Is Chewing Gum Paleo?

Remember ‘nothing in a wrapper’?

Most types have so many additives, I wouldn’t recommend touching them with a ten foot pole.  Even if you’re not remotely Paleo, the mere fact that most chewing gums are little bursts of chemicals and don’t have any nutritional value, I can’t say there’s really any good reason to chew gum.

Just to summarize, here are some of the ingredients in a popular chewing gum, which I feel would serve as reasons you might want to not partake of this habit:

• The sugar alcohols sorbitol, and maltitol which are a lower calorie than sugar sweetener, also used as a binding agents, wreak havoc in the GI tracts of many people (cramping, bloating, gassiness…)  I find it quite interesting to note that they can also be clinically used as a laxative.
• As if that weren’t enough, many also have extra artificial sweeteners added, often in the form of aspartame (Nutrasweet)
• Artificial flavors and dyes.   Do you really want to swallow “E171”?  Do you know what it is and where it came from?  I don’t.  I’ll pass.
• Here is the actual list: 

Sweeteners (Maltitol, Sorbitol, Aspartame, Acesulfame K), Gum Base, Stabiliser (Glycerol), Flavourings, Gelatine (Bovine), Acids (Citric Acid, Malic Acid), Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Colours (E171, E104), Glasing Agent (Carnauba Wax), Thickener (E466)

If you’re chewing gum in an attempt to cure halitosis… check to see first that you’re hydrated, and not eating poor food choices, both of which can be culprits.  In addition, if you take any prescription meds, this can play a role in less than lovely breath.

If your body is healthy, hydrated and has the proper pH, it’s unlikely for you to have chronic bad breath, and if you do, try and sort out why, instead of trying to cover it up with a gum band-aid.  

Of course, even the healthiest of us will have something to show for it if we’ve eaten a particularly garlickly or oniony meal, but this is different from someone who just has an issue all the time.  Not the same thing.

Go paleo, get healthy and if you must chew something, eat a mint leaf.