BENEFITS AND SIDE EFFECTS OF CHEWING GUM

Does chewing gum, the sweet and tasty treat, cause more beneficial or harmful effects? We see commercials on TV every day, but have you ever wondered about their credibility? In this article, we’ll explore and explain the harm of what seems like a harmless product.

The history of chewing gum goes back many years, but then gum was very different, both in taste, appearance, and the effect it had on the human body. More than 1,000 years ago, ancient people chewed conifer resin, which cleaned their teeth, and to which they later began adding beeswax. In 1848, chewing gum started being sold in Maine and became one of the most popular products of the time.

Today chewing gum is still a favorite product among the world's population and many people can’t imagine a day without it, the most ardent fans being children. That’s why gum has become a hot topic among doctors and scientists.

Chewing gum has repeatedly changed its composition, as producers haven’t come up with the perfect recipe: 20% latex, 60% sugar, the rest - chemical additives, dyes, giving it color and flavor.

The gum base is a styrene-butadiene rubber, a substance that is used to produce shoe soles and automobile tires, or polyvinyl acetate (aka PVA glue). But the major difference is that emulsifiers (E421, E422, and E951) are added to improve the plastic properties.

E421 (mannitol) is a material used to manufacture paints, varnishes and add our favorite gum. The emulsifier causes diarrhea and has a detrimental effect on the teeth. It’s used as a sweetener.

E951 (aspartame) is a carcinogen that affects the entire nervous system, leading to emotional disorders and also causes headaches.

E422 (glycerol) is a preservative that can cause blood disorders like haemoglobinuria.

It is worth remembering how prolonged gum chewing affects the gastrointestinal tract. When a person makes a chewing motion, gastric juice is produced, that is, the body is preparing to digest food. If we chew, and no food enters the stomach, the gastric juice begins to eat away at the stomach’s lining, giving rise to gastrointestinal diseases like gastritis, ulcers, duodenitis and cholecystitis.

Scientists have found that chewing gum can cause a strong psychological dependence, especially among people that like fresh breath and don’t feel confident without it.

So do we really have to permanently give up chewing gum? Not at all! If you use it correctly, it can be beneficial (it cleans the surface of the teeth from remnants of food and improves digestion). There’s only one basic rule to remember – chew gum for 10 minutes after a meal, but no longer than that, otherwise instead of being beneficial it will cause side effects.

The history of chewing gum isn’t over yet, and in the future we will be able to learn many interesting things about it.

By Dr. Iryna Todoryuk, BiMedis Company