Jeans that fit perfectly. The ideal Netflix show for a Tuesday night. Your one and only soulmate. Modern life promises that with enough options, you will happily find the best of everything.

But behavioral scientists say the increasing flood of choices — whether it comes to shopping, social lives or relationships — is doing the opposite.

The idea that more choice is better is baked into Western culture, but research shows that having more options can make people anxious, indecisive and, paradoxically, less happy with what they pick, said Barry Schwartz, an emeritus psychology professor at Swarthmore University and author of “The Paradox of Choice.”

“There have been hundreds of studies showing that there can be too much of a good thing,” Schwartz said.

To minimize the mental noise, he said, limit the number of choices you make, and your brain will thank you for it.

More is often more confusing Schwartz offered several examples of cases where more options left people worse off.

In the case of Medicare Part D prescription drug plans, people in states with more choices were less likely to choose any of them, he said. The same goes for 401(k) investments. The more options a company had, the less likely employees were to sign up, even when the employer offered matching money.

Less consequential choices are no different. Schwartz pointed to one often-cited study that showed shoppers at a gourmet grocery store bought more jars of artisanal jam when they were presented with six flavors rather than with a wider array of 24. In a follow-up study, students were more likely to complete an extra-credit assignment when they were given six topics to choose from instead of 30.

Schwartz’s research expanded on those findings to learn the emotional responses to this phenomenon.

“Instead of being liberated by all this choice, you’re paralyzed,” he said. “You can do anything, and you can’t figure out which of those many things to do.”

People also often end up making worse decisions since more options suggest more potentially bad outcomes, he said. And once someone finally decides from all the possibilities, they may be less satisfied with even a good choice because they fear there was a better alternative.

Schwartz said the satisfaction problem is especially acute for people whose aim is to get the best, whom psychologists call maximizers.

“People who are maximizers especially suffer from the proliferation of options,” he said. “Only the best will do.”

The tendency isn’t true for all people in all situations, Schwartz noted. Car buffs will gladly dive into the details of nearly unlimited choice when buying a new one.

“But you don’t feel that way when it comes to buying jam,” he said.

The brain doesn’t like making decisions

Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor and neuroscience researcher at the University of Virginia, said the phenomenon occurs because the brain is designed to save people from having to think.

Problem-solving requires more energy than relying on memory, a fact that has roots in evolutionary survival mode, Willingham said. When faced with a goal, whether it be an immediate need like responding to a threat or something longer term like finding shelter, the mind first searches for what’s worked before. The problem-solving part of the brain only kicks in afterward.

“Another way to put it is that if you’re thinking, things are not going well,” he said.

That explains why sometimes people move through parts of their day on autopilot, he said. Throughout the day, people are confronted with hundreds of situations where they could do something different, but they almost always take the same route to work.

Schwartz said the proliferation of choices also has become tangled with identity in the social media age, where everyone can easily compare their choices to others.

“When all you’ve got to choose from is Lee’s and Levi’s, nobody expects the jeans they buy to fit perfectly,” he said. “When there are 2,000 options, well, now, dammit, you do expect your jeans to fit perfectly.”

Limit your choices and move on

David Epstein said that after researching his book, “Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better,” he began to shift away from his maximalist tendencies. Now, he limits his opportunities for making choices, such as when he bought 10 of the same well-fitting T-shirts in different colors.

He was following the example of Herbert Simon, a psychologist and 1978 Nobel laureate in economics, who had three sets of clothes and ate nearly the same thing every day. Simon introduced the term “satisficing,” a combination of satisfying and sufficing that means setting good-enough criteria for decisions and moving on.

Epstein sets satisficing rules for himself when shopping online by first focusing on the purpose of the purchase.

“When I find one that does that, I’m buying it, instead of reading all the reviews and getting sucked into, ‘Well, this one has all these other features.’”

Willingham and Schwartz suggested farming out some decisions. If you’re looking for a new phone, find a friend who is happy with theirs and buy that one.

