A New York inventor named Thomas Adams found out about chicle through exiled Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna and started selling chewing gum across the country in the 1880s. ![]() In North America, spruce tree resin was the gum of choice for indigenous people and the European settlers who colonized the area, but it didn’t work all that well. The Aztecs also chewed chicle and followed social norms about its acceptability only children and single women could chew chicle in public, while married women, widows and men had to chew it in private. Some think it might have been used for medicinal purposes.Īncient Mayans are believed to have chewed chicle, which comes from the sapodilla tree, to quench thirst and hunger. It’s believed that gum-chewing in that era was not just recreational. Gum-chewing has been around for at least 9,000 years, when northern Europeans chewed birch bark tar. Some larger selections come in resealable bags to keep the gum inside fresh, although this can reduce portability. If you’re buying in bulk, make sure the separate packages of gum are sealed to stay fresh until you get to them. Packaging plays a role in how long your gum lasts. Finding a gum that both holds its taste and stays soft is the real challenge. As your jaw starts to get sore and the gum becomes blander, you may wish to spit it out before you’ve gotten maximum dental benefits. Some gum starts out soft and delicious but quickly hardens and loses flavor. The biggest issue with chewing gum is consistency. While these ingredients may reduce the amount of aspartame in your chewing gum, it could still be present. Xylitol and sorbitol can sometimes be used in combination with artificial sweeteners, so check the ingredients list carefully. Other gums will include sorbitol, which is a sugar alcohol that has one-third fewer calories than sugar. However, some options are now made from natural sweeteners like xylitol, extracted from birch wood. If you’re trying to reduce these ingredients in your diet, you might not find what you want from sugar-free gum. Many sugar-free gum brands use artificial sweeteners like aspartame to replace sugar. Sugar-free gum does come with some downsides. You’ll also need to combine your new chewing routine with good daily oral hygiene, including brushing and flossing regularly. Your gum needs to be sugar-free to avoid negating any cavity-fighting benefits you might get. In fact, the American Dental Association’s Council on Scientific Affairs found that chewing some brands of sugarless gum for 20 minutes after meals stimulates saliva flow, washing away some plaque acids that can lead to tooth decay.īut the right type of chewing gum is essential to this benefit. ![]() Regularly chewing gum can help reduce cavities and curb between-meal snacking. ![]() Chewing gum is more than an after-meal breath freshener.
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