Immediate and residual effects of functional chewing gum on sustained attention and mood

Chewing gum has been shown to improve aspects of cognition and mood with sustained attention being particularly receptive to the effects of chewing. Chewing gum may also be a useful vehicle for administering functional ingredients. The herbal extract Rhodiola rosea and certain B-vitamins have previously been shown to improve aspects of cognition and subjective state, but their combined effects have not been studied to date.

The current randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, balanced crossover study compared the effects of a functional gum containing Rhodiola rosea and B-vitamins to flavour-matched regular chewing gum and a flavour-matched placebo. Thirty-six healthy young participants completed measures of attention and mood at baseline, during chewing, and 1-h after chewing.

Chewing both functional and regular gum was shown to reduce errors on a digit vigilance task compared to placebo irrespective of whether measured during or after chewing. There were no benefits to adding functional ingredients to the gum.

Future chewing research should consider different formats of placebo. Sex differences in response to chewing and the impact of rate and intensity of chewing should also be explored.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05544500.