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/
15.2k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

567 comments sorted by

View all comments

49

u/cheetonian Mar 03 '25

I’m gagging just thinking about it…

37

u/tablecontrol Mar 03 '25

same.. i can't handle wooden things like tongue depressors or even wooden spoons, etc.. in my mouth.

I thought I was the only one like this until we went to an ice cream shop in Gruene, TX.. they gave me a wooden spoon and I just couldn't do it.

when I asked if they had a plastic one, they did & told me a certain fraction of their customers ask to swap out as well.

11

u/eucalyptusmacrocarpa Mar 03 '25

Plastic cutlery is illegal where I live. Wooden cutlery is ubiquitous, and awful.