r/science Professor | Medicine Mar 03 '25

Neuroscience 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/
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u/EponymousTitus Mar 03 '25

Would this apply also to wooden toothpicks or liquorice sticks? I’m kind of stumped to think of other bits of wood i would actually want to out into my mouth.

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u/ImObviouslyOblivious Mar 03 '25

Birch wood tastes really good, I may look into getting birch sticks.. also Apple and hickory seem like good options?