Chew On This

Who would have thought that you could make art with chewing gum? Ben Wilson shows us how its done. Yes it was really created from different colors of chewing gum.

Over 300 sticks of gum are chewed each year by us Americans. We love our gum and that amounts to almost two pounds of gum per year per person. That's a lot of chewing.

Some people chew to make their breath smell better while others just like the pleasure derived from chewing something. It could be a habit. Not everyone likes to hear someone chomping down on their gum all day, snapping and cracking it can be pretty annoying let alone the bubbles from bublegum. It is known that many people chew gum to stop smoking or lost weight.

Where did gum come from. Well, listen, pilgrim, and I will tell you. Before World War II (WW2) it came from the sap of the sapodilla tree in Central America. It's a latex sap, a form of rubber. It's called chicle. That's where the gum product Chicklets came form.

After WW2, artificial chicle was developed and it replaced the chicle. You may be surprised to learn that these gum bases are nothing but synthetic rubber with flavorings and sugar added so they taste good.

 There have been many studies and research done about chewing gum.  The problem is that most of it was paid for by chewing gum companies.  No bias there, right.

However, gum plays a role in preventing tooth decay.  I'm not kidding.  When you chew gum, saliva flow increases.  This is good because it helps to neutralize acids procuded by bacteria in the mouth.  More saliva, or spit as its called, also clears out any food debris left over from your last meal or even the meal before that if you forgot to brush your teeth.  You know, you are supposed to brush and floss twice a day.

Of course, it is better top chew sugar free gum because sugar is not good for your teeth and can cause cavities.  We don't want any cavities, do we?  Then, we have to go to the dentist and many people shudder when they think about what happens when you open your mouth in the dentist;s chair.

So, what do we use instead of sugar in our chewing gum.  It's a sweetener called sugar alcohol.  No, it won't mnake you drunk or even give you a buzz.  It's called Xylitol.  Rhymes with geratol, but it does a good job on getting rid of cavity-producing bacteria, but you have to chew it every day for best results.  It's a little more expensive than the other non-sugar gums but well worth it.

The other sweetener you may have heard about it sorbitol and other less effective alcohol sugars.  Some of these gums hae been approved by the American Dental Association.  Names like Wrigley's Extra and Orbit.  Eclipse is also recommended and will strengthen teeth and recude plaque acids, but only if chewed for at least 20 minutes after a meal.

 Some new ingredients have been added to gum to fight the war on tooth decay.  The add CPP-ACP(Recaldent) to chewing gum.  This is a substance derived from milk, calcium based, that they claim may make your teeth stronger even better than regular chewing gum.

They ran a small Australian research study last year that if you chewed gum spiced with CPP-ACP for at least 20 minutes, it would make your teeth stronger than Xylitol did.  But you had to chew it four times a day for at least two weeks.  It remineralized the tool enamel.

You can find CPP-ACP in the follwing gums:

• Xtra Care
• Trident White

Other studies suggested that it even could reverse tooth decay if chewed early enough. 

There was a dissenting study that claimed no benefits from chewing gum laced with CPP-ACP.

Another popular substance is the probiotics (Lactobacillus species) which may be another arrow in the anti-cavity quiver, according to some early research.

How about losing weight by chewing gum?  Well, chewing gum does burn some calories - albeit, only 11 calories per hour.  How many people would chew gum for 12 hours a day for amonth to lose just a pound?  Maybe it can reduce appetite, but most research is doesn't confirm that and some even claimed it cauised weight gain.  I don't see how that could happen since the caloric content on gum is so low.  You would have to eat a lot of gum packed with sugar.  Pounds of it even though sugar laced gums have 21 or more calories per stick.

 Here's another strange ingredient they are puting in gum- Magnolia bark extract.  Are you kiddiing me.  It's supposed to kill the bacteria in your mouth that causes halitosis.  Yeah. Right.  But if you want magnokia bark extract in your chewing gum, then buy Wrigley's Eclipse chewing gum.  When it comes right down to it, most chewing gums just mask halitosis and bad breath and the sugar probably makes breath smell worse because the bacteria feed on it and multiply making the odor emanating from your mouth even worse.  You know what, just using plain water to rinse your mouth after a meal probably works as well if not better than gum, especially if you can't brush.

Listen to this.  They studied whether chewing gum could make you smarter.  It may increase blood flow to the brain with all that chewing expecially that part of the brain that crunches numbers.

