The Questionable Science of Gum Chewing

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. has created the Wrigley Science Institute, a multimillion-dollar, multi-year effort to investigate the potentially beneficial effects of gum chewing.

The company is looking for scientific proof to back up anecdotal evidence of the health value of chewing.

Wrigley has already compiled the results of preliminary research into a glossy 48-page booklet titled, "The Benefits of Chewing." Areas of research will include:

• Chewing as stress management
• Chewing as weight management
• Chewing to increase concentration, focus, and alertness

Wrigley is the world's largest gum seller, and has 63 percent of the U.S. market.

USA Today March 28, 2006

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

Wrigley is jumping on the health bandwagon, spending millions of dollars to pay for research to prove that chewing gum is good for you. The researchers are supposedly independent.

We've certainly seen that one before; they're taking the lead from the multi-national drug corporations that pay for research that is rife with massive conflict of interest and manipulated in the best medical journals in the world to deceive and influence medical professionals and consumers.

Let's get this one straight folks. This is not rocket science. Chewing gum is NOT healthy for you. Never was, never will be, no matter how many millions or hundreds of millions of dollars is spent on research by potentially corrupted and conflicted independent researchers.

Why?

Quite simply, you were never designed to be constantly chewing . There are some very sophisticated neurological mechanisms in chewing that every medical student is taught in basic physiology class.

When you chew, your brain sends a signal to your stomach to start producing digestive elements, like acid and digestive enzymes, in preparation for what it believes to be food coming down that needs digestive attention.

When you fool your body by chewing without food you create a potential physiological nightmare that can easily lead to a variety of digestive dysfunctions, like acid reflux ulcers and bruxism (teeth grinding and clinching).

This chewing dysfunction does not even address the problem with  the sweeteners and chemicals used in gum , which typically have their own adverse consequences.

No folks, let's get this one straight up front before the research is done. It doesn't matter what their studies show, you can predict with virtual certainty that these studies will be fatally flawed and seek to sell more of the product Wrigley seeks to promote.

Chewing gum is not healthy for you. Chewing it occasionally will not likely result in any serious problems, but a steady diet of gum chewing is in no way, shape or form going to improve your health, and can only worsen it.