Chewing gums reduce craving for junk food?

Want to cut down on your daily intake of junk food? Start chewing gums, for a new study says that it can reduce your craving for snacks.

Researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Louisiana State University have based their findings on an analysis of a group of 115 men and women, some of whom chewed a sugar-free gum three times hourly in the afternoon.

The study found that those who chewed gums consumed less snacks and specifically, less sweet snacks than they did when they did not chew gum.

Lead researcher Paula J Geiselman said: "Overall, this research demonstrates the potential role chewing gum can play in appetite control, reduction of snack cravings and weight management.

"Even small changes in calories can have an impact in the long term. And, this research supports the role of chewing gum as an easy, practical tool for managing snack, especially sweet snack, intake and cravings."

In fact, in the study, the participants, 115 men and women, between the ages of 18 and 54, were all regular gum chewers. They came to the laboratory twice -- once for the gum condition and the other for the no gum condition.

During each visit, subjects were given sandwiches for lunch, nutrient rich enough to account for one fourth of their recommended daily caloric intake. They remained in laboratory and for the next three hours, they either chewed sugar-free gum for 15 minutes hourly for three hours or did not chew gum.

Participants filled out questionnaires rating their self-perceived levels of hunger, cravings for snacks and energy levels. Three hours after lunch, they were offered a variety of snacks including high sugar foods and high complex carbohydrate foods that contained either high or low fat.

Subjects could eat as much as they wanted of any or all snack food categories. When they chewed gum, on average, they reported significantly decreased feelings of hunger and cravings for something sweet.

In addition, the gum chewers felt they maintained energy levels throughout the afternoon and felt significantly less drowsy at hours two and three before the afternoon snack, revealed the findings, presented at the Experimental Biology 2009 meeting in New Orleans.