Gum and the Brain

May 9, 2006 6:52 PM

Does chewing gum increase serotonin production in the brain?
posted by iced_borsch to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

I have heard that repetitive motion increases serotonin, so if that's the case, then yeah, I'd expect so. To me, this always explained a lot, like the oft-repeated (in my household, anyway) quip that a good treatment for depression is to go dig a ditch, along with the therapeutic value of cooking (chopping vegetables, etc) and cleaning, and why I always overtweeze my eyebrows in the winter.

But I don't want to be one of those people who spreads misinformation or distortions on AskMe so now I'm off to look for a more reliable source than my mental repository of random health facts. I will let you know if I find anything.
posted by granted at 7:27 PM on May 9, 2006

Oh yeah, and the sugar in the gum will probably also give you a temporary serotonin boost.
posted by granted at 7:30 PM on May 9, 2006

Best answer: Okay, so I searched google for serotonin and repetitive behavior and the closest I found to a direct link is a number of studies treating repetitive behavior in autistic people with SSRIs. Here's a quote from a 2000 article from Neuropsychopharmacology (I'm not sure if that link will be accessible to everyone - I had to use my student login):

Pharmacological treatment studies support a role of 5-HT in autistic disorders. Double-blind studies of the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI's) clomipramine (Gordon et al. 1993), fluvoxamine (McDougle et al. 1996b), and fluoxetine (Hollander et al., unpublished data), as well as open label studies of fluoxetine (Mehlinger et al. 1990) and sertraline (Steingard et al. 1997) have documented efficacy in treating both global autistic symptoms as well as symptoms of repetitive behaviors and restricted interests in up to 60% of patients treated.

So, if you are comfortable with making the following argument:
1. SSRIs help alleviate repetitive behavior in those with autism (and OCD, come to think of it)
2. Therefore, increasing serotonin levels decreases repetitive behavior
3. It is thus possible that the repetitive behavior itself might be a person's way of increasing his or her low levels of serotonin (not consciously, obviously)
4. Therefore, repetitive motion increases serotonin
5. Chewing gum involves repetitive motion
6. Therefore, chewing gum increases serotonin
...then I would say the answer is a tentative yes.

Sorry for bogarting this thread, especially since I'm sure there are people here who know wayyy more about this than I do. I just really don't want to study for my exams.
posted by granted at 7:58 PM on May 9, 2006

Possibly the reason people bob their legs up and down when at a sitting position when they're eager for something.. trying to relieve the overpresence of seratonin and be more relaxed, get the energy out of their system.

I frequently get sleepy at work (3rd shift) but I have never tried gum. I'll have to try that, maybe.
posted by vanoakenfold at 8:36 PM on May 9, 2006

Best answer: There was a care package drive at my kid's school for the troops, and I asked why gum was on the list. I was told that chewing gum releases tension, in fact, here's what wikipedia says about that:

The U.S. Armed Forces have regulary supplied soldiers with chewing gum since World War I because it helped both to improve the soldiers' concentration and to relieve stress. Recent studies show chewing gum can also improve one's mood. As of 2005, the US military is sponsoring development of a chewing gum formulation with an antibacterial agent, which should be able to replace conventional oral hygiene methods in the battlefield. [6]

That doesn't necessarily mean boosted serotonin levels, but it's not too farfetched, either.
posted by whatnot at 10:02 PM on May 9, 2006

Trismus, or involuntary clenching of the jaw, is a part of the serotonin syndrome, which is a syndrome of serotonin excess.

I don't know if the causal arrow goes in the other direction too.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:24 AM on May 10, 2006