SS 174 – The Crazy Perks of Chewing Gum

 

Grant and Heavey talk about the health benefits of chewing gum and you just might be surprised at how it has more pros than you actually think. Whether you should get into the habit of chewing gum (like Grant does) or simply just leave it to the gum lovers (Heavey hates it by the way), it’s up to you to decide.

 

This episode is brought to you by Health IQ, giving you the best life insurance deals if anything happens to you. It’s all about giving the best to your family. For instance, they minimize the penalty for adverse family health history if you’re otherwise healthy. How awesome is that?

 

[02:22] The Re-Release of the Strength & Scotch Hat

 

Grant and Heavey released a limited edition hat just to see how people liked them, and they loved them! They sold out instantly and people have been asking for new ones, so stay tuned! Check it out here on the pre-order page if you’re interested.

 

[04:25] Daytime Drowsiness Linked to Alzheimer’s Disease

 

One of Grant’s biggest fears in life is Alzheimer’s disease. He saw his Grandma deal with Alzheimer’s and experienced the difficulties firsthand. Grant shares an article he read this past week, saying that Daytime Drowsiness Increases Risk of Alzheimer’s. Of course now, Grant is freaking out knowing how he always gets tired during the day.

 

This study was done by the Mayo Clinic on aging. It’s a population-based sample. To be included in the study, participants had to have a baseline scan and a scan at a later date of their brains, complete a sleep quality questionnaire, and then be certified by a team of specialists who would administer a battery of cognitive tests.

 

Out of 2,172 individuals that were pre-qualified, they were whittled down to 283. Those who were most drowsy during the day are found to have greater amounts of Alzheimer’s causing amyloids over a two-year period of the study. They found the direct correlation between the amount of reported sleepiness and the amount of proteins collected in your brain which lead to Alzheimer’s.

 

The study pointed out different factors that may affect the quality of sleep like sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, or anxiety – which would lead to daytime drowsiness.

 

The major takeaway here is that if you’re drowsy throughout the day, talk to a doctor and have them investigate what’s leading to this drowsiness. They can hopefully remedy this and perhaps reduce your risk for cognitive decline.

 

[09:50] The Pros of Chewing Gum: Reduced Anxiety

 

Grant loves to chew gum! Heavey despises it. He finds chewing pointless and the gum runs out flavor and then he’s just chewing something flavorless in his mouth. Grant explains it relieves him of his nervous energy.

 

Heavey went on to investigate gum and learn more about the pros and cons of it. Interestingly, he found a lot of good qualities associated with chewing gum.

 

Grant would rank his anxiousness as 11 (from a scale of 1-10). What Heavey has personally observed connects with the what he found in the studies, which was that people who enjoy chewing gum tend to be more anxious individuals. Grant personally chews gum while he goes to sleep because it helps him relax.

 

Gum works for people to reduce stress and anxiety. If you’re highly stressed and anxious, and don’t chew gum, maybe this is worth a try. Maybe it can help you cope a little bit.

 

[13:45] The Pros of Chewing Gum: Alertness

 

A bunch of studies have shown an increased level of alertness and sustained attention for cognitive tasks when chewing gum. There is a mechanism here that chewing actually increases blood flow to the brain.

 

Heavey also did read an additional study that found research on special populations. They basically extended this finding for children with ADHD to see if chewing gum would help them cope with their attention issues. However, it turns out it didn’t help this specific population.

 

[15:00] The Pros of Chewing Gum: Reduced Appetite and Snacking

 

Some research also shows that chewing gum reduces subjective measures of appetite and reduces snack calorie intake throughout the day. This will make you possibly feel more full throughout the day. There’s no validated reason as to why this is happening. The researchers though speculate that you’re tricking your brain into thinking that you’re eating while you’re chewing even though you’re not consuming any calories.

 

Grant also thinks people snack just to be “doing something,” like they get bored so they eat.

 

[16:10] Gum and Ball

 

Grant also finds chewing gum while playing basketball as a good thing. He knows that if he doesn’t have gum, he gets anxious in a basketball game. However, when he did chew gum at Crossfit, he would be breathing so hard that the gum would pop out.

 

[17:05] The Pros of Chewing Gum: Dental Health

 

After meals, food particles remain stuck between your teeth. These leftovers eventually get broken down by microbes in your mouth. This process results in these acidic byproducts that can damage your teeth.

 

Research has shown that chewing gum triggers the release of saliva which neutralizes the acidity of what the microbes are creating. Therefore, not only can chewing gum help reduce the acidic or pH balance in your mouth and how that affects your teeth, but it can also help remove trapped bacteria from your mouth.

 

[18:10] Grant’s List of Gum Pros: Burning Calories

 

Grant says that gum is a proven adhesive so if you need to fix something and it’s broken, simply use gum. Second, use it as a weight loss tool. Chewing basically burns calories the whole time.

 

Heavey, in fact, googled this and found that according to Mayo Clinic, chewing gum can burn about 11 calories an hour. This may seem like not a lot but simply chewing gum everyday for four hours would equal roughly 308 calories burned at the end of the week.

 

[19:30] The Cons of Chewing Gum: Headaches

 

In certain individuals, chewing gum actually worsens headaches. A few studies found the connection between headache frequency and chewing gum. So if you have a higher propensity toward headaches, or you’re sensitive to chewing, this may be a major downside for you.

 

Other than headaches, Heavey could no longer find any further downsides with gum chewing. Nevertheless, this will not change his mind about chewing gum.

 

[20:42] Some Bits of Trivia About Gums

 

Grant did his own research and found that human beings have been chewing gum for 9,000 years. In fact, Heavey recently went to Playa del Carmen and chewed some gum extracted from the tree, the traditional Mayan way.

 

Additionally, 100,000 tons of chewing gum is consumed every year, which is 374 trillion sticks each year.

 

[22:00] Some St. Patrick’s Day Celeb: Irish Car Bomb

 

As of this recording, they just celebrated St. Patrick’s Day over the past weekend. Heavey had homemade corned beef for dinner coupled with a bunch of Jameson and an Irish Car Bomb. An Irish Car Bomb is similar to a Boilermaker. It’s made by adding Irish cream and whisky by dropping the shot, which is the bomb part. It’s similar to a Sake bomb.

 

What’s unique about the Irish Car Bomb, is you use Irish ingredients including Baileys, Jameson, and Guinness. This drink is a lot heavier and thicker than a Boilermaker or a Sake bomb. But it is delicious and amazing. In fact, Heavey’s wife, Nicole, tried it and for someone who doesn’t drink, she actually liked it. She said it tasted like a chocolate milkshake. So if you’re someone who wants to have a booze and doesn’t really like the taste of booze, consider trying one of those.

 

Moreover, Guinness is a unique beer. It’s very dark and has a unique flavor. It’s a stout. They say a lot of times that stout is one of the healthiest beers to drink. Taste-wise, it’s really delicious that Heavey almost drinks it exclusively. Grant thinks it’s so heavy that it feels like a meal. He wonders how this could be so healthy, but perhaps because it’s packed with antioxidants and has a lower amount of carbohydrates in the beer.

 

Links:

 

www.strengthandscotch.com/hats

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Daytime Drowsiness Increases Risk of Alzheimer’s