If you’re an avid cricket fan, you’ve most likely spotted Melbourne Renegades captain and retiring Australian T20 skipper Aaron Finch giving his mouth a constant workout, masticating his chewing gum vigorously as he bats or marshals his troops.
Just looking at how hard he goes at it makes my jaw feel tired, but the latest scientific research suggests he might be getting previously unrecognised benefits from his energetic chomping – and quite possibly even staving of dementia.
Dentists have for years promoted the idea of chewing sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production, which helps maintain the health of your teeth and gums.
But it turns out that the act of chewing does much more than that, courtesy of direct signals to your brain. The stronger your chewing, the stronger the blood flow to your brain, which leads to greater oxygen intake. This, in turn, stimulates brain function.
Read: Is avoiding dementia as simple as brushing your teeth?
In particular, the chewing has a positive effect of your brain’s hippocampus by staving off the the production of stress hormones called glucocorticoids. These are not good hormones, as their production impairs your ability to both acquire and process information.
Your hippocampus plays a vital role in memory function, both short and long term, and research has revealed a clear link between an inability to chew properly and the loss of that function.
What’s more, poor chewing has also been associated with an increased risk of developing dementia.
One of the key factors in not being able to chew properly is a lack of teeth. A loss of one of or two of the 32 teeth most adults have is unlikely to lead to any chewing irregularities. It’s when the number of missing teeth gets into double figures that the risk increases.
Read: Forgetfulness or dementia? How much memory loss is normal as you age?
Clare Collins, laureate professor in nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newastle, says we need at least 20 teeth to maintain healthy chewing, and at least nine pairs of teeth need to be making contact during the act of chewing.
Aaron Finch is almost certainly not thinking about preventing dementia as he madly chews away on the cricket oval, but he might be trying to lower his stress levels, and the science supports this notion.
No fewer than eight research trials, which included more than 400 adults, have found that chewing gum more often – compared to never chewing gum – resulted in a significant reduction in anxiety.
Read: Ten ways you’re brushing your teeth wrong
Having said that, Finch generally has a relaxed demeanour in any case. Rather than easing stress levels, he might find that his gum chewing helps him think more clearly and make better decisions in the heat of cricket battle.
The science backs up this hypothesis, too. Analysis of a further eight studies indicated that chewing resulted in a small improvement in levels of sustained attention, with improved ability to maintain alertness during mentally demanding tasks in the group given gum to chew.
Are you a gum chewer? Have you found it beneficial? In what way? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