For larger decisions like financial planning, you’ll be happier if you rely on someone else’s professional expertise, Willingham said.

“If you’re thinking, ‘Well, I’m a clever guy, I can figure that out,’ I think 9 times out of 10, you’re fooling yourself,” he said.

Schwartz acknowledged that for people who have trouble making decisions, changing is difficult. But it’s worth it.

“What happens over time is you find it easier to make decisions, you end up more satisfied with the decisions you make, and all of a sudden, you’ve got an extra two hours in every day,” he said.

YouTube TV quietly expanded its channel lineup this week with several new additions.

The streaming service recently updated its official channel directory to include networks such as HBCU Go, Cars.TV, Pets.TV and TheGrio, which are all part of Allen Media Group.

HBCU Go is a network focused on historically Black colleges and universities. The channel features college sports coverage, documentaries, cultural programming and events centered around HBCU communities.

Cars.TV caters to automotive enthusiasts, while Pets.TV focuses on animal-related content. The Grio, meanwhile, provides news, entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting Black audiences.

The additions appear to be part of a growing partnership between YouTube TV and Allen Media Group, the media company founded by entrepreneur Byron Allen, who also serves as the chairman and CEO of AMG.

In May, YouTube TV renewed its carriage agreement with AMG, ensuring subscribers kept access to The Weather Channel. The agreement also kept Comedy.TV, Justice Central and Recipe.TV on streaming service.

“We are thrilled to extend our partnership with Google by continuing to provide our weather, news, comedy, court, and lifestyle networks to YouTube TV’s millions of subscribers,” Allen said in a statement at the time, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Emily Washkowitz, YouTube’s head of TV and film partnerships, added, “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Allen Media Group. Our goal is to provide a consistent and diverse lineup for our subscribers, and this renewed agreement helps us maintain that commitment.”

The channel expansion comes after YouTube TV recently began offering lower-cost, genre-specific plans, like Sports and Entertainment, alongside its $82.99-per-month base package of more than 100 channels.

Cases of a diarrhea-causing parasitic infection are rapidly rising across the U.S., forcing warnings from experts about food safety.

Cyclosporiasis is typically spread by exposure to contaminated produce and public health officials believe some of the 7,000 cases nationwide were tied to lettuce.

The best way to stay safe is to avoid foods linked to an outbreak, or heat food to 158 degrees Fahrenheit which kills the cyclospora parasite.

Vigorously and carefully washing food can also help reduce the risk. However, some foods are easier to wash than others and how you do so matters.

“While washing alone may not fully eliminate cyclospora, it enhances protection when combined with cooking or peeling,” Michigan’s health department states.

Buying food that’s prewashed does not guarantee safety, either, the department said.

Firm fruits and vegetables like melons, potatoes and cucumbers, should be scrubbed hard using a clean vegetable brush under running water. Then do a final rinse.

That can help to remove dirt and germs from the surface, according to the Indiana Department of Health.

“Even if you plan to peel produce, germs on the outside can be transferred to the inside when you cut it,” the department cautioned.

For softer produce, such as stone fruits and tomatoes, rubbing under water is the way to go.

The outer layers of leafy greens or cabbage should be separated while washing, the Food and Drug Administration says.

“Food safety rarely depends on one perfect action. It depends on several layers of protection working together,” Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert at Northeastern University, told Good Housekeeping.

Soap, bleach, detergent or other household cleaners should never be used on fresh fruits and vegetables, Penn State University warns. They are not intended for use on foods and may leave harmful residues.

These cleaning agents are unable to affect the parasite’s protective outer layer, Don Stoeckel, an environmental biologist and special projects lead at Cornell Produce Safety Alliance, told The Washington Post.

“Likewise, vinegar, baking soda and commercial produce washes have not been shown to eliminate Cyclospora from contaminated produce,” it said.

Vinegar cannot eliminate the parasite but there is some research that showed a solution of vinegar and water helped to remove it from raspberries. Though, that could be because of the swishing motion they used and the same was not seen for blueberries, which only required water.