How Chewing Gum affects your Memory

Table of Contents

1. 🔬 The Study That Started It All

2. 🧠 What’s Happening Inside Your Brain?

3. 📈 Gum in Real Life: Does It Actually Help?

4. ⏱️ Timing Is Everything

5. 🍬 Flavor Matters

6. 😬 When Gum Makes You Dumber

7. 🧠 Study Hack or Overhyped?

8. So… Should You Use Gum to Boost Memory?

9. Sources

🔬 The Study That Started It All

📚 Researchers gave memory tests to students. Half-chewed gum, and half didn’t…

The result:

🔹 The gum group scored 24% higher on immediate recall
🔹 And 36% better on delayed recall

The experiment went viral. Suddenly, gum wasn’t just a snack, it was a study hack.

I remember finding this study back in uni and thinking, no way is Orbit giving me Einstein powers. But the data was real, and more researchers got interested…

What if something this simple could actually make your brain work better?

The obsession began…

🧠 What’s Happening Inside Your Brain?

So, why does chewing gum actually do anything?

🔹 More blood to your brain - Chewing increases cerebral blood flow, especially in the prefrontal cortex (that’s your memory HQ). More blood = more oxygen and glucose = sharper brain.

🔹 Boosts alertness - Your heart rate slightly goes up when you chew, like a mini workout for your brain. EEG scans show a spike in alpha and beta waves, those linked to focus and alertness.

🔹 Lights up key areas - fMRI scans show activation in your hippocampus and middle frontal gyrus, regions tied to learning and memory.

Some scientists also think chewing releases insulin (even without food), which may activate memory pathways in the brain.

Chew gum, pump blood, light up neurons…

📈 Gum in Real Life: Does It Actually Help?

Researchers tested this in actual schools. Not labs, but real classrooms.

🔹 8th graders who chewed gum during math class scored 3% higher on standardized tests.
🔹 Nursing students who chewed gum for 2 weeks before exams did way better than those who didn’t.

Even a small bump in grades can matter when you're trying to pass finals or get into uni.

⏱️ Timing Is Everything

Turns out, when you chew gum matters more than you think.

🔹 Chewing before a task? ✅ Boosts focus and memory for 15–20 minutes.
🔹 Chewing during a task? ❌ Hurts performance (your brain’s busy multitasking).

One study found that people who chewed before a memory test recalled up to 50% more.

But if they kept chewing while doing the test? Their scores dropped.

Chew first. Then think.

🍬 Flavor Matters

Not all gum is created equal.

🔹 Mint-flavored gum showed the strongest brain benefits in studies.
🔹 Flavorless gum - Slight boost, but nothing crazy.

Why? Strong flavors light up more brain areas, especially ones tied to attention and sensory memory.

Plus, chewing minty gum while studying and again before the test may give you a little bonus from context-dependent memory. Same smell = better recall.

😬 When Gum Makes You Dumber

Yeah... chewing gum doesn’t always help.

One study found that gum actually hurts short-term memory, especially for things like remembering lists, sequences, or the order of letters.

🔹 People forgot the order of letters more often while chewing
🔹 Some even missed items entirely

Researchers think it’s because chewing is a rhythmic, repetitive motion, like finger tapping. That movement seems to interfere with working memory, especially for tasks that need focus on exact details in a specific order.

So if your task is “remember 10 words in this order”... maybe spit the gum out first 💀

🧠 Study Hack or Overhyped?

You might’ve heard this trick:

Chew the same gum while studying and again during the test for better recall.

It’s based on a real concept called context-dependent memory. Basically, your brain uses sensory cues (like taste or smell) as memory triggers.

And yeah, some studies found small benefits… But others found nothing at all.

Mixed results.

Here’s what I do:
🔹 I chew mint gum while studying
🔹 chew before an exam (not during!)

even a tiny boost is worth it when you're running on stress and no sleep 😵‍💫

So… Should You Use Gum to Boost Memory?

If you're expecting chewing gum to turn you into Einstein… sorry, it won’t.

But if you use it right, it can give you a small edge when it counts.

Here’s how to get the most out of it:

🔹 Chew mint gum for 5–10 mins before studying or a test
Sharpens focus, increases blood flow, and boosts recall just enough to make a difference.

🔹 Don’t chew during the task
Studies show it distracts your brain. Think of it like warming up, then stopping.

🔹 Use it for short bursts
Perfect for a 15–20 minute study sprint, reading, or review session.

🔹 Pair it with rituals
Same gum, same playlist, same desk. Helps build focus faster through repetition and environmental cues.

It’s not a miracle, but it costs $1, it’s simple, and might just be the brain hack you need when you’re cramming last minute…

Sources

🔸 Wilkinson et al. (2002) “Chewing gum selectively improves aspects of memory”
🔸 New Scientist coverage of Scholey’s study
🔸 Onyper et al. (2011) “Chewing gum helps test takers”
🔸 Johnston et al. (2011) 8th-grader math performance (Journal of Adolescence)
🔸 Yaman-Sözbir et al. (2019) Nursing students’ academic success
🔸 Onozuka et al. (2003) fMRI study of mastication and cognition
🔸 Momose et al. (1997) PET study of cerebral blood flow during chewing
🔸 Kozlov et al. (2012) Chewing gum impairs short-term serial recall
🔸 Baker et al. (2004) Context-dependent learning with mint gum
🔸 Kozlov & Miles (2008) Failed replications of flavor context effects
🔸 Smith et al. (2019) Meta-analysis on chewing gum and sustained attention
🔸 Core overview of gum chewing and cognition