Chewing gum can reduce stress and anxiety, according to a new research.
The study, to be presented at the 2008 10th International Congress of Behavioral Medicine, found that chewing gum helped relieve anxiety, improve alertness and reduce stress among individuals in a laboratory setting.
Stress Relief Through Alternative Medicine
Stress is a form of strain that affects us physically and emotionally.It occurs as a result of conflict, within us, or, with the outside world.
Advertisement
The study examined whether chewing gum is capable of reducing induced anxiety and/or acute psychological stress while participants performed a battery of 'multi-tasking' activities.
The use of chewing gum was associated with higher alertness, reduced anxiety and stress, and improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities.
![Stress and the Gender Divide]( "Stress and the Gender Divide")
Stress has become entwined in the current lifestyle of a young working couple and has resulted in the rise in incidence of hypertension, diabetes and psychosomatic illnesses.
Andrew Scholey, Ph.D., professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia led the research study.
In the 40-person study of gum chewers averaging an age of 22 years old, performed on the Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation (DISS), a multi-tasking platform which reliably induces stress and also includes performance measures, while chewing and not chewing gum.
Anxiety, alertness and stress levels were measured before and after participants completed the DISS. Gum chewers showed a reduction in anxiety as compared to non-gum chewers by nearly 17 percent during mild stress and nearly 10 percent in moderate stress. Participants experienced greater levels of alertness when they chewed gum.
Gum chewers showed improvement in alertness over non-gum chewers by nearly 19 percent during mild stress and 8 percent in moderate stress.
Levels of salivary cortisol (a physiological stress marker) in gum chewers were lower than those of non-gum chewers by 16 percent during mild stress and nearly 12 percent in moderate stress. \
Chewing gum resulted in a significant improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities. Both gum-chewers and non-chewers showed improvement from their baseline scores; however, chewing gum improved mean performance scores over non-gum chewers by 67 percent during moderate stress and 109 percent in mild stress.
Source: ANI
SRM
Stress and the Gender Divide
Stress has become entwined in the current lifestyle of a young working couple and has resulted in the rise in incidence of hypertension, diabetes and psychosomatic illnesses.
Advertisement
Andrew Scholey, Ph.D., professor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia led the research study.
In the 40-person study of gum chewers averaging an age of 22 years old, performed on the Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation (DISS), a multi-tasking platform which reliably induces stress and also includes performance measures, while chewing and not chewing gum.
Anxiety, alertness and stress levels were measured before and after participants completed the DISS. Gum chewers showed a reduction in anxiety as compared to non-gum chewers by nearly 17 percent during mild stress and nearly 10 percent in moderate stress. Participants experienced greater levels of alertness when they chewed gum.
Gum chewers showed improvement in alertness over non-gum chewers by nearly 19 percent during mild stress and 8 percent in moderate stress.
Levels of salivary cortisol (a physiological stress marker) in gum chewers were lower than those of non-gum chewers by 16 percent during mild stress and nearly 12 percent in moderate stress. \
Chewing gum resulted in a significant improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities. Both gum-chewers and non-chewers showed improvement from their baseline scores; however, chewing gum improved mean performance scores over non-gum chewers by 67 percent during moderate stress and 109 percent in mild stress.
Source: ANI
SRM
Advertisement
Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Readings
Latest Mental Health News
Schizophrenic patients have a genetic link to increased cardiovascular risk factors, especially smoking and body mass index.
Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression could be precursors to multiple sclerosis (MS), even before the classic MS symptoms appear.
Studying brain circuits tied to PTSD's progression from acute to chronic states is vital for grasping its pathophysiology and crafting targeted treatments.
Older adults with COPD were roughly twice as likely to develop depression if they faced functional limitations.
In most scenarios, depression screening tools demonstrated superior performance compared to suicide risk screenings.
