Monday, 1 September 2008
Chew gum to reduce stress
Chewing gum was found to help relieve anxiety, improve alertness and reduce
stress among individuals, according to a new
study.
The study, led by Andrew Scholey, professor of Behavioural and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University, Australia, was done on the Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation
ISS), a
multi-tasking platform which reliably induces stress and also includes
performance measures, while chewing and not chewing
gum.
While chewing gum,
participants reported lower levels of anxiety. They showed a reduction in
anxiety as compared to non-gum chewers by nearly 17% during mild stress and
nearly 10% in moderate
stress.
Participants experienced greater levels of alertness when they chewed gum. The improvement in alertness over non-gum chewers was nearly 19% during mild stress and eight per cent in moderate stress.
Stress levels were also lower. Levels of salivary cortisol (a physiological stress marker) in gum chewers were lower than those of non-gum chewers by 16% during mild stress and nearly 12% 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% during moderate stress and 109% in mild stress. Source: timesofindia
The study, led by Andrew Scholey, professor of Behavioural and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University, Australia, was done on the Defined Intensity Stressor Simulation
ISS), a
multi-tasking platform which reliably induces stress and also includes
performance measures, while chewing and not chewing
gum.
While chewing gum,
participants reported lower levels of anxiety. They showed a reduction in
anxiety as compared to non-gum chewers by nearly 17% during mild stress and
nearly 10% in moderate
stress.
Participants experienced greater levels of alertness when they chewed gum. The improvement in alertness over non-gum chewers was nearly 19% during mild stress and eight per cent in moderate stress.
Stress levels were also lower. Levels of salivary cortisol (a physiological stress marker) in gum chewers were lower than those of non-gum chewers by 16% during mild stress and nearly 12% 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% during moderate stress and 109% in mild stress. Source: timesofindia
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