Chewing Gum for Weight Loss? :

Wrigley is doing its level best to convince us that Gum is Good .

Can you really lose weight just from chewing gum?

Wrigley link to a rather verbose research article [PDF] looking into the effect of gum-chewing.

It seems that the bottom line is that when people chewed gum for 15 minutes, they ate slightly less sweet foods (36 Calories) than when they didn't chew the gum.

There are a few shortcomings of such research:

• The numbers were small - just 40 women and 20 men - of which only 9 were overweight or obese.
• The results were also skewed by those called "restrained eaters". Those who were good at denying themselves food tended to be the ones who ate less after chewing the gum.
• This is no double-blind research. Either you were chewing the gum or you weren't. Who is to say how the gum-chewers consciously or subconsciously changed their eating habits?
• The research was "supported" by an Educational Award from the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.

Then there is, of course, the aspartame - a controversial subject. However despite the collection of research claiming there's nothing wrong with aspartame - the massive body of anecdotal evidence gives many of us pause.

Recently a woman made headlines (supported by her doctor) claiming that the aspartame in chewing gum lead to a myriad of health problems . Of course the 4 packet-a-day habit didn't help.

I chew gum - but I'm not going to kid myself that I will lose pounds because of it. Does gum curb your cravings?

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