How your visual diet affects your brain

What’s a visual diet? 

What you consume visually is called your visual diet. Everything your eyes take in is included. 

What you view in your home decor, the people you see, the artwork you hang on the walls, the videos you watch on TV, what you see scrolling your phone, the streets you walk on the way to the corner store, the outfits you see when you look in the mirror – everything you see is part of your visual diet.

Obviously you can’t control all of this. But you can control a lot. 

And we’re going to talk about the way your visual diet influences your body and mind in this article. It gives a big WHY as to why you should care about your visual diet.

Studies on viewing art

A 2025 study revealed that viewing original artwork has measurable positive effects on the human body. 

It actually helps heal you.

This study (which was financed by the UK’s Art Fund and the Psychiatry Research Trust and executed by the King’s College London) filled a gap in medical studies around visual arts. While there are many studies on the arts in general (music, dance, theatre, even crafting artworks), there are few that focus solely on viewing art alone.

According to the research, viewing art activates three different body systems all at once: the immune, endocrine (hormone), and autonomic nervous systems. 

Cortisol levels fell by an average of 22% when viewing original art in a gallery setting.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF-α) – which are linked to stress and a number of chronic diseases – dropped by 30% and 28% respectively for people viewing original art. These markers are related to many health problems, like heart disease, diabetes, anxiety and depression.

Skin temperature and heartbeats changed, indicating excitement for the people involved in the experiment. 

Notably, original artwork had a much greater positive result than reproductions.

This research was remarkable because although there have been previous studies about regularly going to galleries or other “cultural” activities over time, none measured specific changes in the body immediately while viewing images.

Of course no study is perfect. This one excluded people over age 40, focused on comparing originals vs reproductions, and only involved 50 volunteers. But it adds to a growing group of research all pointing to the same conclusion.

Basically, looking at art is healing for the body.

If you want to learn more about the numerous studies adjacent to this topic, read this summary and analysis here. It cites tons of research about neuroaesthetics, creating art, viewing art, and more.

Studies on how words alter water

I’m bringing this up because I think it’s relevant to our conversation about viewing beautiful things and I believe it can be worked into your visual diet.

To summarize the water words experiment, it was done by Dr. Masaru Emoto who was a Japanese businessman, author and scientist. He focused on how the molecular structure of water is changed by human consciousness. He did experiments by speaking or taping words to water containers, freezing the water and photographing the water crystals under a microscope. Words like “Love,” “Joy,” and “Hope” created coherent shapes with beautifully geometric crystals. “Fear” and “Hatred” created disorganized or incoherent crystals. 

This indicated that words and their intended meanings had a tangible effect on the structure of water.

Seeing as humans are made primarily of water, this is pretty intense.

Positive meanings have a physical effect on your body. 

So do negative meanings.

Basically, your mom’s tired old “live, laugh, love” posters were doing a lot of heavy lifting for her mental health.

But this sentiment transcends meanings expressed in language and can be applied to meanings expressed in imagery as well. In other words, a pretty picture can have the same effect on you as a pretty sentence.

In fact, Emoto also studied water crystals after exposing them to photographs with the same results, although this is less discussed. 

People try to discredit Emoto, but I think he was simply threatening the status quo. There are plenty of similar water studies being performed by “more credible” sources today.

What images or words are you being exposed to in your visual diet? Whether you know it or not, they are altering the very water molecules you live in.

Studies on viewing violent images

The brain responds to imagery in your visual diet as if it were real. 

You logically know that what’s on your phone screen isn’t really happening 3 feet in front of you, but your emotional brain responds as if it is. Any threat, tragedy, or misfortune viewed on your screen is interpreted by the brain as an active threat, current tragedy, or impending misfortune. It is scanning for danger and it sees this imagery as possible danger. Your brain responds to possible danger by raising cortisol, disabling the prefrontal cortex and enhancing parts of the brain used for survival. 

Studies show you can actually traumatize yourself with imagery even if it didn’t really happen to you.

A Department of Homeland Security document about preventing psychological damage states:

“Decades of psychological research show exposure to violent media and content – whether by children or adults – may result in harmful outcomes. While individuals react differently to visual materials, some people may experience an increase in stress, anxiety, worry, or fear when exposed to violent content. For example, studies of people who viewed the 9/11 terror attacks on live television found an increase in psychological and physical health complaints for these individuals years after the event.”

If you’ve ever watched a scary movie, this is obvious. The less obvious part is that it can have lasting effects on your mental and physical health for years beyond the viewing.

While it’s important to be informed of world events, try reading verbal explanations instead of watching the direct videos or looking at graphic images.

Remember, your body follows your brain. Your visual diet affects your general health and wellbeing. 

Make sure your positive intake is bigger than your negative intake.

Use this information for change

You can control a lot more of your visual diet than you think. Just because we live in The Information Age doesn’t mean we have to consume the max amount of info every day. We can decide how much, what type, and in what form we consume info.

Here are a few tips for improving your visual diet:

• Decorate each room in your house with art you think is interesting or beautiful
• Add good news outlets to your rotation
• Follow aesthetic photography accounts on social media
• Consume the news in written form instead of watching videos
• Put sensitive content filters on your social media accounts so you have to click an extra button to view a graphic image
• Go for a nature walk, watch a sunset
• Keep your house clean and organized
• Wear a fresh outfit every day
• Decorate your office or work space with artwork
• Start conversations that uplift you, not drain you

It’s not about putting your head in the sand and ignoring all the bad things going on. It’s about dedicating meaningful time to research those things, taking action on those things, and NOT dwelling on them beyond that. Spend time dwelling on what you can be grateful for, what’s true and what’s beautiful in the world. And spend time creating more of that. 

What you focus on grows.

The home is your sanctuary

You likely spend most of your time at work and at home. (Bonus points if you work from home.)

Since you have more control over what your home looks like, I like to focus on that.

Of course the walls are prime real estate for adding color, hanging artwork, putting up displays of trinkets and bookshelves. 

These can be the fastest and most impactful ways to soften the room and improve your visual diet. 

But there’s more you can do.

Find ways to incorporate beauty in the small things, not just on the walls. Drink your morning coffee from mugs that are pretty and fun. Use bookmarks with illustrations on them while you’re reading. Furniture can be colorful. Home accents like trim and light fixtures and doors can be works of art themselves. Pillows can add a pop of beauty.

Every little bit counts. The more you pay active attention to these moving, meaningful pieces of beauty, the more you get the benefit of stress relief and healing.

Find decorative art at A Cup of Cloudy

My specialty is helping you soften the room in order to make it easy on the eyes. At A Cup of Cloudy, you can find a variety of art prints and woven tapestries to immediately improve your space in a dramatic way. If you haven’t decorated your walls yet, start there.

If you’re passed that step, you can find other accents and gifts at A Cup of Cloudy too. You can even get tote bags to take the beauty with you wherever you go.

Your environment isn’t neutral. It’s actively changing your life whether you are aware of it or not. So be aware, and make sure it’s benefiting you!