Chewing Gum – Benefits and Drawbacks
Thu, April 13, 2006 at 05:02AM Most kids chew gum – at least, all mine did; and some people carry on into boomerhood. A recently-discovered benefit made me wonder what the benefits of chewing gum are (apart from the taste and something to do), and what the downside is.
Chewing gum stimulates salivation, which helps neutralize the acid produced by bacteria. And it can help mental concentration (maybe). Vigorous chewing uses up 11 calories an hour, which may help weight loss, fractionally. It can be a substitute for smoking – especially nicotine-containing gum – and it’s helpful in equalizing air pressure in the middle ear when flying. Wrigley are so convinced of the benefits that they are to invest in a scientific search to provide evidence.
On the downside, too much chewing wears the enamel on the teeth, and can give you temperomandibular joint problems. Spearmint gum can stimulate stomach acid secretion, which may cause individual problems.
Now to the new finding: gum chewing has been shown to stimulate and restore bowel function after abdominal surgery; the idea is that it represents sham feeding, which in turn activates a reflex (the cephalic-vagus reflex) that encourages gastrointestinal motility.
It looks as if there are more pros than cons to chewing gum. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so hard on my kids. But there’s still the question of where to park it.
Reader Comments (23)
Help yourself. But say where you got it! Thanks,
Bob G.
however, im sorry to say that it didnt help me decide which side i'm on for my class debate....
however even though ill use some of this in my persuasive essay some of it grossed me out
hehe
:)
gonna use this for sure ill make sure to say were i got it so i dont plagiars thanks
cool article
i love gum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
gum is the best invention scince the lightbulb
gum is the worst in the world i dont know how people can eat that junk is taste really wierd and only little girls eat it
jim is somwhat not smart
gum is like eating a huge egg 3 years raw
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Wonderful post... Very informational and educational as usual!
Acai Optimum
Well, thanks for the info on this. It sort of helped I guess... I learned stuff I never knew though.
I like gum, and I'm doing the benefits of gum and how we should be allowed to chew gum in school for my persuasive essay.