Is chewing gum actually good for you?

YOU'RE meant to chew it after every meal, but rumour has it that if you swallow gum it gets stuck to your insides and takes seven years to digest. So is chewing gum actually good for you - and do I really have seven years of gum stuck in my belly?

chewing gum

YOU'RE meant to chew it after every meal, but rumour has it that if you swallow gum it gets stuck to your insides and takes seven years to digest. So is chewing gum actually good for you - and do I really have seven years of gum stuck in my belly?

Well, first thing's first - let's debunk the myth. If you swallow your gum, it's not going to be growing on the walls of your stomach for years on end. It is true that the gum base of chewing gum is pretty indigestible, but your digestive system is smarter than that. Your gut will keep moving the chewing gum along, pushing it through your intestines until it comes out of your body around two days later.

Now that doesn't mean you should go swallowing a huge mouthful of gum in one hit - this can still clog you up, as it's too much for your digestive system to deal with all at once, no matter how smart it is. But if you do happen to swallow your gum every now and then, you needn't worry - it will find its way out in a matter of days.

So now we've got that sorted, is chewing gum good for you in the first place?

It's a well known fact that chewing gum after eating increases the production of saliva. But why is this good? Saliva helps to neutralise plaque acid, which attacks the protective surface of your teeth and weakens it, leading to decay over time. Plaque acid is stimulated after eating, and sweet, sticky foods are the worst culprits. Chewing gum helps to balance the acid in your mouth out, preventing tooth decay - which also happens to be the most common health condition in Australia.

Chewing gum also helps to wash away food particles and remineralise tooth enamel to strengthen teeth. But the gum you chew must be sugarfree - there is no benefit to chewing sugar for 20 minutes: it's just like sucking on a lolly and does nothing for your teeth. If you want something sweet rather than minty, check out Extra Active's range of flavours.

Japanese research published in the journal Brain and Cognition earlier this year also found that eight areas of the brain are affected by the simple act of chewing, including alertness.

Volunteers carried out tasks for 30 minutes while chewing and not chewing gum as their brains were scanned to see which areas were active. They were required to press a button with their right or left thumb in response to the direction of an arrow on a screen.

Men and women who were not chewing took 545 milliseconds to react, but those who were chewing took just 493 milliseconds. The test showed that the most active brain regions during chewing were movement and attention regions.

"Our results suggest that chewing induced an increase in the arousal level and alertness in addition to an effect on motor control and, as a consequence, these effects could lead to improvements in cognitive performance," the researchers from the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan said.

Healthy dental practises like brushing twice a day and flossing are still essential.