HEALTH TIPS IMPROVE YOUR MEMORY BY CHEWING GUM!

If your memory's not what it used to be, then you'll be interested in hearing about a recent university study. The study found that you can improve your memory by chewing gum!

Researchers took 75 adults and gave them a 20-minute battery of memory tests. One-third of the participants chewed gum during the tests. Another third took the test without chewing. And the remaining third were simply asked to mimic chewing movements with nothing in their mouths.

Result: the gum-chewers' scores were 24 percent higher on immediate word recall, and 36% higher on delayed word recall. Let me put these numbers in perspective for you: If you'd taken the delayed memory test and gotten a grade of "64" on it, chewing gum would have boosted your score to a perfect 100! That's pretty darned impressive.
Why does chewing gum boost people's memory scores? The researchers aren't sure. But they have their theories.

One theory is that chewing gum boosts activity in the hippocampus, an area in the brain important for memory. This is backed up by MRI studies that showed the hippocampus lighting up when people chew.

Another theory poses a far simpler explanation: It's been shown that when people chew gum, their heart beats faster. Naturally, this would result in greater blood flow and more oxygen to the brain.

Whatever the reason, you may want to consider chewing gum the next time you need your memory to be sharp. But please, please, please avoid chewing gum that is loaded with sugar. And stay away from gum that is sweetened with nasty chemicals like aspartame or sucralose.

- Information taken from Dr. Lark's Health Tips