Chewing Gum in Class

        Secondly, gum is not only for the pleasing the chewer but it can help you with your diet and weight management. When managing your weight every calorie counts. Even small decreases can have a great impact on your health in a long time span. So, chewing a piece of gum, which provides you with 5-10 calories, can have a great impact, on your health. Wouldn’t you trade a bag of chips at 270 calories per 27 chips for a gum pack at 7 calories per stick? Also, it has been proven that “chewing gum after meals can helps reduce hunger, diminish cravings for sweets, and decrease snack intake by 36 calories” (Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company) and “chewing gum often satisfies the desire for a between-meals snack.” (Wrigley Company)

        Another reason why chewing gum is good for you is because it helps your focus, concentration and alertness. Through various amount of research, scientists have proven that chewing gum improves the person’s concentration. 40 students were either chewing gum or not chewing gum. For 2 days they did this and their math scores went up when they were chewing on gum and when they weren’t the scores continued to drop (Miranda G). Gum was given to soldiers in World War 1 because it helped them stay alert and ease tension. “Similarly, finding a test-taking edge for finals may be as easy as reaching for a stick of gum, according to students in an introductory marketing class at Cornell University who were given Wrigley's 5™ gum by their professor. A non-scientific informal survey of the 591 students found that students who chewed 5 gum prior to, and during, test-taking had better scores on the exam than those who didn't chew gum. Students who chewed gum during the exam reported a mean score of 90; students who chewed the whole pack of 5 gum before the exam reported a mean score of 86; while those who chewed no gum at all reported a mean score of 60. A research study conducted at the University of Northumbria has shown that chewing gum while performing memory tests appeared to improve people's ability to learn, retain and retrieve information” (Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company).           

Finally, gum can help your brain. Scientists from the University of Northumbria are working on theories of why chewing gum improves memory. One reason is that chewing gum raises the heartbeat, which causes more oxygen and nutrients to be pumped into the brain (Pedro). The second reason is that brain activity in the hippocampus; an important area for memory was increased when chewing gum. Research has found that chewing gum causes the release of insulin, which reduces the glucose in one’s body (Emma). Insulin receptors are protein, which only recognizes insulin. It is found on the membrane of a cell. These insulin receptors on the hippocampus is said to help your thinking and problem solving skills. "One interesting thing we saw in our study was that chewing increased heart rate. Anything that improves delivery of things like oxygen in the brain, such as an increased heart rate, is a potential cognitive enhancer to some degree," says Doctor Andrew Scholey (Emma). The flow of oxygen can slow your process of aging, relieve headaches, relieve tiredness, boost immune system, support breathing of air in case of asthma and allergies, help depression and improve physical performance by 25% (Newpharm SA Company). You can increase memory power when chewing gum.    

In conclusion, gum should be chewed in class because it improves your oral health, it can help you with your diet and weight management, it helps your focus, concentration, alertness and it improves your brain. Chewing gum can increase tests scores, physical performance and attentiveness during class. Also, it is hard for students to talk when chewing gum because the gum keeps your mouth busy. It is hard to do both tasks at the same time. Wouldn’t you the school board want to increase test scores by just allowing the students to chew gum?