What makes us improve our focus at work? A chewing gum?  

Our professional lives are rife with distractions – whether it’s our phones, office colleagues, or even just whatever happens outside of the nearest window. 

A whopping 70% of Americans feel distracted during their work days, with 16 percent claiming they’re almost always distracted. A 2018 report found that half of the surveyed employees believed that they are significantly less productive because of workplace distractions. 

Amongst the most commonly identified distractions are chatty coworkers, office noise, email consumption, smartphone usage, social media, meetings, and multitasking. The survey did also establish that one in five of the respondents used relaxation techniques or meditation to wind down from the stress of work and regain focus.

An underrated helper in the world of attaining focus in a professional environment is sugar-free chewing gum. So, does chewing gum help you focus? Here is the evidence.

A 2015 study found that “chewing gum was associated with enhanced productivity and reduced cognitive errors at work, as well as heightened cortisol in the morning“, and that it was associated with heightened alertness, increased productivity, and fewer cognitive problems. 

In 2002, researchers used control groups to analyze the impact of chewing gum on memory retention, and it improved the abilities of test subjects in both immediate and delayed word recall. 

In 2009, researchers found that “chewing gum condition was associated with significantly better alertness and reduced state anxiety, stress, and salivary cortisol. Overall performance on the framework was also significantly better in the chewing condition“, and also outlined that chewing gum improved the subject’s mood in stressful situations. Additionally, chewing gum can serve as a distraction-free replacement for fidgeting, which can help individuals to focus on a task at hand.

Chewing sugar-free gum increases saliva flow which helps to wash away bacteria, viruses, and toxins in the mouth, nasopharynx, and upper gastrointestinal tract. This makes it not merely a sweet treat during work hours but an item that adds health-conscious benefits. 

In fact, following a lunch break at work, it is a sensible decision to substitute the supposed need for coffee with a piece of sugar-free gum, as it not only has the aforementioned benefits towards sustained focus and memory but also clears food debris. 

“Overall, these data confirmed our hypothesis that, since the occlusal surfaces are in direct contact with the chewing gum during the mastication process, there would be greater debris reduction on these sites, while the interproximal and gingival margin areas are less directly accessible and affected by the action of the chewing gum and would show less reduction. Chewing gum clearly increased the rate of clearance of debris from the interproximal and gingival margin areas“, according to a research article from 2012. 

This comes as years of scientific research have underlined the helping effects of oral and dental hygiene presented by sugarless chewing gum.