chewing gum mania

Did you know that one of the benefits of chewing gum is that you might actually cut the urge to snack? This was the finding according to some recent gum manufacturer funded research.

The experiment involved offering people a variety of snacks three hours after a regular lunch (a sandwich) and encouraging the subjects to eat as much as they wanted.

One of the afternoons during the study, the participants were told to chew Extra sugarless gum for 15 minutes in each of the three hours between lunch and the snack time. Other afternoons no gum chewing was allowed during this time.

The researchers found that those who chewed gum ate fewer snacks and shaved 40 calories off their in between meal snacking, compared to times when they hadn't been chewing gum.

The subjects - 115 men and women aged 18 to 54, all regular gum chewers, reported that they didn't feel as hungry or have the same urge for a sweet after chewing the gum.

Energy levels remained good, and there was less drowsiness at the mid afternoon snack time than on the afternoons when they didn't chew the gum.

"Overall, this research demonstrates the potential role chewing gum can play in appetite control, reduction of snack cravings and weight management," Geiselman explains in a news release from the sponsors of the conference.

"Even small changes in calories can have an impact in the long term. And, this research supports the role of chewing gum as an easy, practical tool for managing snack, especially sweet snack, intake and cravings."

But, before you go out and stock up on sugarless gum as a diet aid... it's important to understand that the study was sponsored by the Wrigley Science Institute, part of the company that produces chewing gum.

Wrigley is one of two companies (the other being Cadbury) that accounts for just over 60% of the gum market share in the world. It was Wrigley's Extra that was used in the study.

And while this type of gum doesn't have sugar it gets it's sweetness from artificial sweeteners that aren't without potential side effects.

Sorbitol, the sweetener in Extra and other gums (as well as in diet drinks and ice cream) can act as a laxative.

An incredibly small study conducted by German researchers and appearing last year in the British Medical Journal found that too much sorbitol could case chronic diarrhea, stomach troubles and unintended weight loss.

The two subjects who participated in this work took in 18 grams of sorbitol a day - a stick of gum has about 1.25g of the sweetener.

Other research on artificial sweeteners (using rats) suggests that these substances might confuse the body's ability to regulate food intake, causing weight gain for some.

It seems the artificial sweeteners might have the body expecting more food on the way, pushing you to eat more, this according to work last year by a Purdue University team - Susan Swithers and Terry Davidson.

So the benefits of chewing gum might prove helpful to some it's not anything magic.

The best approach to managing your weight is to eat a variety of good, healthy foods in moderation and stay away from sweets, calorie-laden junk foods and sodas.

Regular exercise is key, as is getting enough sleep so that your body is rested and ready to go each day.

One of the problems with being overweight is that your face looks chubby. You sometimes feel that you look like a little teddy bear. The beautiful contours of your face simply look like a round ball. It is just depressing to look into the mirror. Well now is the time to snap out of that depression and chew your way to victory.
Can chewing gum really help you to lose that facial fat? The answer is yes! Here are 5 ways it can help you.

• Exercising your facial muscles: chewing gum exercises those facial muscles and yes this can help you to get rid of the flab and get a more chiseled look. It develops your jaw muscles and exercises your cheek muscles as well.
• Increase saliva and speed up digestion: chewing gum will increase your saliva this will help your digestion. In turn this will help to speed up your metabolism and help you burn more overall fat. When you lose weight one of the first places you will notice the change is in fact your face. So when you get your body into shape your face will lose that fat as well.
• Helps you to eat less: chewing gum helps to stop hunger pangs and will encourage you to eat less. This in turn will help you to lose weight overall.
• Sugar free gum can help with those sweet cravings: sugar free gum will satisfy that sweet tooth and help you to feel less cravings for sweet things.
• Helps you to concentrate and focus: you might be surprised to know that chewing gum will help you to focus on the task at hand. When you concentrate on your work you will not be eating for the sake of killing boredom. This is a common form of eating, just snacking for something to do. It is a bad habit that many of us get into. When you get focused and engrossed in your work you will do this less. Chewing gum will give you a certain rhythm that will help you to concentrate.

So if you want to lose face fat the easy way just go out and get some sugar free gum. Remember to be sure that it is sugar free so you do not add calories to your diet and you will be able to have that beautiful shaped face, just by chewing gum! Remember to smile when you see that beautiful face emerge, because smiling will also exercise your facial muscles in the best way.