Recently the candy brand Mars has been marketing a new chewing gum that can help you concentrate. This gum is said to have brain health-enhancing ingredients in it. So, does chewing gum actually affect your mental health?
Research says that chewing gum helps you focus more in school or at work and reduce stress. Connections have been found between chewing and using your teeth and the brain. This connection is what causes more productivity and relieves stress. Chewing efficiently is directly related to how many teeth you have. You need at least nine to ten pairs of teeth to make contact so that you can chew properly.
The hippocampus area of your brain is what helps you remember the little things like where you kept your keys or recalling addresses, etc. Not being able to chew properly, due to teeth loss or gum problems can in turn affect the production of stress hormones called glucocorticoids produced by the hippocampus. This slows down your ability to acquire and process information.
Chewing gum increases alertness and cognitive function as the more strongly you chew, the more blood flows to your brain and this leads to more oxygen and more neural activity in the particular areas of the brain that are linked to productivity, recalling, learning, and memory.
Sanam Hafeez, Neuropsychologist
Sanam Hafeez, a New York based neuropsychologist and the director of Comprehend the Mind has told Yahoo Life that chewing gum increases alertness and cognitive function as the more strongly you chew, the more blood flows to your brains and this leads to more oxygen and more neural activity in the particular areas of the brain that are linked to productivity, recalling, learning, and memory.
Chewing gum is an inexpensive and effective way to relieve stress and increase attention span. Gum is also known as a 'mouth fidget spinner' due to its anxiety and stress alleviating abilities. The exact mechanism behind this is unknown but Jessica Plonchak, a clinical social worked told Yahoo Life that it's all about 'mastication-induced arousal' which means that when one is chewing continuously, it stimulates the nerve cells and helps you concentrate more on what you're doing.
Here are a few examples of studies conducted to test the effectiveness of chewing gum:
A review article published by PubMed under NIH (National Institutes of Health) shows the data collected from eight research trials which had 400+ participants, the ones chewing gum were seen to have a significant reduction in anxiety. Another meta analysis published by PubMed which comprised of more than five intervention studies showed that the group chewing gum had a higher attention span for mentally demanding tasks so this proved that they had a better ability to remain alert throughout those tasks than the group not chewing gum.
In 2019, a randomized interventional trial study was conducted among nursing students by Turkish universities to see if chewing gum helps reduce exam stress. Three groups were made. One group consisted of nursing students eating sugarless chewing gum for at least 30 mins/day for 19 days, one group was made to chew gum for 7 days and other control group did not chew gum at all. The results showed that the 2 groups which chewed gum showed significantly lower signs of depression, anxiety and stress and were seen to have much better exam scores than the control group. Although, this study didn't see find any difference in the attention span of all 3 groups.
PRO TIP- To reduce chances of dental plaque or tooth decay, opt for sugarless chewing gums!!
Chewing gum also comes with its set of cons cause overdoing it can lead to some health issues. According to the Cleveland Clinic, excessive gum chewing causes a lot of stress on your jaw muscles and also the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which connects your lower jaw to your skull. Chewing gum also affects your GI system causing you to swallow air and causes bloating and gas. While some gums have a huge amount of sugar in them, some sugarless gums also have artificial sweeteners added in them like sorbitol, aspartame as well as sugar alcohols like xylitol. This is very unhealthy for your body and can cause bloating and diarrhea as well. People with misophonia i.e. those who hate the sound of chewing would absolutely loathe if someone keeps chewing gum at workplace or school. Even though people use it to increase their attention span, constant chewing can also be quite distracting, annoying and socially inappropriate.
(Input from various sources)
(Rehash/Aditi Madathingal/MSM)
