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Eating food under a blue light makes it appear unpleasant and prevents overeating, scientists claim.

A new study claims men eating food illuminated by blue light become subconsciously suspicious of it because of its unnatural colour - a reaction that quells overeating without reducing their enjoyment of the meal, the Daily Mail reports.

However, women are unaffected by the lighting - a caveat researchers claim is due to their superior reliance on smell when assessing food.

The University of Arkansas research team, led by Han-Seok Seo, said: 'Since naturally blue coloured foods are rare, humans may have a doubt as to whether (such foods) are safe to eat,' the Pacific Standard reported.

The results of the group's study were published in the latest edition of the journal Appetite.

The study involved 112 people who were asked to eat the same meals under different coloured lights.

Despite eating differing amounts of pancakes and omlettes, the results of questionnaires conducted afterwards showed participants registered the same levels of satisfaction.

Meanwhile, recent studies show being obese can shorten life by eight years and blight up to two decades with ill-health.

Scientists using a computer model recently warned that diabetes and heart disease are set to deprive an obese person of up to 19 years of healthy living.

For the very obese, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 or more, between one and eight years of life were likely to be lost.

Overweight people with BMI scores of 25 to 30 were predicted to have their lives shortened by up to three years.