As someone who's spouse is currently in their 3rd year of rehabilitation after TMJ (tempo-mandibular joint) reconstruction, let me warn you against any kind of chewing activity that involves either high direct pressures (ice, hard things that "crack", anything that resists biting down very much), or strong lateral forces (bagels, pizza crust).
We're about $60K in to her treatment. She's had the meniscus of the joints on both sides of her jaw surgically repaired and now is undergoing orthodontia to permit her jaw to safely re-align.
This after a year of excruciating pain (the TMJ was bone to bone contact), and a year of painful muscular rehab. Unless you are a maxillofacial surgeon or perhaps a particular specialty of orthodontia you are probably unaware of just how many muscles in the head have to re-learn how to work after TMJ problems.
The "straw that broke the camel's back" in her case?
I used to buy a pack of cashew nuts every day during lunchtime. One day I realized my jaw has started making a clicking sound and the muscle feels kinda loose. That was ten years ago; it's gotten somewhat better and I also learned to avoid that particular motion but never recovered.
Wishing good luck to your spouse with treatment and recovery.
Aside - so much for that touted improvements in US medical care bills. I've mentioned this before as a massive differentiator between Europe and US from what I can see from distance, and was shushed here on HN that only total losers get insurance that basically doesn't cover everything these days... 60k, wow, how many folks can't just fork that out of pocket and have to take a loan or just suffer till end of days?
I've had last year paragliding accident with both legs broken and badly bruised knee, underwent months of treatments, physio, tons of scans and still doing some hospital visits (ie had 2 MRIs few weeks ago). Cost? What cost? 3 weeks fully off work, salary kept coming 100%. This is in most capitalistic country in Europe - Switzerland, on basic health insurance (but accidents are 100% covered by employer's insurance by law here).
I assume this will turn into some kind of insane tiktok "life hack" trend that makes increasingly outrageous and false claims, and then in a couple months dentists will see their revenues jump.
The primary purpose of human teeth is not to chew on wood sticks for 5 minutes straight. Of course, on the internet no one knows if you're a panda.
From the study:
> In the wood-chewing group, changes in GSH concentrations demonstrated a positive correlation with immediate memory (r = 0.520, p = 0.008) and story memory (r = 0.439, p = 0.028) scores (Figure 3). However, no significant correlations were observed in the gum-chewing group.
Partly because my job requires more than 5 minutes of thinking, and partly because my dentist just told my I have a hairline fracture on one of my molars that might require a crown just a few months after having similar work done on another molar. It's been on my mind.
> The primary purpose of teeth is to chew food. Including moderately hard materials such as roots, etc.
Roots like carrots? Sure! In fact, I'm inclined to think it's unhealthy to just eat soft foods. Roots like a stick? Our teeth were not designed for that.
Fun fact, beavers incisors keep growing their whole life. Not mine though.
> However, the mechanisms linking cerebral blood flow increase to metabolic changes in the brain affecting cognition remain unclear.
Stanford research published after that article provides that answer: Face shape. It's not just better cognitive performance but the alternative contributes to face shape commonly perceived as "not beautiful".
The Stanford research, and no I don't have a link, concludes there are two activities responsible for these traits: slurping soft foods and mouth breathing. The alternative to chewing hard foods is slurping soft foods and the frequent activity of slurping alters the shape of a person's face as they grow because humans were really only designed to consistently slurp soft foods in infancy, but the shape of the face will elongate to compensate for slurping along with inferior jaw bone strength.
The alternative to nose breathing is mouth breathing, which drastically lowers oxygen intake which mimics and contributes to sleep apnea like conditions even while awake. There is a measured cognitive decline associated with the degree of oxygen suppressed in air intake. Mouth breathing also negatively contributes to developmental face shape, but less so than slurping soft foods.
Why? Internally to the face the nasal cavity is massive and largely not restricted, especially compared to the throat (pharynx) which is restricted and can accept only small volumes of air at a time. Because of that the body must work substantially harder to permit large air volumes through mouth breathing.
Just search google images for "pharynx". The visual difference in size is striking.
1. Your nose connects to the same tube as your mouth. Both paths pass through the throat and pharynx.
2. Compare the aperture size of the nostrils to the mouth and throat
3. Just look at the internal structure of the nasal cavity. It's a sensory organ and designed to maximize surface area contacting the air. In other words, it's full of obstructions that intentionally reduce airflow
Your thesis here is nonsense. You can't change a downstream restriction by changing conditions upstream.
