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Chewing Gum: Yea Or Nay?

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By: Heidi Wagenbach

I like gum. I have a piece or two every other day when I need my breath to be mintier after a garlicky meal or want to make sure I don’t have food stuck between my teeth. For a while, when I would go to the dentist, they would tell me to stop chewing gum because my jaw was popping. Thus, I limited the amount I ate, and have had no problems since then. 

But it got me thinking: is chewing gum something that professionals (definitely not teachers) encourage or discourage? 

A Squished History

Mayan archaeologist Jennifer P. Mathews determined that chewing gum has been around on this continent for hundreds of years, called “chicle,” the resin extracted from the sapodilla tree in Southern Mexico and Central America. Think about it as the tree’s natural band-aid, meant to form a protective layer over cuts in the bark. The Mayans discovered they could collect it and create a chewable substance by cooking and drying it into what they called “cha.” This goodie “quenched thirst and staved off hunger,” as well as freshened breath. 

However, they viewed public gum chewing as unacceptable, especially for adult men and married women. A quote from Spanish missionary Bernardino de Sahagun in the 16th century states: 

“All the women who unmarried chew chicle in public. One’s wife also chews chicle, but not in public… with it they dispel the bad odor of their mouths, or the bad smell of their teeth. Thus they chew chicle in order not to be detested.”

From the Greeks to Wrigley

The Mayans weren’t the first to gain inspiration from nature’s substances. Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, wrote about a plant-based gum called “mastich” by the Greeks and evidence suggests that chewing birch bark tar was popular with young Scandinavian people thousands of years ago. Northern Native American cultures chewed Spruce tree resin and European settlers picked up on the habit and capitalized on it. 

This is where American inventor Thomas Adams Sr. comes in. He got a supply of chicle through a connection with the exiled Mexican president and came up with the idea of boiling then hand-rolling it into pieces of chewing gum. Young soap salesman William Wrigley worked for a company who gave free gum to vendors who placed large soap orders. Yet he soon discovered that gum was more popular so he switched careers. When he passed away in 1932, he was one of the richest men in the nation; the average American chewed 105 sticks per year in the 1920s. 

Ultimately, human appetite outmatched nature’s resources. Unsustainable harvesting methods killed ¼ of Mexico’s sapodilla trees by the mid-1930s. Companies then switched to cheaper synthetic bases and no longer imported ingredients from Mexico.

Alright, I bored you enough with the history of chewing gum. Now onto the important issue of this article: is chewing gum good for you?

Yes!

The benefits of chewing gum are well… beneficial. Making a habit of indulging on gum occasionally is shown to slim your waistline because your cravings are curbed. (I used to eat a piece of Extra’s Mint Chocolate Chip flavored gum when I wanted something sweet, but low calorie, and sure enough, I would avoid intaking dessert later). Studies have shown that people who chew gum ate 36 calories less… and while that doesn’t sound like a whole lot, it adds up.

Gum can keep your teeth healthy (if it’s sugarless; sugary gum causes plaque and tooth decay). It increases the flow of saliva, which contains calcium and phosphate, while removing food gunk from your previous meal. Gum can also improve your short-term memory, since it’s speculated to increase blood flow to the brain (I would always chew a piece while tackling a final test during high school and college!). It also fights drowsiness, reduces heartburn, as well as lowers anxiety/depression/fatigue. Gum can also help prevent ear infections in children, as well as alleviate ear barotrauma (aka that clogged-up, painful feeling) when pressure changes during airplane travel. Specific chewing gum helps people quit smoking, and can assist in gut recovery after a surgery. 

… And No?

Some of the ingredients in gum are speculated to be unhealthy in large amounts (much like food coloring, but that’s another article). 

Butylated Hydroxytoluene (try saying that five times fast…) is an antioxidant and preservative that prevents fats from going rancid. Animal studies show that high doses can cause cancer, but the results are mixed. Low doses at 0.11 per pound of body weight is considered safe by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration).

Titanium dioxide is a food additive that whitens products and gives them a smooth texture. Rats have developed nervous system and organ damage during extensive tests; scientists have yet to determine what a safe limit is for humans.

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener that can pose issues like headaches to cancer to obesity, but the evidence is weak. Sugar alcohols have a laxative effect, and chewing a lot of gum could result in digestive stress or diarrhea. An excess amount of gum could also cause jaw problems, resulting in pain when you chew. Health experts advise chewing gum that’s made with xylitol, a natural sugar found in fruits and vegetables.

