Chewing gum? Good for you!
Did you watch The Gray Man on Netflix, which premiered in July this year, featuring Ryan Gossling as the CIA-hired-assassin Sierra Six to eliminate America’s enemies unofficially? If yes, you would have noticed his chewing gum habit and his protectee young Claire’s distaste for the same.
In case you missed The Gray Man, perhaps, you would not have missed the Oscar 1996 Oscar winner for the best film editing and best sound starring Tom Hanks-featured Apollo 13, the movie about the jinxed space shuttle released a year earlier. It has its chewing gum moment when co-astronaut Fred Haise is found to be chewing gum inside his spacesuit and asked to take it out before boarding. Unfortunately, the apparel would not enable him to perform the simple act of spit and collecting; therefore, he is forced to spit out into the hands of a technician!
The question: why one chews gum? What benefits the chewer gets from exercising the jaws non-stop? Chain smokers switch over to chewing gum to kick the smoking habit. How successful such a transfer is, I have no idea. Army folks carry chewing gum invariably to beat boredom and remain alert. Could be.
According to UK psychologists, chewing gum can improve memory. (1) Another research found that chewing softer gums led to the chewer spending 10 percent energy against 15 percent for chewing stiffer gums. (2) The researchers add that stronger teeth and jaws explain the need for higher energy expenditure. However, the energy expended in chewing is negligible overall. It is estimated that less than one percent of daily energy is on chewing all food items, including gums.
Interestingly, chewing gum offers the following benefits:
a) slim waistline
b) burn calories
c) healthy teeth
d) improve memory
e) fight drowsiness
f) reduce heartburn
g) lessen depression
h) eliminate nausea
The habit of chewing paan prevalent among Indians post-meal has scientific reasoning. Not for nothing, they chewed Banarasi paan leaves, betel nut shavings, and a touch of lime to provide all the above benefits. However, not the disgusting habit of spitting wherever they wish and dirtying the surroundings.
Ref:
(3) https://selecthealth.org/blog/2017/04/surprising-benefits-of-chewing-gum
