Does Chewing Gum Actually Reduce Stress? What Studies Found

The Original Finding

A frequently cited study from Northumbria University found that chewing gum during an acute laboratory stress task reduced self-reported negative mood and lowered cortisol levels compared with not chewing gum -- a genuinely positive result that helped popularize the idea.

Later Research Complicated the Picture

A follow-up study from the Technical University of Munich found that chewing unflavored gum during a cognitive stress task did not reduce cortisol, and actually increased markers of sympathetic nervous system activity (the "alert" side of the nervous system) -- essentially the opposite of a calming effect, at least in that specific setup.

Why the Results Might Differ

Differences in gum flavor, the type of stress task used, and individual variation in how people respond to chewing as a behavior likely explain some of the inconsistency -- flavored gum, and the rhythmic, repetitive motion of chewing itself, may matter more than "chewing gum" as a single, uniform intervention.

A Reasonable Take

Chewing gum is a low-cost, low-risk habit that some people find genuinely calming or focusing, and there is real research supporting a benefit in some conditions -- but the evidence isn't consistent enough to call it a reliably effective stress-reduction technique the way slow breathing or progressive muscle relaxation are.

Worth Trying, Not Worth Relying On

If chewing gum happens to help you personally, there's little downside to continuing -- just don't treat it as a substitute for a technique with more consistent evidence behind it if stress is a persistent problem rather than an occasional one.