In The End

Chewing gum is like anything we eat nowadays: good in moderation. If you avoid unnecessary ingredients that may have negative health effects on your health later on, then I see no reason to not chew a piece of gum now and again. Especially if you’re at work and want to avoid bad breath for the rest of the day or if you want to have extra focus while taking a test, gum has countless good stimuli for your body while making your teeth cleaner. I mean if it’s been around for centuries, then there must be a certain charm about it, right?

Sources: 

A Brief History of Chewing Gum

Chewing Gum: Good or Bad?

Surprising Benefits of Chewing Gum

The Reason Chewing Gum Helps Your Ears While Flying – And Why Some Experts Advise Against It

 

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Why Is Obesity So Prevalent In The United States?

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By: Heidi Wagenbach

“It is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit.” 

– Socrates

Part I: Introduction

There is an abundance of people in the United States of all colors, shapes, and sizes. While that diversity is amazing and is what shaped this country from the start, condoning fat as “beautiful” and “healthy” is to say the very least inaccurate. I’m all about body positivity, and have been combating that since high school after developing an eating disorder that gave me a health scare. It was then and there that I knew I would never let myself restrict food to the point where I was sick again but also never let myself just binge food I knew was bad for my body. I maintain the view of “everything in moderation” (you bet I’m going to indulge a cookie here and there). I try to live an active lifestyle by exercising every morning and staying busy at work.

Part II: Dollars, Depression, Disease, and Death

Obesity affects a person’s general well-being. Fatness alters your mental health (i.e. developing anxiety and/or depression) and your long term health as well. It’s linked to chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia (high lipid [fat/cholesterol] content in your blood), high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Being overweight accounts for 18% of deaths amongst Americans between ages 40 and 85, according to a 2013 study. (This number is comparable to cigarette smoking, which is the leading preventable cause of death in the US, with 1 out of 5 Americans dying every year). Obese people are 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to die of heart disease than people with normal BMIs (you can find the link to calculating your own at the end of this article).

Your health is affected, but also the medical cost of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment is estimated to cost billions of dollars overall. 

Part III: Why?

Reasons for this epidemic are varied. Some debate that the increase in caloric intake and reduction of physical activity is to blame. Because 21st century America is becoming more of a service rather than a manufacturing economy, only 20% of jobs require some moderate activity and we burn 120-140 less calories a day than we did 50 years ago. We have cars and buses and walk less, therefore 80% of Americans don’t get enough exercise. Others say that diets are not effective in controlling or reversing weight gain (although $20 billion goes into weight loss programs per year). The rest argue that the bigger portion sizes, alongside added meat/grain/fat consumption is why we’re gaining weight; fast food makes up 11% of the average American diet. 

Part IV: How We Got Here

In the 1960s, our enemy was fat. So, the demand for low fat and fat free products skyrocketed, yet that was too good to be true. Hydrogenated oils and trans fats were added, raising bad cholesterol and leading to weight gain with high sugar content.

Basically… the formula for balancing your weight is factoring in the total number of calories consumed versus the total calories used. Farmers back in the olden days used to eat bacon, eggs, and potatoes every morning, but guess what? They burned all of that off by working in the fields from dawn till dusk.

Obesity

(Caption: Food portions and peoples’ stomachs are both getting bigger). 

Part V: The Younger Generation and Contributing Factors

Children are also suffering from this epidemic; ⅓ of kids in the US are overweight. They are getting less sleep, and watch (on average) 4 hours of TV per day (with video games and technology becoming so accessible to younger audiences, that number will continue to rise). They are more prone to developing stress and low self-esteem. 

Some more contributing factors that are leading to people’s weights becoming extreme include:

Income

Healthy and fresh foods can be more expensive than fast or packaged food. Living far from locations that sell produce are called “food deserts,” where 23 million Americans reside, according to the US Department of Agriculture. They may lack money for a gym membership or live in a not-so-safe neighborhood where going on a jog is intimidating. However, you can exercise at home (like many are doing because of the pandemic) and save more money cooking your own meals instead of ordering takeout every day. 

(Let’s say that an average fast food meal is $5. You’re spending $15 a day if you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or $105 weekly; $420 monthly; $5,040 yearly. And that’s being generous; most restaurants charge closer to $20 a meal if you’re looking for something higher quality).

Time

Making a good meal is a process that most people don’t want to do (prepping, cooking, cleaning). With a busy schedule, eating healthy becomes a second thought, and pulling up through a drive-thru is convenient when you’re a single parent with 3 kids.

