Not all chewing gum is made equal—choose sugar-free gum for maximum benefit, especially when it comes to the effects on your mouth and teeth.
As Healthline describes, chewing sugar-free gum may have a variety of benefits not only for your mouth and teeth, but also for your overall health.
Like any sugary substance, gum that contains significant amounts of sugar can increase the unhealthy bacteria in your mouth. This can lead to a large amount of plaque build-up on your teeth and overtime can cause damage to your teeth (such as tooth decay).
So, now that you've decided to choose sugar-free gum, note that chewing gum can help reduce bad breath and increasing saliva flow. Thus, having a stick of sugar-free chewing gum after a meal will both work to prevent bad breath, as well as help wash away sugar and other food debris.
Other Potential Benefits To Overall Health
Studies have demonstrated that stress reduction and improved memory may be linked to chewing gum. Although the reasons for these connections are not entirely clear, researchers point to some likely possible reasons.
Chewing gum while performing a task may assist a variety of brain functions. Regarding the memory function specifically, this connection might be the result of increased blood flow to the brain.
Similarly, the physical action of chewing might be the reason for stress reduction as a result of chewing gum.
Notably, and likely as a result of this same line of thinking, some people find chewing gum helpful in kicking their smoking habits.
Chewing gum could also be a helpful for weight loss. While the ingredients of gum itself does not boost weight loss, a person’s weight loss goals might benefit from choosing chewing gum to satisfy a sweet tooth, as opposed to a different more decadent, calorie-heavy option.
It has yet to be determined if chewing gum speeds up metabolic rate, or if chewing gum causes decreased appetite. Yet, some studies show evidence of these benefits.
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