Yes. You read that correctly. Chewing reduces stress! I was listening to a podcast about colour code and food. The colour code refers to the colour of vegetables having unique phytochemical properties that benefit health. However, this blog is not about the colour code. It is about chewing and stress. With this new idea I thought, "This is one of the nuttiest things that I’ve heard. The more you chew, the greater the relaxation response‽"
However, when I have had this thought in the past, the information presented was true. So, I began to dig into the scientific literature. And behold, I found this study. In the introduction, they referenced three sources that discuss chewing and stress reduction! Here is the section:
There is increasing evidence that chewing serves as a stress-coping behavior in humans [32]. An intervention of gum chewing demonstrated decreased levels of anxiety and mood [33] while a higher chewing frequency reduces the stress hormone concentrations [34]
This is an easy way to reduce stress in your life. When you are eating something, simply chew it a bit more and see if your mood improves. Please give it a try and leave me a message in the comments to let me know how it went for you. Thanks for reading! #lifestylemedicine#slowfood
Photo by Rudi Fargo on Unsplash