If anything, adding restriction is probably what helps. By restricting airflow upstream of the lungs, you create a partial vacuum within the lungs which probably substantially alters the conditions for gas exchange. A partial vacuum probably greatly enhances CO2 rejection from the blood, but I'm not a biochemist.
I take it you invented some baseless conjecture. As a casual suggestion try searching the web for "mouth versus nose breathing" and see what the results say.
One of my biggest complaints about software developers is that so many claim to be engineers, but instead of measuring things (which is what engineers do) so many invent their own conclusions that tend to be wrong almost every time. It's disappointing.
I want to say that it’s not a linear relationship between hardness and cognitive function. There’s something about putting effort into biting something and it “giving” that, to me, makes this super satisfying and kinda puts me into a flow in a way. The tactical feedback is important. Maybe I’m just weird. :)
I do some language learning study at roughly the same time every morning with gum. I spike it with 1mg dose of Nicorette (which I get by cutting a 4mg square into quarters) for its well documented effects on learning and cognition. It hadn't ocured to me that chewing might have a benefit as well. As a former smoker, I'm well aware of how addictive nicotine is, so I'm careful.
"hard material"
think of the wreck and ruin, if it realy works
it will be possible to detect proximity to the "better" educational institutions just from the amount of gnaw marks
glycyrrhizic acid in licorice can drop your blood potassium level and cause cardiac arrhythmia, however, as well as commonly raising blood pressure [1]
Hmmm, whoever makes this should also infuse it with carbs so they can also make CHO mouth rinsing claims. Helps to have more than one gimmick in a product.
first thing that came to mind is toothpicks. wonder if that's where the idea for the study came from. There was a time when men always had a toothpick in their mouth. Guess there was something to it! Seems like the simplest way to "try" this technique as it's certainly tested - or are their health risks for chewing on a toothpick?
Don't swallow it. Your digestive system can't really break down wood. Small particles will pass through, but you definitely do not want a punctured intestine.
I kept a platter pack of almonds by my desk. I had to stop because it was starting to make me feel ill. There's no poison risk AFAIK from store bought almonds which are the sweet (not bitter) variety.
As someone who's spouse is currently in their 3rd year of rehabilitation after TMJ (tempo-mandibular joint) reconstruction, let me warn you against any kind of chewing activity that involves either high direct pressures (ice, hard things that "crack", anything that resists biting down very much), or strong lateral forces (bagels, pizza crust).
We're about $60K in to her treatment. She's had the meniscus of the joints on both sides of her jaw surgically repaired and now is undergoing orthodontia to permit her jaw to safely re-align.
This after a year of excruciating pain (the TMJ was bone to bone contact), and a year of painful muscular rehab. Unless you are a maxillofacial surgeon or perhaps a particular specialty of orthodontia you are probably unaware of just how many muscles in the head have to re-learn how to work after TMJ problems.
The "straw that broke the camel's back" in her case?
A pistachio nut.
I used to buy a pack of cashew nuts every day during lunchtime. One day I realized my jaw has started making a clicking sound and the muscle feels kinda loose. That was ten years ago; it's gotten somewhat better and I also learned to avoid that particular motion but never recovered.
Same, I have severe TMJ and there's never really any recovery. Just learn to chew a very specific way to avoid inflaming it. Absolutely miserable
I don't understand, what did the cashews do? They're pretty soft, no?
It's the constant chewing that did me in.
Huh, really? I didn't realise that was a thing, that sucks...
Wishing good luck to your spouse with treatment and recovery.
Aside - so much for that touted improvements in US medical care bills. I've mentioned this before as a massive differentiator between Europe and US from what I can see from distance, and was shushed here on HN that only total losers get insurance that basically doesn't cover everything these days... 60k, wow, how many folks can't just fork that out of pocket and have to take a loan or just suffer till end of days?
I've had last year paragliding accident with both legs broken and badly bruised knee, underwent months of treatments, physio, tons of scans and still doing some hospital visits (ie had 2 MRIs few weeks ago). Cost? What cost? 3 weeks fully off work, salary kept coming 100%. This is in most capitalistic country in Europe - Switzerland, on basic health insurance (but accidents are 100% covered by employer's insurance by law here).
I assume this will turn into some kind of insane tiktok "life hack" trend that makes increasingly outrageous and false claims, and then in a couple months dentists will see their revenues jump.
