Chewing wood increases blood circulation in the brain, and has surprising effects on antioxidants that directly influence our memory.
If you thought you mask a wooden chopstick is a task for dogs, get rid of it: it is also for humans, and not for entertainment, but for a cerebral health issue.
One published in November 2024 in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience It suggests that the best is, instead of the classic elastic tablet, put a piece of wood in the mouth.
This is because this material, as it is hard, increases the blood flow of the brain when chewed, and can even increase the levels of a antioxidante natural In the human brain that makes our memory improve, as well as increase a series of cognitive capabilities, according to.
For the investigation, the team gave a group of 27 individuals soft orthodontic wax to chew for 5 minutes, and to a second group of 25 people gave wood spatulas (the “chopsticks” used by doctors to examine the mouth, for example).
Through magnetic resonance concealopy, the researchers checked the levels of gluttony (an antioxidant also called by the GSH acronym) anterior cingulate cortex – A fundamental brain region for cognitive control – before and after chewing.
The result? Chewing significantly increased glutation levels in the anterior cingulated cortex in individuals masking wood.
“As much as our knowledge is, this is the first report that indicates that chewing can alter the level of antioxidants in the human brain and that an increase in cerebral antioxidant levels is associated with cognitive function“The authors of the study.
They also explain that “since currently there are no established medicines or practices to increase GSH levels in the brain, our findings suggest that mastive moderately hard material It can serve as an effective practice to increase GSH levels in the brain. ”
