A Healthy DoseTM
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A Healthy Dose™ is hilarious.
A Healthy Dose™ is hilarious.
Chew on This
There is an American Institute of Stress, which is located in Yonkers, NY, a hotbed of stressed-out Americans. You think you’re stressed out about your job? Think about the people at the American Institute of Stress, where it’s all stress, all the time. However, the AIS a non-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation and, logically speaking, it would be pretty relaxing to be an organization that MUST NOT make a profit. I do that all the time without any numbers by my name. Unfortunately, for me, that’s a pretty significant source of my stress.
If you join the AIS, the organization will e-mail you “Stress Scoops” to keep you posted on the latest in stress topics. One recent Scoop reported the secret to reducing stress. It’s not yoga, meditation, medication, or even a vacation to a tropical location, because of the potential for sunburn, conga lines, and other very stressful events. The sticky little secret: Gum. Yes, Hubba Bubba is your key to calm.
The source of this scientific fact is the Wrigley Science Institute. As in the William Wrigley Jr. Company, which has been manufacturing gum for more than a century. It’s also the company that once owned the Chicago Cubs, so they know a thing or two about stress. Wrigley the Company created Wrigley the Science Institute in order to study the myriad health benefits a stick of gum can offer its chewers. The Institute’s research includes 2003 and 2005 studies that show 26 percent of teens and 15 percent of adults agree with the statement, “When I am tense or excited, chewing gum helps calm me.” In addition, 28 percent of teens and 15 percent of adults say, “Chewing gum is a great way to help me feel more relaxed.” A 2006 study of heavy gum users found that more than half of study participants agree with the statement, “Chewing gum helps me cope with everyday stress.” The results show that those researchers must be pretty anxious, trying to find so many gum chewers to interview year after year, and then trying to get through the interview without screaming because of the annoying sound of gum snapping.
Other studies (by researchers not affiliated with Wrigley or the Cubs) have found further benefits of gum chewing, including improving memory, attention, and digestion. One Mayo Clinic study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that chewing several pieces of sugar-free gum very quickly during every waking moment would lead to an 11-pound weight loss in a year. That weight loss probably comes less from the calories burned by the act of chewing gum and more from the fact that you can’t eat a cheeseburger and chew six sticks of Juicy Fruit® at the same time.
Chewing gum really does relieve stress for some people. The best way to reduce your own stress is to find an activity you enjoy that takes your mind off your problems – or, even helps you work through your problems. For you, the answer may be exercise, music, prayer, or knitting. You’ve seen people wearing scarves that they wrap around themselves several times, yet the ends still drag on the ground? Those really long scarves are gifts from a formerly stressed Aunt Jane. Many people swear by the relaxing effects of massage, acupressure, and aromatherapy.
Laughter also is a well-known stress reliever. Coincidentally, gum has great comedic potential, adding to its stress-reducing qualities. When I was a kid, watching my brother’s face when I gave him a stick of pepper gum never failed to crack me up. However, I had to find another way to deal with the stress of the beating that followed.