You can google the book "Jaws: A hidden epidemic" if you'd like to get started in the rabbit hole without delay!
I just googled "indium chewing gum" and was not disappointed.
Please also include the effect decades later after extensive dental work.
Why would using your teeth for their primary purpose require extensive dental work?
The primary purpose of human teeth is not to chew on wood sticks for 5 minutes straight. Of course, on the internet no one knows if you're a panda.
From the study: > In the wood-chewing group, changes in GSH concentrations demonstrated a positive correlation with immediate memory (r = 0.520, p = 0.008) and story memory (r = 0.439, p = 0.028) scores (Figure 3). However, no significant correlations were observed in the gum-chewing group.
The primary purpose of teeth is to chew food. Including moderately hard materials such as roots, etc.
I am not convinced that chewing on wood sticks for a few minutes will require dental work at all. Much less extensive dental work.
Why do you think it would require extensive dental work?
Partly because my job requires more than 5 minutes of thinking, and partly because my dentist just told my I have a hairline fracture on one of my molars that might require a crown just a few months after having similar work done on another molar. It's been on my mind.
> The primary purpose of teeth is to chew food. Including moderately hard materials such as roots, etc.
Roots like carrots? Sure! In fact, I'm inclined to think it's unhealthy to just eat soft foods. Roots like a stick? Our teeth were not designed for that.
Fun fact, beavers incisors keep growing their whole life. Not mine though.
Also, excessive chewing can lead to TMJ issues.
> However, the mechanisms linking cerebral blood flow increase to metabolic changes in the brain affecting cognition remain unclear.
Stanford research published after that article provides that answer: Face shape. It's not just better cognitive performance but the alternative contributes to face shape commonly perceived as "not beautiful".
The Stanford research, and no I don't have a link, concludes there are two activities responsible for these traits: slurping soft foods and mouth breathing. The alternative to chewing hard foods is slurping soft foods and the frequent activity of slurping alters the shape of a person's face as they grow because humans were really only designed to consistently slurp soft foods in infancy, but the shape of the face will elongate to compensate for slurping along with inferior jaw bone strength.
The alternative to nose breathing is mouth breathing, which drastically lowers oxygen intake which mimics and contributes to sleep apnea like conditions even while awake. There is a measured cognitive decline associated with the degree of oxygen suppressed in air intake. Mouth breathing also negatively contributes to developmental face shape, but less so than slurping soft foods.
I don't get why mouth-breathing drastically lowers oxygen intake.
As I understand it, when exhaling, the nose create backpressure that facilitates gas transfer in the lungs.
However, my nose is decorative, and I must breath though my mouth. No repercussions as I can mountain climb.
Makes no sense - I'd expect the opposite, given how easier it is to breathe in and out larger volume of air through the mouth than through the nose.
Why? Internally to the face the nasal cavity is massive and largely not restricted, especially compared to the throat (pharynx) which is restricted and can accept only small volumes of air at a time. Because of that the body must work substantially harder to permit large air volumes through mouth breathing.
Just search google images for "pharynx". The visual difference in size is striking.
1. Your nose connects to the same tube as your mouth. Both paths pass through the throat and pharynx.
2. Compare the aperture size of the nostrils to the mouth and throat
3. Just look at the internal structure of the nasal cavity. It's a sensory organ and designed to maximize surface area contacting the air. In other words, it's full of obstructions that intentionally reduce airflow
Your thesis here is nonsense. You can't change a downstream restriction by changing conditions upstream.
If anything, adding restriction is probably what helps. By restricting airflow upstream of the lungs, you create a partial vacuum within the lungs which probably substantially alters the conditions for gas exchange. A partial vacuum probably greatly enhances CO2 rejection from the blood, but I'm not a biochemist.
I take it you invented some baseless conjecture. As a casual suggestion try searching the web for "mouth versus nose breathing" and see what the results say.
One of my biggest complaints about software developers is that so many claim to be engineers, but instead of measuring things (which is what engineers do) so many invent their own conclusions that tend to be wrong almost every time. It's disappointing.
I used to always chew on a scrap piece of CAT5 when doing cabling etc
Intaking plastics, even a little bit, doesn't sound very wise, so we'll have to find us something else to chew.
