The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. The international institution is quite clear in this regard: “this evil has reached epidemic proportions at a global level.” The data handled by those responsible for the WHO give an idea of its scope. Since 1975, the prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled, and today, 340 million children and adolescents and more than 1.9 billion adults are overweight .
To combat this condition, the WHO recommends limiting the intake of fats and sugars, consuming more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts and maintaining a certain physical activity, between two and three hours a week. Well, a new study promoted by a team of Japanese researchers suggests that chewing gum while walking could also promote weight loss, especially in men.
In an essay published in the Journal of Phsysical Therapy Science , these Sports Science experts say that individuals over 40 years of age who chew gum while walking cover more distance, move faster and consume more energy than those they don’t. To determine this, they studied the constants of 46 volunteers, between 21 and 69 years old, who were asked to walk at the pace they usually followed for 15 minutes. Some were instructed to also chew gum – its energy intake was calculated at about 3 kilocalories. Others, however, ingested a compound that contained the same ingredients – except for the gum base.
In men it is more noticeable
Thus, they found that the heart rate was significantly higher in all the participants who had chewed gum during the test. However, in men over 40, energy expenditure was also higher. They also took more steps and went further than people who had not.
According to the scientists, who presented their results at the last European Obesity Congress, held in Vienna, the differences occurred in both women and men, but in the latter it was much more notable. “It can be an effective way to deal with being overweight, especially in countries where walking is a widespread habit, such as Japan,” the researchers say in a statement. Although they have not tried to elucidate which is the link that could explain this phenomenon, they suspect that it could be related to a kind of cardiolocomotor synchronization, in which the heart rhythm is accompanied by a movement carried out repeatedly.
In any case, it is not the first time that gum consumption has been related to a possible loss of kilos. Already at the end of 1999, some specialists in endocrinology, nutrition and metabolism at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester (Minnesota), stated in The New England of Journal Medicine that doing so entailed an additional caloric expenditure, between 8 and 14 kilocalories per hour, that is, between 15 and 23% more than if it is not chewed.
Referencia: The effects of gum chewing while walking on physical and physiological functions. Yuka Hamada et al. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. DOI: doi.org/10.1589/jpts.30.625
Image: Dan Taylor-Watt via Flickr / CC
