend into the background.

Why this choice? We’re not going to give you some deep, mystical speech: we wanted it to pop, to be spotted from 10 meters away, and, most importantly, for the color to immediately give you a clue about the taste of your kombucha.

A little detail for the curious: the wave you see on the label actually forms the S in Smile, and its colorful layers evoke the layers of the SCOBY, that living culture disc that creates the magic of kombucha.

But upon digging a little deeper, we realized that this purely visual and indulgent choice had a secret impact on your brain: it’s what’s known as chromotherapy.

Colour therapy: What exactly is it?

Colour therapy is a method that uses light frequencies (colours) to influence our physical and emotional well-being.

From a biological perspective, each colour has a specific wavelength. When your eyes detect a colour, they convert that light into electrical impulses. These signals reach the hypothalamus, the ‘control centre’ of your brain that manages your emotions, sleep and even your appetite. ¹

In short: colour isn’t just visual information; it’s a biochemical message sent to your nervous system.

A History Dating Back to Antiquity

People have been using light and colors for healing purposes since at least 2000 B.C. The Egyptians used sunlight and colored stones in their healing sanctuaries. The Greeks used oils, pigments, and dyed fabrics for treatment. Avicenna, the great 11th-century Persian physician, even created a chart linking each color to a physical condition and body temperature; for example, he used blue to soothe inflammation and red to stimulate circulation.¹

Today, neuroscience allows us to put precise words to these age-old intuitions. Here’s how each shade in our range interacts with your neurons:

• Yellow (Ginger-Passion): When we see yellow, the brain activates an area linked to the reward system, which explains that immediate feeling of good mood and optimism. Psychologically, it’s a stimulating color that boosts intellectual faculties and enhances good spirits. A burst of energy that naturally complements the zing of ginger.²
• Orange (Brut): Orange also activates the brain’s reward system. Associated with warmth and light, this color is synonymous with joy, exuberance, and optimism. A boost of positive energy that fits perfectly with the spirit of our Brute recipe.²
• Pink (Strawberry-Raspberry): Pink affects us physically, but it soothes rather than stimulates. It is a psychologically powerful color: it nourishes and soothes the body. It is the color of comfort, just like the sweetness of our red berries.²
• Green (Hops-Citrus): Green stimulates the prefrontal cortex, the area linked to decision-making, abstract and creative thinking, as well as emotional responses and our ability to form emotional connections. Green has been shown to reduce anxiety and stress by lowering the respiratory rate—a calming effect as natural as hops.²
• Turquoise (Verbena): Turquoise is arguably the most exhilarating color of all; it triggers an instinctive reaction that touches us deeply. Like all cool colors, turquoise has a positive influence on concentration and a soothing effect, sitting at the intersection of calming blue and revitalizing green, perfectly in line with the virtues of verbena.²

In a nutshell

We chose our colors to be as fresh and striking as our recipes. And if they also give you a morale boost through color therapy even before your first sip, that’s what we call a winning combination.

That’s the Smile effect: flavor for your taste buds, life for your microbiome, and color for your neurons.

Disclaimer:  

Smile brews kombucha, not rainbows (rainbows?). Color therapy is a complementary practice not recognized by conventional medicine, and we’re not going to pretend otherwise. What is recognized, however, is the impact of colors on the brain, as documented in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. This article is based on verifiable publications. The links are provided if you’d like to dig deeper. And if you’re looking for real therapeutic care, your doctor remains your best ally—not your fridge, no matter how colorful it may be.

Sources :

¹[NCBI - National Center for Biotechnology Information] : A Critical Analysis of Chromotherapy and Its Scientific Evolution – The seminal study on how light frequencies interact with the nervous system.

²Eusebio, C. (2020, 28 mars). Comment les couleurs influencent votre comportement. Cyril Maitre. https://cyril-maitre.com/p-impact_des_couleurs_sur_le_cerveau

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