But there is gum lacedd with caffeine like:

• Mad Croc
• Penguin Peppermeint Energy Gun with Caffeine
• Stay Alert

Stay Alert has 100 mg of caffeine per piece!  It's better than a cup of coffee and faster, too

For recuding stress, many people turn to overeating and smoking.  A better choice would be to chew gum.  And there is evenchewing gum with nicotine in it to help people quit smoking:

• Nicorette
• Nicotrol
• Habitrol

They are pricey, but many swear by them for quiting the smoking habit that causes lung cancer and kills thousands of people ecery year.  Cheap at any price, I'd say.

 One of the crtical steps in recovering from intestinal surgery is the ability to have a normal bowel movement.  A study found that chewing gum after surgery reduces the time to get your bowels moveming normally while reducing stomach acidity and perhaps redcing heartburn.

Then there are the far-out, almost demented stuff they are adding to gum, much of the insane stuff coming from Japan, like:

• herbs with Viagra effects
• ingredients to make your body smell better
• nanoparticles made of platinum to slow aging
• ginseng for immunity boost
• ginger for seasickness

The nanoparticle chewing gum is called Nanogum and it is said the nanoparticles of platinum contain anti aging and anti oxiddant formulas.

Many people believe that if you swallow your chewing gum, it will take weeks, years even for the chewing gum to be eliminated. That digestion does not break it down and it sticks around for years inside you. This is just a myth and is not true. It may not be digested, but it passes out in the stool almost unchanged during normal transit time.

However, constant gum chewing does tend to wear down your tooth enamel while excessive sugarless chewing gum can make you go more frequently having something to do with the alcohol content of the alcohol sugars. Jaw pain can be worsened so if it hurts to chew gum, don't do it, pilgrim.

And don't think that chewing gum can replace your daily regimen of brushing your teeth, flossing and make sure you go to the dentist twice a year.

 Here is a list of chewing gum brands I got from Wikipedia.

List of chewing gum brands
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This is a list of chewing gum brands.

*      5 (gum)       - Wrigley, USA
*      The Gum People Want       - Valklawk Company; USA
*      Aidin      - Dadash Baradar, Iran
*      Airwaves      (2000) - Wrigley, USA
*      Bazooka       - Topps, USA
*      Big Red*       (1976) - Wrigley, USA
*      Big League Chew       - Amurol Confections, USA
*      Black Jack Gum       (1884) - Cadbury, USA
*      Boomers       - Joyco, Spain
*      BrushRush       - EthixMedical, Canada
*      Bubbaloo       - Cadbury, UK
*      Bubble Yum       (1976) - Hershey, USA
*      Bubblicious       - Cadbury, UK
*      CalciYumm       - EthixMedical, Canada
*      Carefree       - Hershey, USA [1]
*      Chewels       - (19??) (defunct)
*      Chiclets       - Cadbury, UK
*      Cinnaburst       - Cadbury, UK
*      Dentyne       - Cadbury, UK
*      Doublemint       (1914) - Wrigley, USA
*      Dubble Bubble       - Concord Confections, Canada
*      Eclipse       (1999) - Wrigley, USA
*      Eclipse Ice – Wrigley, Australia, New Zealand
*      Excel       - Wrigley, USA
*      Europe       Chewing Gum - Ayul Trading Incorporated, Canada
*      Extra       (1984) - Wrigley, USA
*      Five       (2007) - Wrigley, USA
*      Freedent       (1975) - Wrigley, USA
*      Hilal      , Pakistan
*      Hoodia Gum      , USA
*      Hubba Bubba       - Wrigley, USA
*      Ice Breakers       - Hershey, USA
*      Jenkki       - Leaf, Finland
*      Juicy Fruit       (1893), Canada, USA
*      Kallas       - Khayri Kallas, Syria
*      Nicorette       - ?, Canada, USA
*      Orbit       (2001) - Wrigley, USA
*      Razzles       2000 - Wrigley Jr. Company, USA
*      Spry       - Xlear Inc., USA
*      Stimorol       - Dandy, Denmark
*      Tidal Wave       Amurol Confections, Aurora, Illinois, USA[2]
*      Think Gum       - Think Gum LLC, USA
*      Stride       - Cadbury, USA
*      Trident       - Cadbury, Canada
*      Winterfresh       (1994) - Wrigley, USA
*      Wrigley's Spearmint*       (1893) - Wrigley, USA
*      Xylit.All       - EthixMedical, Canada
*      Zoft Gum       - Zoft Gum Company, USA

Retrieved from :      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chewing_gum_brands