r/science • u/mvea 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/omfghi2u Mar 03 '25

The toothpick people were on to something!

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u/lionturtl3 Mar 03 '25

Cinnamon toothpick ftw

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u/_BlackDove Mar 03 '25

I remember as a kid going over my friend's house and seeing a bunch of toothpicks stuck inside a tube of unsliced pepperoni. Thought that was weird. He said his Dad would leave them in there overnight to flavor them. Apparently he did it with other meats too.

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u/Unicorn_puke Mar 03 '25

I wonder why meats of all things?

Zip need a toothpick?