I want to say that it’s not a linear relationship between hardness and cognitive function. There’s something about putting effort into biting something and it “giving” that, to me, makes this super satisfying and kinda puts me into a flow in a way. The tactical feedback is important. Maybe I’m just weird. :)
The term for this in the food business is "mouthfeel". It is a gigantic part of their R&D process.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_rheology#Psychorheology
How about chewing gum? Especially chewing Xylitol chewing gum.
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-996/xylitol
I do some language learning study at roughly the same time every morning with gum. I spike it with 1mg dose of Nicorette (which I get by cutting a 4mg square into quarters) for its well documented effects on learning and cognition. It hadn't ocured to me that chewing might have a benefit as well. As a former smoker, I'm well aware of how addictive nicotine is, so I'm careful.
In Turkiye, they have unflavored gum. I couldn't believe it!
Now I know, now I know. Interesting new fact of the day.
I wonder how it affects the teeth? Perhaps it helps strengthen them. Perhaps it wears them down more quickly. I couldn't hazard a guess.
[ETA: After reading about the TMJ elsehere, it looks like that mandibular joint is of greater concern. Gotta be careful with that wear-and-tear.]
Unflavored chewing gum:
https://www.amazon.com/Falim-Sugarless-Plain-Pack-Pieces/dp/...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186114277099?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=2...
Do not binge Xylitol on an empty stomach.
That is covered in the linked article.
"hard material" think of the wreck and ruin, if it realy works it will be possible to detect proximity to the "better" educational institutions just from the amount of gnaw marks
Huh, are there speciality chewing sticks purpose made for this?
Yes! You have one on the tip of each finger. Just don't go too crazy because while they're rechargeable, they recharge very slowly.
what do you do when you're all out?
There's an emergency backup source located at the ends of your two other large extremities.
'Miswak' sticks are popular in the Middle East/Northern Africa.
Raw mastic gum seems to be gaining popularity in the US.
Neither is popular for the explicit purpose of cognitive enhancement, though.
>Miswak' sticks are popular in the Middle East/Northern Africa.
that is for cleaning the teeth, and I read somewhere that there is some evident that it is somewhat effective in reducing tooth decay.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miswak
in India there was or is a toothpaste brand called Meswak, which includes miswak as an ingredient.
nice wordplay in your username :)
>evident
evidence, voice typing error.
I know that there are hard rubber like material that were made to strengthen jaw muscles.
Licorice sticks might be used too.
I personally use turkish falim gum, you can get it basically without flavor, it's pretty hard and you can chew on it for >1h without it tasting weird
very nice, i didn't know about it, thanks
glycyrrhizic acid in licorice can drop your blood potassium level and cause cardiac arrhythmia, however, as well as commonly raising blood pressure [1]
[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6836258/
ok my bad, I thought it was mostly harmless. editing.
ps: apparently licorice can cause harm
Doesn't licorice lower intelligence?
Hmmm, whoever makes this should also infuse it with carbs so they can also make CHO mouth rinsing claims. Helps to have more than one gimmick in a product.
Look up teething sticks for toddlers?
Pencils.
first thing that came to mind is toothpicks. wonder if that's where the idea for the study came from. There was a time when men always had a toothpick in their mouth. Guess there was something to it! Seems like the simplest way to "try" this technique as it's certainly tested - or are their health risks for chewing on a toothpick?
Don't swallow it. Your digestive system can't really break down wood. Small particles will pass through, but you definitely do not want a punctured intestine.
I kept a platter pack of almonds by my desk. I had to stop because it was starting to make me feel ill. There's no poison risk AFAIK from store bought almonds which are the sweet (not bitter) variety.
Roasted almonds are more tolerable than raw. Raw walnuts are great too. Baru nuts can also be added to the mix.
I recall a trend for Wall Street traders to "chew on ice" a few years ago. I believe it originated with Julian Robertson of the Tiger hedge fund.
I wonder if this offers one explanation for nail biting
haha i was wondering the same. I hate my nail biting habit and there are few days where i can go without it and then it comes back and stays.
I cannot eat goop and glop in the morning. I need to chew. It makes my brain work better.
Perhaps drinking soylent didn't improve my productivity after all.
How do you get the caps open? It's so difficult to even unscrew them!
Have you tried chewing on them?
Haribo
Tl;dr: Chewing pencils is more powerful than chewing gum.
I can't wait for replication!
"Chewing diamonds increased memory assessment scores over chewing sticks"
More fiber but watch out for lead poisoning
/s just in case it needed to be spelled out
Splinters can't be pleasant either.