Chewing Gum for Weight Loss?

This ad from the 1960s for Vel-X gum, makes some pretty strong claims, regarding chewing gum and fat or weight loss. Fast forward to 2018 we also see some claims regarding gum improving weight loss. Could there be any truth to these claims?

Let’s think about how this would even work, assuming regular gum with no additives or stimulants, such as caffeine or nicotine.

One possibility is by increasing energy expenditure. In other words, could chewing gum increase our “calorie burn”, so much that we would be able to lose weight? We do have evidence that chewing gum like standing or fidgeting increases energy expenditure above rest. More specifically chewing gum expense about 11 more calories per hour than sitting quietly. That is about 19% higher, similar to standing, but quite a bit less than fidgeting.^1-2

With some traditional calculations, we might be tempted to suggest that chewing gum for something like eight hours a day for one year would result in 9 pounds of weight loss, assuming 3500 calories equal 1 pound of fat lost. There are two initial problems.

One, the estimate 3500 calories equaling 1 pound does not necessarily hold up as an exact measurement. Secondly, the more we use our muscles in the same way, the more efficient we get, thus expend less energy. As shown here with weight training, after weeks the same work out required less energy.³ So, while chewing gum might be 11 calories per hour at first, the energy needs and expenditure would likely decrease over time.

Luckily, we do not have to guess at what would happen with weight loss, as this potential myth was put to the test. The researchers had 100 participants chew gum 6 times per day for 90 total minutes for 8 weeks.⁴ They found no changes in body weight.

In addition, while there has been some limited evidence that chewing gum could possibly reduce cravings, these participants rated that chewing gum was only moderately effective in reducing their cravings, appetite or food intake, which brings us to a second possibility of how chewing gum could help us lose weight – and I believe is the most plausible – that is by reducing energy or caloric intake.

Let’s say you have a craving for some junk food, but instead of eating that junk food that is high in calories and low in nutrition, you chew a piece of gum. What happens? You end up eating less calories. If you made a habit of this little switch-a-roo tactic, you could lose weight.

Is there anything miraculous about the gum? No. It simply a tactic that could be used to reduce caloric intake. There are other tactics, such as being mindful, distracting yourself, intruding on your cravings with other thoughts, avoiding cues that make you want to eat unhealthy foods, or putting dog poo in a sandwich bag and smelling every time you get a craving. It's tactical.

Now others might want you to believe there is something special about the gum, which is the classic trick of “misattribution”, which I have seen used in the fitness industry, medicine, with supplements, exercise routines or fitness equipment. In this context, misattribution is when we think the cause or benefits come from one thing, but they are really coming from something else.

For example, there is likely nothing special about that intense exercise routine or program, rather it works because it is intense exercise. There is likely nothing special about that fad diet, rather has likely found a way to help you reduce your caloric intake from food in general, or from unhealthy food.

Anyway, chewing gum for weight loss could be plausible, if it allowed you to avoid unhealthy, high calorie foods, but has no current research support for this effect. For those who thought there was something special about gum, I hate to burst your bubble.

 References

1. Levine, J. A. (2003). Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 62(3), 667-679.
2. Levine, J., Baukol, P., & Pavlidis, I. (1999). The energy expended in chewing gum. New England Journal of Medicine, 341(27), 2100-2100.
3. Seliger, V., Dolej, L., Karas, V., & Pachlopnikova, I. (1968). Adaptation of trained athletes' energy expenditure to repeated concentric and eccentric muscle contractions. Internationale Zeitschrift für angewandte Physiologie einschließlich Arbeitsphysiologie, 26(3), 227-234.
4. Shikany, J. M., Thomas, A. S., McCubrey, R. O., Beasley, T. M., & Allison, D. B. (2012). Randomized controlled trial of chewing gum for weight loss. Obesity, 20(3), 547-552.

Graphics
Bubble gum picture. https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/young-woman-having-fun-with-a-chewing-gum_912575.htm. Designed by Freepik