Women and men, who chew sugar-free gum eat less snacks in the afternoon, especially the sweet ones – US scientists reported during the Experimental Biology meeting 2009 in New Orleans. Earlier studies have already shown, that chewing gum reduces our appetite for snacks. Now researchers have decided to carefully check the type of afternoon snacks, which women and men reach for chewing sugar-free gum. Participated in the study 115 people aged from 18 do 54 Years – all used chewing gum regularly. As part of the project, they visited the laboratory twice – their behavior was analyzed once, when they chew gum, second time, when they didn't chew it. During both visits, participants were given sandwiches for lunch, whose nutritional value covered a quarter of the daily caloric requirement. Then through 3 hours remained in the lab without chewing gum, or by chewing sugar-free gum every hour, By 15 minutes. All respondents also completed a questionnaire on this, how they rate their hunger levels, appetite for snacks and energy levels. Three hours after lunch, they were offered a variety of snacks, including foods high in sugar and rich in complex carbohydrates, low or high fat.
Participants were free to choose snacks from all categories and eat as much, how much they felt like. Observed, that when the subjects chewed gum, they had a reduced sense of hunger and less desire to eat “something sweet”. In addition, chewing gum maintained a satisfactory energy level throughout the afternoon, and participants were less sleepy on 3 i 2 hours before receiving the snack. Their overall caloric intake was lower, especially when it comes to calories provided with sweets.
According to the authors of the report, their results indicate, that chewing gum helps control your appetite, maintain a healthy body weight and limit the consumption of unhealthy sweet snacks. Scientists emphasize, that even small changes in caloric intake can make a big long-term difference and recommend chewing gum as a convenient way to control your sweet tooth.
