Health Benefits of Chewing Gum, why do we eat Chewing Gum

Health Benefits of Chewing Gum

If you have a habit of popping a chewing gum in your mouth after a meal or when you’re bored, then you’ll be glad to know that surprising health benefits of chewing gum are now being discovered. Read on to learn why chewing gum might actually be good for you.

1. Reduces Stress and Tension
Chewing gum can help you fight stress and anxiety. Research has shown that students who chew gum during exams tend to be more alert and focused. This is because gum helps you cope with the stress that is often associated with tests. Stress is not the only negative emotion that chewing gum can help you through. Whenever you feel irritated or frustrated, you might find that chewing gum can help you relax.

2.Protects Teeth
The American Dental Association recommends chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes after meals, since it's been proven to reduce plaque, promote tooth enamel, reduce cavities, and reduce gingivitis. The reason has to do with increasing saliva flow, which reduces acid on your teeth that causes decay. Just make sure your gum is sugarless, as sugar-containing gums can actually add to acid build-up. Look for gums with xylitol too, which can reduce decay-causing bacteria. Finally, be mindful of sorbitol, which can cause GI discomfort if ingested in extremely large doses.

3. Improves Oral Health
You were probably told when you were little that sweets and candy can rot your teeth. However, chewing gum might just do the opposite. If you tend to suffer from oral health problems like bad breath or gum infection, you might want to chew some gum to relieve these symptoms. When you chew gum, your saliva production is also stimulated. If you didn’t know already, saliva is the most important factor when it comes to maintaining good oral health. Saliva has antibacterial properties and can help flush out food debris, remaining sugars and other harmful acids in your mouth. Sugarfree gum has also been found to be effective in protecting the enamel of your teeth. In fact, chewing on some sugar-free gum after meals can lessen your tooth cavities.

4.Combats Stress and Anxiety
Anecdotally, I find chewing gum can help relieve nervous energy and make me feel calmer. Apparently chomping on some gum can be a great substitute for nervous habits, like nail biting and leg shaking, when feeling stressed. This is backed up by studies, which show that gum chewing helped reduce the stress hormone, cortisol, in many test subjects.

5. Boosts Mental Power
Chewing gum boosts brain activity in several ways. For instance, psychologists have discovered that chewing gum can help you enhance your memory. An experiment was conducted where two groups of people took the same examination. One group was given gum to chew while the other was not. Results showed that the gum-chewing group got higher test scores. This boost in memory might be linked to the chewing motion of the jaw. When you chew gum, your hippocampus becomes stimulated. The hippocampus is the part of the brain which plays a major role in memory. Aside from boosting your memory, chewing gum also encourages more blood flow to the brain. When you chew gum, your heart rate increases and more oxygen is delivered to your brain area.

6. Improves Eating Habits
While chewing sugar-free gum won't automatically melt pounds, popping some low-calorie sticks can have a beneficial effect towards eating better. Studies show that chewing gum can help ward off some food cravings and make you consume less. The biggest benefit comes from those who reach for a stick of gum instead of reaching for a caloric sweet snack between meals. Also, popping some gum right at the end of a meal, while watching TV, or when other mindless nibbling occurs, can save calories.