Gum chewing while walking increases fat oxidation and energy expenditure

Gum chewing while walking increases walking distance and energy expenditure: A randomized, single-blind, controlled, cross-over study

Background/objective

Gum chewing while walking increases walking distance and energy expenditure in middle-aged male and female individuals. This study aimed to examine the effects of gum chewing while walking on walking distance and energy metabolism in male and female individuals of various age groups.

Methods

Fifty participants (25 male and 25 female individuals) aged 22-69 years completed two trials in a random order. In the gum trial, participants walked at a natural pace for 15 min while chewing two gum pellets (1.5 g, 3 kcal per pellet) following a 50-min rest period. In the tablet trial, participants rested for 50 min before walking, and the participants then walked at a natural pace for 15 min after ingesting two pellets of tablet containing the same ingredients with the exception of the gum base. The walking distance, step count, walking speed, stride, heart rate, energy expenditure, and respiratory exchange ratio were measured.

Results

Walking distance, step count, walking speed, heart rate, and energy expenditure during walking were significantly higher in the gum trial than in the tablet trial. In participants aged ≥40 years, walking distance, walking speed, stride, heart rate, and energy expenditure during walking were significantly increased during the gum trial compared with those during the tablet trial.

Conclusion

The study findings demonstrated that gum chewing while walking increased walking distance and energy expenditure in both male and female individuals.

The Effects of Chewing Gum in Preventing Eyestrain

Purpose

To investigate the effects of chewing gum and tablet candy to reduce eyestrain in healthy individuals.

Materials and Methods

A double-blinded crossover trial was conducted. Forty-six healthy individuals (23 men, 23 women) between 20 and 59 years old, feeling eyestrain, were enrolled. Each 10-year age group included 12 individuals except the 30s group, which included 10 individuals. A visual task was performed on reading material displayed on a computer screen at a fixed distance for 60 min. Gum or tablet candy of two pieces were chewed for two 15-min periods starting 15 and 45 min after starting to read. Subjects chewed gum on Day 1 and tablet candy on Day 2, and vice versa. Primary outcome is as follows: subjective eye fatigue (eye tiredness, eye heaviness, blurred vision, double vision, and eye dryness) using a visual analog scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes are as follows: subjective accommodation from near and far points of accommodation measured with a D'ACOMO, spherical equivalent refraction, and eye dryness by analyzing ring break-up time (RBUT) measured with the RT-7000 Auto Ref-Topographer.

Results

The VAS scores of subjective eye fatigue were not significantly changed between chewing gum and tablet candy (P = 0.397 − P = 0.909). Those scores of eye tiredness and eye heaviness were significantly longer before and after the visual task with tablet candy (P = 0.013 and P = 0.025, respectively) but not with chewing gum. The changes of subjective accommodation were significantly lower after the visual task between chewing gum and candy (P = 0.043). There were significant differences among each age group (20 s vs. 30 s, P = 0.594; 20 s vs. 40 s, P = 0.002; 20 s vs. 50 s, P = 0.002). After reading, the changes of spherical equivalent refraction did not indicate a shift toward myopia (P = 0.267). In the RBUT, there were no significant differences between the samples (P = 0.680).

Conclusions

Chewing gum helps improve the ability of the eye to focus, especially in young adults.