Exam time, work pressure, deep-in-thought with some creative work-to-be-done, and so on – sometimes you don't even have a reason for why you are munching on those sugary gums! Most of the time you pop in a piece of chewing gum and keep chewing it away mindlessly. While you are done, you may or may not be confused upon – whether to spit it off or gobble it down! That's where you are at times in a dilemma on whether and how chewing gums are affecting your health!

Yes, it does, and mostly, we tend to lend our ears to the adverse impacts of chewing gums on our health! But there's a brighter side of the story too. Here's a read on the good and positive ways in which your favorite chewing gums impact your health!

Keeps off bad breath

This is one of the primary use of chewing gums. Many of you out there consciously chew gums to keep foul breath at bay. The extra saliva that is produced within the mouth actively takes part in reducing the bacterial content within. So now, when you are the focal point for people around you, chewing gums are in high demand – you are saved from getting your own foul smell! Also, when you are heading for a date, you don't forget to pop in one, do you?

It's a weight-loss trick

When you are gaining weight, facial fat (like your sagging cheeks and chin) is one of the first signs of obesity creeping into your body. Facial fat makes people, especially women feel awkward and one of the easiest ways out of it is chewing on gums for hours together! It imposes a kind of facial exercise upon you which you can carry out mindlessly. Additionally, gum-chewing lessens appetite and snack-craving too. Therefore, when your snacking is controlled, your weight-gaining chances are restrained too.

A stress-reliever too

Gum chewing releases the hormone serotonin which is not only responsible for reducing your stress and anxiety but also alleviates you from issues like insomnia. In fact, things like sleeplessness, depression, mental distraction, and other mental issues are more or less related. Serotonin release works positively on all of them and aids in keeping you happier, calmer, and much more focussed!

Heals heartburn problems

The more you swallow the excess saliva that is produced within the mouth, the more these fluids act upon neutralizing your stomach acids. This in turn also counters the acids that have leaked in the esophagus which saves you from acute acidity and heartburn issues.

What's more, it protects your teeth too!

This is true, but only as long as it is sugarless. Chewing a piece of gum for about 20 minutes helps in strengthening the tooth enamel since it releases phosphate and calcium. Moreover, the increased saliva flow removes food residual and debris from the ridges and gaps of your teeth!   

So, that was kind of an elaborate elucidation of the pros of your favorite gums. On the downside, there are a few aspects that you need to be careful about. Things like 'tooth decay' (which is too common for gum chewers) can be avoided if you are careful enough to chew upon a sugarless gum! Although some people do complain of stomach bloating, yet, this does not affect the larger section of the chewing gummers. If you are a TMJ sufferer (inflicted with the temporomandibular joint syndrome) chewing gums for long may aggravate the issue!

Wait, I'm not done. Are you a diabetes patient? Have you checked your blood sugar levels in the recent past? If not, and especially, if you are a pro diabetic, be careful with these gums – go for the sugarless ones!