Physiological Effects of Chewing Gum on Muscle Fatigue

File(s)
Date
2019Author
Bae, SangYa
Brehmer, Hailey
Kharel, Abish
Reed, Amber
Shaik, Ufaira
Vollmer, Justin
Publisher
Journal of Advanced Student Sciences (JASS)
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Muscular fatigue as a result of physical stress is a normal phenomenon for skeletal muscles.
Excitation and motor recruitment in the arms and legs can be elevated by strengthening one’s
bite force. Previous studies have suggested a connection between skeletal muscle fatigue and
chewing gum. The purpose of this study was to determine if chewing gum has an effect on
fatigue. We hypothesized that chewing gum while performing an exercise would decrease
participant fatigue. During this experiment, participants were asked to raise and hold a 10 lb.
weight until they reached fatigue. Heart rate and time holding weight (isolated activity) were
recorded. Muscular activity was measured using an electromyogram. Contrary to the hypothesis,
this experiment found that the time holding weight was not significantly different between
chewing gum and no gum conditions (p=0.4256, 95% CI). This was supported by self-reported
fatigue levels of participants conducted at the end of each session (p=0.6632, 95% CI). However,
heart rate was significant in the chewing gum condition, as compared to the no gum condition
(p=0.0019, 95% CI). The results indicate that chewing gum has no obvious effect on skeletal
muscle fatigue and, therefore, no influence on somatic neural control. This is likely because the
participants maintained a static condition, rather than performed coordinate movement. Despite
this, chewing gum does have a peripheral impact on heart rate, which suggests that it affects
autonomic neural control.
Subject
Athletics
Chewing
Electromyography
Exercise
gum
Heart Rate
Muscle Fatigue
Physical Stress
Skeletal Muscle
Strength
Permanent Link
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/82007Type
Article
Description
An article that appeared in JASS, issue 2019