Does Chewing Gum Improve Your Memory?

Are you looking for a way to improve your concentration in specific moments? Let’s say that you have a very important test coming up. Maybe, it’s a big investigation for work. Recent research shows that chewing gum while doing an activity that requires a significant degree of concentration can effectively improve your results. In the past few years, there have been plenty of experiments to test whether or not chewing gum can help your memory. The results are actually pretty promising. 

Does Chewing Gum Improve Your Memory?

The results show that it probably can improve your memory. According to psychologists at the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, UK, it certainly can. They ran an experiment that saw them test 75 adults. Out of the 75, the “gum chewers” effectively scored 24% higher on their tests than non-gum chewers. The results of this particular test are undoubtedly promising. Now, the real issue is there is no clear answer as to why chewing gum can help. Actually, other experiments show that it can improve your alertness, but not necessarily your memory. 

Chewing Gum Seems To Be More Effective at Helping You Stay Alert

As I mentioned before, there are many experiments that have done to try and figure out if chewing gum can help your memory. One of these experiments was called “Effects of chewing gum on mood, learning, memory, and performance of an intelligence test.” Like with the first example, in this experiment, there was a similar format. Different people would take a test while chewing gum while other people would take the test without it. In this particular test, the conclusion read, “The results of this study showed that chewing gum increases alertness. In contrast, no significant effects of chewing gum were observed in the memory tasks”

What Is The Difference Between “Alertness” And Improving Your Memory? 

It is hard to pinpoint precisely how you can come up with a conclusion like the one that was previously mentioned. What the testers say is that people who were chewing gum scored 10% higher on the last part of their tests compared to people who were not chewing gum. That is why the people performing this test essentially dubbed that increase “alertness.” This could be a better discovery than if they figured out gum can improve your memory. Here are a couple of the reasons why!     

It Is Better To Be Alert Than To Remember

If you were planning on starting to chew gum to be able to reminisce on the old days, I am very sorry. It is looking like there is no direct relationship between chewing gum and long-term memory improvement. That being said, it may actually be more interesting if, in fact, chewing gum can get you more alert. That would mean that chewing gum could effectively help get you through a wide variety of tasks. It can help you score higher on a test, and it can help you concentrate while you work, whether that type of work is in front of a computer or on any kind of manual labor. It just doesn’t matter.    

Why Is It That Chewing Gum Can Help You Be More Alert Or Help You Remember?

At this point in time, most experts agree that there is not enough evidence to give out a definitive conclusion. The best guess that they have right now is that chewing releases insulin. Insulin is, of course, the natural way for your body to remove glucose or excessive sugars. If the release of insulin has a connection to your brain, that could be one of the reasons why chewing gum can help your short-term memory. Another explanation is that chewing accelerates your heart rate. This can increase the blow flow to your brain and, therefore, have a positive effect on its inner workings.  

Can The Flavor Of The Gum Affect The Results?

We have all probably heard of people that say the smell or taste of something brings back memories for them. In this case, then, could that same logic apply to chewing gum? At this point, anything that can be said is just speculation. If it is true that flavors and scent can bring back memories, maybe mint or cinnamon-flavored gum can affect one person, but not the next. From the information that was gathered it seems that the effects whatever they may be are caused by chewing. 

Does This All Mean That You Can Chew Whatever You Want And Get The Same Results?

If the speculations are correct, this is probably true. You are going to be able to obtain positive effects from chewing virtually anything. Since what is potentially causing the results is the action of chewing and not precisely what you happen to be chewing at any given time. Still, it would probably not be the best idea to chew anything besides gum. You know, because you could end up hurting your teeth, gums, and everything in-between, just to get a little extra concentration. 

Will Chewing Gum Replace Coffee As Something You Consume To Be More Alert?

Could you imagine getting up in the morning and going to your drawer to find some Juicy Fruit instead of starting up the coffee pot? That would seem like something that could provide an exciting change of pace for a lot of people. It is probably not the best long-term solution to a problem, though. Although drinking excessive amounts of coffee can certainly have negative aspects, it is certainly a more relaxing way to give yourself a pick me up. I am not sure that chewing on gum for hours on end would be something pleasant. Personally, even though I like chewing gum, it can get annoying after a while, but I guess it depends on what you like or don’t like.   

Chewing Gum Seems To Be Able To Increase Your Focus In Short Intervals

Another one of the reasons why it would seem gum stores won’t be replacing Starbucks on every corner is the effects of gum. From the results, it seems that chewing gum can increase blood flow and brain activity. This is what is going to give you that advantage. If this effect was active long term, it would not be healthy at all to chew gum. Taking the SAT while chewing gum would have pretty much the same impact on your body as running the iron man race. It seems though gum can certainly be something that you can use when you just need to be fully locked in.   

Can Chewing Gum Help Increase Your Performance In Any Activity? 

Again, it seems as if this is something that is most likely true. If, in fact, chewing gum does increase blood flow and brain activity, there is no reason to think that it would not be helpful if you are trying to focus on completing any task. That is why you see many athletes chewing gum at times. The thing is, in particular, activities, there are certain risks involved if you are chewing gum while you are doing them. There have been many instances, precisely with athletes where they will start choking after swallowing the piece of gum that they had been chewing on. Chewing gum can be useful in many ways, but you may be chewing gum at your own risk at times! 

Sources

https://roguehealthandfitness.com/chewing-gum-to-lose-weight-relieve-stress-and-take-iq-tests/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19356310/