Health Insurance

Like a lot of Americans, health insurance is a luxury that not many can afford. If you don’t have the resources to see a doctor or weight loss specialist, then it’s inevitable you won’t be educated about how to take care of yourself. 

Stress

As mentioned above, when people are stressed, they reach for comfort foods, like potato chips and cake, which are packed with salt, sugar, and fat.

Part VI: Other Suffering Countries

According to Global Obesity Levels, the small island of Nauru is the most highly populated obese country, with 61% of the residents being overweight. Their diet consists of a vast amount of seafood, coconuts, and fruits (limiting your diet to only a few high-sugar items will hinder, not help, your body). Next up is the Cook Islands, with 55.9% of the population being overweight, not surprisingly with a very similar diet. More than half of Palau and Marshall Islands’ citizens are overweight (eating root vegetables, breadfruit, coconut, rice, flour, and seafood), followed by Tuvalu clocking in at 51.6%. The United States ranks #12, and need I describe the foods we eat? Yes, the above countries may have higher rates, but at least their food is natural and not McDonald’s.

Part VII: Ways To Improve

A noticeable reduction in national obesity could take over a decade but there are some suggestions that could help combat this surge of illness. A few select cities are already placing taxes on sugary foods and drinks, or making their nutrition labels more effective to describe the ingredients. Limiting the amount of advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods, especially to youngsters, will help the future US know what eating poorly does to your body.

Part VIII: Conclusion

Obesity is something that has been around for many years, and will undoubtedly worsen if we continue down this path we’re on. I find it interesting that there is such a broad spectrum of people in the world, some who have disorders where they see themselves as too fat so they deprive themselves of basic nutrition, and others who know they need to change, but never do, whether that be through laziness, stubbornness, an unwillingness to even try or broader health issues. I would say that a safe bet would be to skip the burger joint on the way home and eat a salad for dinner instead. It would be a small but huge step just to make sure that you live a healthy life for many years to come.

Part IX: Sources

Calculate your BMI by clicking here.

Rising Obesity in the United States Is a Public Health Crisis

Why Are Americans Obese?

5 Reasons Americans Are Obese – That Have Nothing To Do With Food

Obesity In Children

… The US Sugar Industry Funded One of the Biggest Misconceptions in Modern Nutrition

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What Eating Fast Food Does To Your Body

by In Food Facts Tagged ,

By: Heidi Wagenbach

We all know that fast food isn’t great. Seeing more and more documentaries like 1,000-lb Sisters emerging over the last few years is a hint that people are suffering not only from some sort of mental/emotional trauma for them to let their body decay into such overwhelming obesity, but that the fast food issue in America should not be ignored. I can’t remember the last time I went into a McDonald’s, unless on a road trip and needing to use the restroom. Whenever I eat out, I lean more towards getting salads, veggie burgers, pasta, or something else that is hearty but has nutritional value, while avoiding the other joints with fried and processed food like the plague (heh, maybe those jokes should be avoided now…).

Below is a compilation of what companies actually do to make their food “crave-able” and in turn, what that means for your body and health.

An Addiction

There is research proving that junk food is like a drug, triggering your brain’s reward systems, and unleashing dopamine. Companies utilize what’s called the “bliss point,” or the “optimal concentration of sugar known to maximize… pleasure.” Undergoing this different sensory experience is due to the altered ingredient content. The foods taste the way they do thanks to multiple processes and mathematical/scientific equations nutritionists, scientists, and flavorists engineer to produce flavor extracts. They are then injected into the meals, making natural food less delicious if exposed to these foods more often.

(Think about it this way: if you eat super salty French fries, then compare that taste to say… broccoli, of course the fries are more appealing because you’re used to that flavor). 

The consumer wants to repeat the positive experience that caused this release, thus making the cravings for fast food more frequent and powerful. These companies also want to hit nostalgia; I mean, who doesn’t want to relive the awe of drinking a milkshake while playing on the indoor, colorful playgrounds?  

Further Proof

Scientists studied a group of rats that were forced to consume fast food over a period of time. Once regulated, it took the rodents 14 days to convert them back to enjoying their “normal” food again. Some rats chose to starve, while others went days without eating. 

Also, there have been many complaints that fast food joints make the items on their menu look better in promotions by manipulating lighting and effects (and not cramming the food into little portable to-go boxes). People take their own pictures of what they bought, and compare it to what’s seen in advertisements. To say the very least, the contrast of how these foods hold up to their counterparts is just sad. But companies want to make their products look good… even if the burgers, tacos, and sandwiches don’t embrace the whole slogan of “as seen on TV” at all.

Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes

So what happens to your body once you’ve eaten your burger and fries, and guzzled your soda? The food goes into your bloodstream within 15 minutes. Because of the refined carbs, your body can go through a more rapid digestion and break down the meal faster. Due to this, glucose and insulin levels rise, turning the meal into fat and not energy. Within 3 hours, hunger strikes again despite the fact you just ate nearly an entire day’s worth of calories. 

The After Effects

You’ll be stressed, panicky. Your body is attempting to restore your blood sugar to normal levels, therefore you’ll experience mood swings, and symptoms like headaches or nausea. Your arteries become impaired, slowing your blood flow and causing you to be tired with a 20% more likely risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Your body will digest the rest of the remaining chemicals slowly or not at all. Take for instance, the Big Mac, which needs 36 hours to leave your system entirely. You could become gassy or bloated and your body will react to the additives/fillers like an infection, triggering an inflammatory response and a more defensive immune system.

20 “Ew” Facts About Fast Food That Will Make You Think Twice Before Ordering Out

#1

Millennials spend about 45% of their budget’s food dollars on eating out.

#2

The American Heart Association recommends eating only 100-150 calories of added sugar a day (about 6-9 teaspoons), but a 12 oz can of soda already contains 8.

#3

The high level of refined carbohydrates can lead to acne.

#4

Loaded with trans fats, fast food leads to elevated cholesterol.

#5

People who order fast food indulge about an extra 200 calories a day, gain weight, and are at risk of developing diabetes, even if what they’re ordering is “healthy.” (For example, going to McDonald’s website, you can see their Premium Southwest Salad is 160 calories. Sounds good… until realizing the salad dressing is not included and that the tortilla chips contain goodies like dextrose and disodium inosinate. In unscientific terms… additives).

#6

Chicken nuggets are in fact chicken… but they contain more bone, fat, and tendons than actual meat. Just what I want to be eating.

#7

Fast food destroys tooth enamel and encourages cavities. Your bone density and muscle mass will also suffer. 

#8

There was a survey of 993 adults’ guesses about how much sodium they were consuming in a meal, and their estimates were 6 times lower than the actual amount. (1,292mg; equivalent to about half of your recommended sodium intake per day).

#9

Fast food can affect your fertility, the added ingredients changing how hormones act, resulting in birth defects.

#10

The number of fast food restaurants has doubled since 1970, correlating with the number of obese Americans.

#11

The short term effects of eating fast food include a change in your metabolism, a reduced ability for muscles to turn glucose into energy, poor digestion, and constipation. 

#12

People who consume fast food are 51% more likely to be depressed. 

#13

Half of Americans prefer to eat a fast food meal every single day. 

#14

In 2010, a study found that 48% of soda fountains at fast food joints contain coliform bacteria, commonly found in feces.

#15

A law firm in Alabama once sued Taco Bell for calling its taco filling “meat,” seeing that it’s more oats, seasoning, and fillers than anything else. The case was dropped after the restaurant changed their advertisements and fought the charges.

#16

Subway’s bread used to contain azodicarbonamide, a chemical that can be found in yoga mats. After a petition of thousands of signatures demanded they remove it from their food, they obliged.

#17

McDonald’s confirmed that there are parts from more than 100 cows in just one of their burgers. Yum.

#18

A New York City police officer, John Florio, bit into a Big Mac full of glass in 2005. The case was finally settled 9 years later for $437,000.

#19

There is a secret menu option at Burger King called the Suicide Burger, which includes 4 burgers covered in cheese, bacon, sauce, and comes to a total of 800 calories.

#20

Children who eat fast food 3 times a week are more likely to develop asthma. There has also been a link between kids eating fast food and a decline in their academic success.

The Bottom Line

Health experts advise that you should follow the 80:20 rule: eat healthy foods 80% of the time and indulge 20% of the time. This plan works for weight loss and helps boost mental health. But also consider what your lifestyle is like beforehand. It’s all about balance. Do you exercise? Do you smoke or overdo your consumption of alcohol? These factors contribute to your long term health so if you eat out once in a while, that’s fine, but be sure that it doesn’t become a regularity.

Sources:

(Video) If You Eat Fast Food, THIS Happens To Your Body

The Effects of Fast Food on the Body

This is your body on fast food

100 Crazy Fast Food Facts

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