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Chewing gum impairs memory
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A new study by UK scientists at the Cardiff Institute has found that chewing gum is not the best way to improve your ability to concentrate and remember.
During the experiment, participants memorized words and numbers in a certain order. Sometimes they were shown them, and sometimes they were read out. In addition, they were also asked to determine which objects were missing from the row that they had previously been shown.
During the experiment, the subjects chewed gum non-stop. As it turned out, almost all of them had problems remembering the order of words, numbers and objects. This began to be especially pronounced after about 20 minutes of chewing.
The results of this study thoroughly undermine the fashionable concept of recent years, according to which the procedure of chewing has a beneficial effect on memory. The scientists explain it this way: chewing gum is a constantly cyclical, fairly monotonous action. "When we are worried and drum our fingers on the table, and at the same time we need to remember, for example, a phone number, most often we will not succeed. Chewing gum has the same effect," they conclude.
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