By Gaelle Hachem
Chewing gum is one of those everyday habits that almost everyone around the world recognizes and does without much thought. Most of us frequently use gum as a quick and easy way to freshen our breath. However, this simple activity is much more than that! Surprisingly, it turns out to be a multifaceted tool with many positive influences and a wide range of interesting benefits that extend into various aspects of human life, including our cognitive health, as well as our mental and physical well-being.
Various studies have shown that chewing gum can boosts our memory, but how does that happen exactly?
Andrew Scholey, a British psychologist, states that there are tentative explanations. He refers to recent research studies and suggests that there could possibly be a connection between insulin receptors in the hippocampus and memory. The hippocampus is a crucial area in our brain that plays a significant role in converting information from our short-term to our long-term memory; it is also involved in navigation and spatial memory, which helps us remember locations, like where we parked our car, for example. Scholey speculates that the release of insulin during mastication, stimulated by the body’s anticipation of food, might be linked to memory function. Therefore, as we chew gum, insulin is secreted and binds to its receptors in the hippocampus, thus boosting our memory. Yet, he insists that this remains a speculative hypothesis.
Alternatively, he presents a more straightforward explanation that could exist. Scholey highlights a significant finding from the study he conducted: chewing led to an increased heart rate. He explains that as our heart beats faster, blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain are boosted which could be beneficial for its proper functioning and can work as a “cognitive enhancer” to a certain extent (Young, 2002).
Additionally, chewing gum can be a useful tool to fight stress and anxiety. In a study conducted by Smith et al. (2018), 101 volunteers were set in the “no gum” condition, where they were not allowed to chew gum, and then in the “gum” condition, where they were instructed to chew at least twice daily for 20 minutes, as well as whenever they were experiencing stress. The results, based on the participants’ answers, showed a connection between chewing gum and reduced stress levels. A more positive mood and mental well-being were recorded especially in participants who engaged in more frequent gum-chewing. In another study conducted by Scholey et al. (2009), 40 participants were put under stressful conditions using a multi-platform task designed to escalate cognitive workload. Participants were asked to complete the tasks both while chewing and without chewing. Interestingly, the results showed that salivary levels of cortisol, widely known as the “stress hormone”, were lower in gum chewers than in non-gum chewers, providing concrete and physiological evidence of the stress-reducing impact associated with chewing gum.
Moreover, chewing gum can help us control our appetite. The act of masticating, even without any odor or flavor involved, can effectively make us feel less hungry and less fixated on food. Thus, it seems like just chewing gum might impact the part of our brain that controls rewards, by acting as a distraction and helping us resist the urge to eat impulsively (Ikeda et al., 2018). But that’s not all! Not only does chewing gum help us limit our calorie intake, but it also burns around 11 calories per hour. Of course, this is nothing compared to the amount of calories burnt during a workout, but it’s still a good and easy way to passively burn some extra calories with minimal to zero effort.
Lastly, chewing gum is actually beneficial for our oral health, unlike what most of us believe. According to the American Dental Association, scientific studies have demonstrated that chewing sugar free gum for 20 minutes after having a meal can be effective in preventing tooth decay. This is because chewing sugarless gum promotes increased saliva production, which helps rinse away any remaining food particles, neutralizes acids produced by mouth bacteria, and distributes beneficial substances across the oral cavity like calcium and phosphate, which contribute to the fortification of the tooth enamel.
As university students, we all go through some common situations, regardless of our major: we all need to memorize some concepts, pathways, or technical words; we all stress out and often panic over exams and deadlines; we all sometimes end up binge eating and then feel guilty about it; we all end up burnt out and forget to properly take care of our health. Chewing gum can be helpful in such situations! Yet, let’s not forget that a piece of gum can never be the solution to any problem. While gum is definitely a sweet ally, it’s not a magic wand for life’s challenges. For the bigger and tougher moments, remember that life’s sweetness is best enjoyed with a dash of professional support when needed!
References
Chewing Gum. (n.d.). MouthHealthy. Retrieved December 27, 2023, from https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/chewing-gum/
Ikeda, A., Miyamoto, J. J., Usui, N., Taira, M., & Moriyama, K. (2018). Chewing Stimulation Reduces Appetite Ratings and Attentional Bias toward Visual Food Stimuli in Healthy-Weight Individuals. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 99. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00099
Scholey, A., Haskell, C., Robertson, B., Kennedy, D., Milne, A., & Wetherell, M. (2009). Chewing gum alleviates negative mood and reduces cortisol during acute laboratory psychological stress. Physiology & behavior, 97(3-4), 304–312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2009.02.028
Smith, A. P., Chaplin, K., & Wadsworth, E. (2012). Chewing gum, occupational stress, work performance and wellbeing. An intervention study. Appetite, 58(3), 1083–1086. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2012.02.052
Young, E. (2002, March 13). Chewing gum improves memory. New Scientist. Retrieved December 27, 2023, from https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2039-chewing-gum-improves-memory/