There are lots of things we want to do in life.

Climb a mountain, write a song, watch our grandchildren go up.

But guess what?

We can't do any of those things if we don't have our health.

Welcome to the Nutrition Facts Podcast.

I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

And I am here to bring you evidence-based research that takes the mystery out of the best

way to live a healthier, longer life.

Today on the show, we examine the effects of gum chewing on hunger and appetite.

Horus Fletcher proclaimed one of his obituaries in 1919 taught the world to chew.

Also known as the great masticator, Fletcher was a health reformer who popularized the

idea of chewing each mouthful more than 32 times one for every tooth.

It wasn't put to the test though until nearly a century later.

People were told to eat pasta until they were comfortably full, but were randomized,

either chew each mouthful ten times or chew each mouthful thirty five times before swallowing.

The subjects were told it was a study about the effects of chewing on mood, but that was

just a ruse.

What the researchers really want to know is whether prolonged chewing reduced food intake.

And those who chewed more felt full earlier than those who chewed less such that they ended

up eating about a third of a cup less pasta overall.

If chewing and somebody suppresses your appetite, what about chewing gum as a weight loss

strategy?

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