Phase 1 - Research

Wrigley’s Extra sugarfree gum. One of Extra’s biggest selling points is the emphases on oral heath rather than flavour like other chewing gum brands. In fact every Wrigley’s Extra chewing gum has “helps keep teeth and gums healthy” written on the packet. When Extra was launched in Australia in 1987 it was the first sugarfree gum in the market, a revolution to the product category. Since then Extra haven’t slowed down at all in terms of being the supreme chewing gum brand and still a healthy consumer choice.

Over two decades of clinical research shows chewing sugarfree gum after eating and drinking is beneficial to oral health. However in recent studies extra has now been proven to have an active role in stress relief and also weight management. New research has confirmed that chewing sugarfree gum significantly suppresses sweet snack cravings and helps curb kilojoule intake. The study, presented at the recent American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2009 shows that people who chew gum after a meal significantly reduced their desire to eat sweet snacks compared to those who did not chew. The gum-chewing cohort experienced a reduction in energy intake of 160kj compared to those who did not chew.

Meanwhile in the Swinburne University in Melbourne, a study has found that chewing sugarfree gum increases alertness, improves performance and can reduce anxiety during mild stress by 16%. In fact, people in the know are already using chewing gum to help improve focus, concentration and alertness. Chewing gum may also help with multi-tasking, recent research shows chewing gum results in an improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities while under a laboratory stressor. A new study presented at the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2009 found that chewing sugarfree gum can lead to better academic performance in teenagers in a classroom setting.

Links to the information are here

-          Stress, focus – http://www.wrigley.com/aunz/benefits-of-chewing/stress-relief.aspx

-          Weight management - http://www.wrigley.com/aunz/benefits-of-chewing/diet.aspx