r/psychology • u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA | Clinical Professor/Medicine • Mar 03 '25
Chewing different materials affects the brain and a new study found that chewing on wood (wooden tongue depressors), compared to chewing gum, led to a significant increase in a natural brain antioxidant called glutathione, and better performance on memory tasks.
https://www.psypost.org/chewing-wood-may-boost-memory-and-brain-antioxidants-study-finds/93
u/mvea MD-PhD-MBA | Clinical Professor/Medicine Mar 03 '25
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2024.1489919/full
From the linked article:
Chewing on moderately hard foods, like wood, might do more than just break down your lunch; new research suggests it could actually boost brainpower by increasing levels of a natural antioxidant, which in turn may improve memory. A recent study published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience explored how chewing different materials affects the brain and found that chewing on wood, compared to chewing gum, led to a significant increase in a brain antioxidant called glutathione.
After analyzing the data, the researchers found some interesting results. First, they looked at the glutathione levels in the anterior cingulate cortex before and after chewing. In the group that chewed wood, they observed a significant increase in glutathione levels after chewing compared to before. This means that chewing wood seemed to boost the amount of this important antioxidant in that brain region.
However, in the gum-chewing group, there was no significant change in glutathione levels after chewing. While there wasn’t a statistically significant difference in the change in glutathione levels between the gum and wood groups directly, the trend was clearly towards a greater increase in the wood-chewing group.
Next, the researchers examined the relationship between changes in glutathione levels and performance on the cognitive tests. They found that in the wood-chewing group, the increase in glutathione levels was positively related to scores on immediate memory and story memory tests. This means that participants who showed a larger increase in glutathione after chewing wood also tended to perform better on memory tasks.
Interestingly, this relationship was not found in the gum-chewing group. There was no link between changes in glutathione and memory performance for those who chewed gum. In essence, chewing wood seemed to both increase brain antioxidant levels and improve certain aspects of memory, and these two changes appeared to be connected.
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u/ToolPackinMama Mar 03 '25
Who's going to tell them that wood is not a food?
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u/ErebosGR Mar 03 '25
While there wasn’t a statistically significant difference in the change in glutathione levels between the gum and wood groups directly, the trend was clearly towards a greater increase in the wood-chewing group.
How do you hypothesize a trend if the difference between groups was not statistically significant?
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u/Munkeyz Mar 03 '25
because we define statistical significance as something having a p value below .05 completely arbitrarily. a finding associated with a p value of 0.1 still probably means the null hypothesis isn't correct, but we can't be quite as confident in it.
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u/ZenythhtyneZ Mar 03 '25
Statistically significant in medicine is set at 2% so even if it’s not statistically significant you can still see it that said, still a good question
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u/Herban_Myth Mar 03 '25
Chewing Tobacco excluded?
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u/Dekklin Mar 03 '25
Depends on how you pronounce it. If you say "Chawin' Tabacky" then probably excluded.
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u/YoYoYi2 Mar 03 '25
The teachers that gave out to me for chewing pencils can burn in hell.
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u/deepasleep Mar 03 '25
Well that paint was probably not very good for you.
I shudder to think how many years I shaved off my life chewing on pens and pencils as a kid.
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u/burke3057 Mar 03 '25 edited Mar 03 '25
Time to go get that box of popsicles!
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u/banned4being2sexy Mar 03 '25
Are they sure it isn't just the novelty of chewing on wood that caused this reaction. We are driven to learn about new things because it feels good to do so for us.
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u/Madam_Hel Mar 03 '25
After one study of 52 participants similar in age, they’re not sure of anything. They do state themselves that other ages, health statuses, materials, might produce different results, so I’d just consider this a fun finding instead of a fact that makes me stock up on popsickle sticks.
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u/Ok_Psychology_504 Mar 03 '25
52? Lmao this is worthless.
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u/ConfinedNutSack Mar 03 '25
Ah, you never got past highschool level statistics. Or learned about the cost of studies based on participants (n).
Keep your opinion to yourself until you've educated yourself beyond grade 6.
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u/IndianLawStudent Mar 03 '25
It probably is.
When we do new things new synapses form. Particularly where there is some kind of new physical stimulation involved. This would be a new texture and new experience in the mouth for some.
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u/isendingtheworld Mar 03 '25
Gotta repeat the study with a group of neurodivergent people who are constantly chewing on pencils, pens, and basically anything else we can get our hands on. I would gladly volunteer to be given random stuff to chew.
