I looked at my desk, and realized I have, count ‘em, five packs of different flavors. Everyone in the office comes to me for gum.
Chewing gum means:
- My breath is always minty fresh
- I’m not eating food I shouldn’t be
- My jaws hurt at the end of the day
Something David Kessler mentions in The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite
was how we sometimes need to replace a deleterious habit with a better one. Certainly, chewing gum is a better habit than stuffing my face with food.
Humans are incredibly oral. A huge amount of the brain’s real estate is dedicated to the lips and tongue. When we are babies, the mouth is our connection to our mothers and we are soothed when something is put in our mouths. As adults, we still tend to soothe ourselves orally: if not with food, then with gum, a pencil, a cigarette.
So if you feel like eating, try chewing on something (I don’t recommend a cigarette).
