A pack of chewing gum is inexpensive and can make your day a little sweeter. Surprisingly, the benefits of chewing gum go far beyond the simple task of sweetening your mouth. Chewing gum can also provide you with various health benefits, making that nickel piece of gum even more of a bargain.
Here are some of the health benefits of chewing gum:
Promotion of weight loss
While chewing gum only burns around eleven calories per hour, the physical act of gum chewing may help reduce your cravings for high-calorie snacks. And it would help if you didn’t discount the calories burned from chewing gum.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that you would lose eleven pounds in a year if you chewed gum every hour you were awake during that period. Of course, the gum would need to be sugarfree to offset the calories from the added sugar.
Improves digestion
Chewing gum after a meal not only helps to improve intestinal motility, but it may also help reduce the symptoms of chronic heartburn associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
The simple act of chewing gum helps to increase saliva flow, which promotes more frequent swallowing. It helps prevent reflux of acid from the stomach into the throat.
Unfortunately, it can also cause increased air swallowing, forming gas in the intestines.
Fewer cavities
Chewing gum can reduce the cavities you experience if you chew sugarless gum. Not only does gum chewing increase saliva flow which reduces the number of cavity causing bacteria, many gums are sweetened with xylitol which has been shown to be effective in preventing dental cavities.
Stress reduction
Several small studies have shown that the rhythmic motion of chewing gum can help relieve anxiety and expend nervous energy, reducing stress symptoms. The next time you’re stressed about meeting a deadline at work, pop a piece of sugarless gum in your mouth and see if it helps to clear your head.
Tooth whitening
There are a variety of sugarless gums on the market that help to whiten and brighten the surface of your teeth. Try chewing Trident White, which has patented whitening technology to help get your teeth their whitest. It’s also a great way to refresh your mouth and breath when you don’t have time to go home and brush your teeth.
Boosts brain performance
Researchers have found that chewing improves short- and long-term memory. Lucy Wilkinson and Dr. Andrew Scholey, who carried out a study at the University of Northumbria, believe that the gentle exercise of chewing may be enough to raise a person’s heart rate and increase the flow of oxygen to the brain. Chewing may also trigger insulin release in the body, which could increase blood sugar uptake by the brain.
For the study, 75 volunteers underwent standard memory and attention tests. A third chewed gum while carrying out the tests, and a third pretended to chew. The rest did the tests without chewing. For part of the experiment, the volunteers were given a list of 15 words and asked to recall them immediately and again after 25 minutes.
The gum chewers did significantly better than the others, remembering an average of eight or nine words immediately after hearing the list. The non-chewers and “sham chewers” only remembered six or seven words. After 25 minutes, the gum chewers remembered an average of seven words, compared to five for the other groups.
So, next time you pop a piece of sugar-free chewing gum into your mouth, remember all the wonderful health benefits you’re getting. It’ll make it taste all the sweeter.
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