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u/UnemployedCat Mar 03 '25
A beaver wrote this, right ?
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u/Left_Composer_1403 Mar 03 '25
Is that a problem?
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u/Phoenix732 Mar 03 '25
Welp time to chew sunflower seed shells lol
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u/TheSunflowerSeeds Mar 03 '25
The area around sunflowers can often be devoid of other plants, leading to the belief that sunflowers kill other plants.
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u/Phoenix732 Mar 03 '25
I was referring to how sunflower seed shells are made out of lignin and cellulose making them almost identical to wood (not sure if they're chemically structured in the same way but alas)
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u/Salt-Resident7856 Mar 03 '25
Could this be an explanation for the Neanderthal tooth wear pattern?
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u/PFEFFERVESCENT Mar 03 '25
I think we can safely attribute Neanderthal tooth wear on the available diet of Neanderthals.
I highly doubt they were chewing on tongue depressors for research purposes
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u/sapientsciolist Mar 03 '25
“Chewing on moderately hard foods, like wood…” Now wood is a food group? 🤣🤣🤣
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u/Solid-Version Mar 03 '25
That’s interesting. I’m chronic toothpick chewer and there’s always a certain sensation it gives me that I’ve never been fully able to explain.
Like I feel slightly more focused and relaxed. Especially when I’m reading.
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u/mdandy88 Mar 03 '25
have you ever chewed a tongue depressor? I'm shuddering just thinking about it
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u/SakuraRein Mar 03 '25
Yes. Lol not supposed to gnaw it like gum, best way to get splinters in your mouth. I get what they’re saying and used to do it, it is kinda satisfying.
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u/mdandy88 Mar 03 '25
No, like I remember as a kid...popsicle sticks. I'd avoid getting my teeth on the wood. Makes my skin crawl just thinking about it
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u/temporaryfeeling591 Mar 03 '25
I'm both. For some reason, dragging my teeth across a stick to slide the ice cream off is awful, but give me a stick to chew on, and it's great
I have no explanation for this difference
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u/ThatsAllFolksAgain Mar 03 '25
People in India chew on the Neem sticks.
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u/2beatenup Mar 03 '25
As brushing teeth… instead of tooth paste and toothbrush…. Let that sink in.
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u/ThatsAllFolksAgain Mar 03 '25
Yeah but many do it throughout the day. Also, licorice sticks are great for stomach aches and digestion as well as cold and cough.
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u/flavormango3 Mar 03 '25
Muslims have been doing it for centuries but the wooden stick we use is called miswak and it’s from a specific tree called Salvadora persica. It’s used for teeth cleaning!
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u/2beatenup Mar 03 '25
All the so called “third world” countries people do this. It’s a natural and healthy thing…
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Mar 03 '25
Oh oh, do plastic straws next. I've been waiting my whole life for this study.
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u/buddhistbulgyo Mar 03 '25
I think the microplastics flooding your bloodstream take away the benefits.
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Mar 03 '25
That's what I'm curious about. I actually think plastic straws are pretty damaging to human health.
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u/Lucky_Diver Mar 03 '25
How much better? If it's worth doing they put the percentage increase in the title.
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u/amritisrani Mar 03 '25
Huh! So Datun (neem twig) chewing helped a lot and we use toothpaste and toothbrush
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u/trickier-dick Mar 03 '25
I told my wife putting wood in her mouth was good for the brain but she still refuses.
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u/Unhappylightbulb Mar 03 '25
But…it’s gross. Who wants to chew on popsicle sticks? Without even the joy of the popsicle!?
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u/Skyecatcher Mar 03 '25
Even as a child who had very little access to sweets, when given an ice cream with a wood “spoon” I would stop before I had to touch the wood.
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u/skinnyfatfilam Mar 03 '25
Glutathione? The one iv drug that is all the rage for skin whitening in Asia?
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u/cjscholten81 Mar 03 '25
"See, honey, science has proven that eating Magnums every day is healthy!!"
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u/benbraddock5 Mar 03 '25
Has there been a study on how chewing on wood leads to cracked teeth and high costs for dental crowns? I'm willing to bet that they would also find that there's a correlation between increased incidences of this with increased age of the study participants.
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u/Kabi1930 Mar 05 '25
Ancient Indian medical wisdom (Ayurveda) recommends chewing on licorice root sticks for multiple benefits.
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u/Suspicious-Call2084 Mar 03 '25
People chewing on toothpicks are the wise guys I see.