Scientists investigated energy expenditure among individuals who chewed and did not chew gums and analyzed the role of chewing sugar-free gum to reduce calorie intake.
It was found that chewing gum in the morning could reduce a calorie intake at lunch by 68 calories. At that, participants of this study did not report greater hunger and did not compensate by increasing their calorie intake later in the day.
Also, it was discovered that when participants chewed gum before or after eating, their energy expenditure was higher by approximately 5%, as compared to when they did not chew gum.
Overall, this study demonstrates that over a half-day about 62 kilocalories could be “saved” by a total of one hour of relaxed gum chewing compared to not chewing gum.
october, 2009
Reported by Kathleen J. Melanson, Ph.D., R.D., Associate Professor of Nutrition & Food Sciences/ University of Rhode Island
