Best Chewing Gums
Gum chewing is an ancient habit, and it is said to have started with Greeks chewing on mastic resin to sweeten their breath. With time chewing gum has become a cultural habit, which has long-standing medical benefits as well. Chewing gum is good for oral health, as it contains antiseptic properties and added flavors that keep your breath fresh. Recently psychologists have studied and established that chewing gum can result in improved cognitive behavior. So the humble gum has more benefits than meets the eye. We have listed out the best gum for you here.
1. Trident Sugar Free Tropical Twist Soft Gum
The pack contains 14 sugar-free gums that contain xylitol, which helps to fight plaque and hence reduces bad breath. They are sugar-free gums that have a fruit flavor. The gums are good for your teeth as well. They are soft and free of sodium. It is suitable for vegetarians.
2. Hubba Bubba Awesome Original Bubble Tape
Hubba bubba brings this new tape concept to the bubble gum. It comes in a round tape packaging to remove gum easily. The bubble gum tape runs 6 feet long and lasts longer than other bubble gums. It has an artificial flavour that refreshes your mouth. You can make bigger bubbles with this chewing gum.
3. Doublemint Spearmint Flavour Chewing Gum
Wrigley’s Doublemint spearmint is formulated for boosting your confidence for starting something fresh. Each pack weighs 13 grams and contains 5 sticks. You can easily carry this Doublemint chewing gum in your wallet, purse, or pocket.
It serves as a great stress-buster. The bold mint flavor of the Doublemint effectively kills the bad breath and ensures long-lasting fresh breath.
4. Happydent Wave
The pack contains coated liquid-filled bubble gums. Chewing the gum not only keeps your teeth healthy by neutralizing plaque but also the mint flavor keeps your breath fresh. Xylitol also has a low glycemic index and hence helps control your blood sugar levels. Also, the gum contains no added sugar or fat. It comes in an easy to carry a plastic bottle that you can tuck away in your pocket. The shelf life of the products is 12 months.
5. Hubba Bubba Chunky and Bubbly Bubble Gum
These bubble gums are chunky and soft. You will love the grape and strawberry flavor, which is the original Hubba Bubba flavor. A single pack contains 5 long strips of soft bubble gum. The bubble gums contain no artificial colors.
6. Orbit Sugar Free Chewing Gum
These sugar-free chewing gums will leave your mouth feeling fresh and cool as it is sweet-mint flavored. Sorbitol and maltitol help to fight germs in the mouth keeping your teeth healthy and clean. There is no fat or starch in the chewing gums.
Buying Guide
Gum
The main component of chewing gum or bubble gum is the rubbery gum. Earlier gums were extracted naturally and then made into chewable candies, but as sapodilla trees are difficult to grow and maintain, leading to environmental hazards due to forest depletion. Chewing gum manufacturers across the world have shifted to synthetic bases. Many of them use petroleum, wax, and other ingredients to keep production cost-effective. So basically, even though gums are considered healthy, ingesting them accidentally can lead to health hazards.
Myrrh
Myrrh is a common resin that is used in most chewing gums. It is mostly safe, but large doses of myrrh can be detrimental to your health. Consuming more than 2 to 4 g can lead to kidney disorders, heart rate changes, uterine bleeding in women, likely miscarriages in expectant mothers, glucose imbalance in surgery patients, and even systemic inflammation. While most manufacturers do not share the exact ingredients used to create the gum base, it is known that myrrh is the most commonly used base. The amount of myrrh in one gum may not be significantly high, but it is always better to be on the safer side. Also, before you discard chewing gums under the assumptions that myrrh may be a likely toxin, note that it is a resin and hence not soluble in water or saliva, which means if you do not swallow a chewing gum or allow it to rest in your mouth for longer than required, chances of you ingesting myrrh is very less.
Softeners
Many manufacturers market their chewing gums as soft. Such gums are a delight to chew on definitely, but you need to know that to make them soft, either waxes or vegetable oil is used. The latter adds to the unhealthy fat quotient. For wax, mostly paraffin is used, and ingesting paraffin can have serious health impacts like nausea and vomiting. Sustained consumption of paraffin can even lead to cancer.
Xylitol
Xylitol is a sugar alcohol, and while most nutritionists recommend optimal for consumption, some prefer to avoid food containing sugar alcohols as they can cause gastrointestinal issues (includes diarrhea and bloating), anomalies in blood sugar levels (can raise blood sugar in patients with diabetes), and even weight gain. However, research has concluded that 40 to 50 g of xylitol per day is permissible.
Aspartame
Most manufacturers are now substituting sugar in chewing gums with artificial sweeteners. Aspartame is the most commonly used. Long term use of aspartame is not good for you. It can have severe side effects like blindness, blurry vision, bulging eyes, hearing impairment, epileptic seizures, dementia, insomnia, shortness of breath, hypoglycemia, and allergic skin reactions. It is best to opt for natural sweeteners like stevia instead. Even if you are chewing gum containing aspartame, ensure that you chew only a couple a day or less.
Artificial flavors
In addition to the artificial gum base and sweeteners, chewing gums also contain synthetic flavors. The only advantage is that you do not actually eat the gums but simply chew. So be careful not to swallow gums and or fall asleep while chewing gum; it can choke you as well.
