Chewing gum: good or bad

I have a silly question:

I remember when I was a child, I heard that it is not good to chew gum when you are hungry, because it makes stomach release juices and it is not good for you. I just wondred if it is one more of those urban legends or it is really true. I like gume because it makes me busy and I am  not hungry when I chew it (I get hungry after though).

Any thoughts or ideas on that? Thanks

it's true for me.  chewing gum makes me nauseous.

I love chewing gum! I only chew sugar-free stuff though. It gets me through those tough hunger times, like around 3:00 and after dinner and stuff like that. It sometimes makes my head and jaw hurt though from all the chewing.

I'm not sure about "releasing juices" but a lot of people find that chewing gum takes the edge off of hunger--I think it quells kind of an oral fixation.

I've heard that chewing gum is actually bad if you are dieting. It tricks your stomache to think there is food in your mouth, and gets dissapointed when nothing goes in it, so you end up feeling more hungry because of it. One theory of many!

OMG I love gum, sugarfree of course, I dont think my diet would go half as well without it, I go through 3 packs a day, I just find that if im craving something sweet or even out of boredom rather than reaching for food, I can just have some gum, it relaxs me, i think they are like cigarettes to me, (dont smoke and never have but i imagine its the same kind of feeling as smokers get). kinda worried about my teeth though..

My dentist told me that chewing (sugar-free) gum is actually good for your teeth, because it makes you produce more saliva which helps clean them. 

I love personally, but I do worry that I can get through a whole massive pack pretty quickly, and even sugar-free gum has calories.  I don't log them either, which I probably should. 

Chewing gum is great. I chew probably 2-3 pieces a day. It keeps my mouth busy. I always go for sugarfree though. Gum has normally less than 5 calories, and you can burn up to 80 extra calories just chewing gum for an hour. So it's beneficial in my opinion.

OMG! I love chewing gum! I think I would go crazy without it.  I only chew sugarfree and I usually chew a pack a day.  I chew it at work to prevent snacking on evil foods, and I always chew a piece after I eat if I can't brush my teeth because it helps prevent build up of plaque and helps keep your teeth shiny white! I don't think it makes me feel hungry though.  To me, hunger is kind of a mind game because sometimes even when I am not hungry at all, I will see someone eating something tastey and think I am hungry..but then I remind myself I am not..so I chew some gum instead! :)

It can be good or bad...

It can increase the amount of, uh, gas that you pass, because you swallow a lot more tiny air bubbles that make their way through, and if you have any jaw problems (TMJ issues, clenching or griding at night, etc.) it can make your jaw sore.

On the other hand, for people without those problems, it can help to chew sugar-free gum when you can't brush your teeth after lunch, and some people think it curbs their appetite.

I decided to quit that addiction.  I usually chew 2 packs a day but I noticed the more I chewed the angrier I was.  weird.  Even my mom said it was a result of the gum chewing now I chew 4 pieces d ay  =)

So Its okay sometimes.

Original Post by kat0386:

It tricks your stomache to think there is food in your mouth, and gets dissapointed when nothing goes in it, so you end up feeling more hungry because of it. One theory of many!

The stomach can't "think" anything.  Not that I place much stock in the theory, but the brain might associate the chewing with ingestion of food, and make you think you're hungry.

However, this has never occurred with me.  Chewing gum helps me fight off hunger, and I always make a point to chew some when I'm cooking or around a bunch of undesirable snack food to keep me from munching.

According to The Mayo Clinic (and many other Google-able sources), chewing gum increases metabolism slightly and would result in burning an additional 11 calories/hour (*not 80*), which is still negligible, given 3-5 kcal/piece of sugar-free gum X 1-2 pieces = a "boost" of 6 to 8 kcal extra per full hour that you chew the gum. The biggest boost is probably in the replacement value for whatever you might have eaten instead.

Per the gastric-juices induction idea: My son had wisdom teeth out today, and the anesthesia sheet instructs not to chew gum because "doing so stimulates the release of gastric juices, which still poses a risk for surgery."

I don't think it has anything to do with the stomach "thinking" -- more about the body responding to environmental and physiological stimuli and the ensuing chemical and digestive reactions. My guess is that the gum prompts initiation of the digestive process, but once there is no arrival of food on which enzymes would need to act, the body shuts the spigots off -- a default mechanism that would keep your stomach from bathing itself in an overload of secretions and requiring the gum-chewers of the world to continually pop acid-reducers.

Beware of multiple-pack-a-day indulgence, however. Also according to Mayo publications, as little as 20-50 grams of sugar-alcohols (mannitol, sorbitol, maltilol, etc.), can cause diarrhea in sensitive individuals. Even if you aren't sensitive, if you chew enough on a regular-enough basis, the residual sugar-alcohols that haven't made their way through your lower GI tract can still "gang up" to cause bloating, cramps and diarrhea.

I recently read in my SELF magazine that chewing gum causes you to swallow air and can make your tummy bloated!

And in response to the stomach releasing gases, I have also heard that chewing gum "tricks" your brain into thinking your chewing food, and it actually supresses the hunger signals sent through your body!

I think it just depends on the person though..

One lady I used to work with once ate a bunch of sugar free cough drops and they gave her diarrhea, although I ate an entire box of sugar free cookies once and didn't have a problem. lol.

Chewing gum doesn't affect all people the same. It's the same thing as foods don't affect all people the same. Yes, there are general guide-lines, etc etc. But the question you should ask yourself is whether munching it affects you negatively.

If it makes you eat more, then forget it exists. If it stops the high calorie munchies at 3pm/ midnight, whatever, then make sure u have some.. sugar free of course.

i think the key here is to know what works for YOU.

I have seen someone on here say that Gum is nutrient deficient, and that it is a 'horrible habit'. Sugar-Free gum only has about 3-5 calories per piece, and even a pack of Stride a day has only 49 calories. If you burn 80 from an hour for chewing, then you have the gum worked off, and you shouldn't have to log it. i am pretty sure they don't have 'gum chewing' under activities, also. Ha ha...

Gum also can help you keep your teeth clean, and I often forget to brush my teeth in the morning, so I chew gum on the bus. It makes my breath smell fresh and minty.

At night, I often have the 'binge mood' where I feel like eating, even though I am full from dinner. Gum lets me have that chewing feeling that I enjoy.

Sorry for the rant- I hope you get my point: Gum is not bad.

 

Original Post by carolally:

OMG I love gum, sugarfree of course, I dont think my diet would go half as well without it, I go through 3 packs a day, I just find that if im craving something sweet or even out of boredom rather than reaching for food, I can just have some gum, it relaxs me, i think they are like cigarettes to me, (dont smoke and never have but i imagine its the same kind of feeling as smokers get). kinda worried about my teeth though..

 3 packs of gum a day?! That is an awful lot of phenylalanine...you should find some organic gum if you chew that much of it.

oh no, whats phenylalanine? It says on the packet excessive consumption may result in laxative effects, but i really dont have that problem, quite the opposite unfortunately

If it works for you and you like it.. keep it up. Nothing wrong with it.

Also, just about everything gets your stomach juices flowing: thinking about food, smelling it, looking at pictures, etc. No harm in that either.. it's natural.

I recently started having a hot cup of tea in the afternoon. I think the Brits have the right idea. The hot liquid helps keeps me feeling satisfied til din-din.

Also on the liquid side.. Some days I'll have diet tonic with a lil lime and ice. I found the bitter helps curb appetite.

Hope that helps!