You sit at your desk or before an exam, and your attention keeps slipping. Then someone tells you to chew gum. You want to know if the chewing gum focus trick is real.
Here you learn what four studies found, why nobody knows how gum works, and how long the effect lasts. You also get a simple test for your own work.
What do studies on chewing gum and focus show?
Most studies show chewing gum can help you focus, mostly with sustained attention. That means staying on one task over time.
Hirano and Onozuka (BioMed Research International, 2015) reviewed 22 studies on chewing and attention. Fourteen found a positive effect and one a negative one.
Five found both positive and negative effects. Two found no clear effect.
Here is what four studies tested and found.
| Study | What people did | What was found |
|---|---|---|
| Morgan, Johnson & Miles (British Journal of Psychology, 2014) | 40 people did a 30-minute listening task, with or without gum | Both groups got worse over time. Gum users dropped less. |
| Johnson, Muneem & Miles (2013) | 20 people did a long attention task, with and without gum | Better scores at every stage of the task with gum |
| Smith (2010) | 133 volunteers, about half of them tested in noise | More alert, better attention, quicker reactions; memory not better |
| Tucha and colleagues (2004) | Healthy adults chewed gum, faked chewing, or didn’t chew | Sustained attention better; memory not better |
In all four studies, the gain was in sustained attention. Two of them also tested memory, and gum didn’t help there.
So treat gum as a help for staying on a task, not as a memory trick. Why it helps at all is another question.
Why would chewing gum help you focus?
Nobody knows for sure why chewing would help you focus. The researchers have ideas but no proof. Even the 2015 review ends by asking for more studies.
One idea is more blood flow to the brain. Another is a short wake-up effect from chewing.
Momose and colleagues (1997) scanned the brains of 12 healthy volunteers while they chewed. Blood flow rose by 25 to 28% in the brain areas for movement and touch. But the study didn’t test focus.
The wake-up idea comes from Onyper and colleagues (Appetite, 2011). They suggest that chewing makes you more alert for a short time. That would explain why the benefit in their study was short.
Scholey and colleagues (2009) linked chewing to better alertness and lower stress in a mild stress test in the lab. They still called the reasons unknown, so the reason stays open. For your work, the question is whether gum helps you get things done.
How long does gum help you focus?
Whatever the reason, the effect of gum doesn’t last long. The 2015 review cites studies where it faded within 15 to 20 minutes, or after more than 30 minutes. The time when people chewed also made a difference.
- Five minutes before: in the Onyper study, chewing before the tests helped only for the first 15 to 20 minutes.
- The whole time: in the same study, chewing throughout the tests brought no advantage.
- During a 30-minute task: in the Morgan study, reactions with gum were faster in the later part of the task.
The set-ups differ, so there is no single rule for when to chew. Chewing during the task helped in two studies. It did not help in a third.
Being rested comes first. Without rest, focused work won’t succeed, whether you chew gum or not. If tiredness is your real problem, start with how to focus when tired.
Can chewing gum hurt your focus?
Beyond timing, gum can sometimes hurt your focus. The studies don’t agree. Tucha and colleagues (2004) found sustained attention better with chewing, but two other measures got worse: alertness and flexibility.
They warned that claims about gum and better thinking need caution. Onyper’s team has an idea for the “whole time” result above. Chewing and thinking may compete for the same mental resources.
Other studies found no such harm. Johnson and colleagues (2013) found no sign that gum harms attention by splitting it. Smith (2010) found that gum sped up reactions more as the task got harder.
Morgan and colleagues (2014) say their data contradict an earlier claim that gum harms short-term memory. So gum doesn’t always help, and it doesn’t always hurt. The studies can’t tell you how gum works for you.
How to test gum in your next block
The test is simple and takes two blocks. A Deep Work Block is a timed stretch of focused work, often 45 minutes.
How long your block runs depends on how fit you feel that day. To find your length, read about how long a deep work session should be.
Before each block, write down your block goal, the result you want by the end of it. Then run an honest test:
- Work one block while chewing gum, on one day.
- Work another block without gum, on a different day.
- Compare what each block produced. Ignore how each one felt.
At the end of each block, check your block goal: reached, partly, or not at all. Don’t judge the result, just observe it.
Keep what works for you and skip what doesn’t. The same test works for coffee. It also shows you whether music can help you focus.
A fair test needs a full block around it: phone away, timer set, block goal on paper. Two such blocks show you what helps your focus and what only feels like it. See how it works →
FAQ
Does chewing gum make you more productive at work?
In workday studies, chewing gum was linked to more productivity. Allen and Smith (BioMed Research International, 2015) found higher productivity and fewer thinking problems on workdays with gum. They say gum can reduce drops in alertness.
Does chewing gum reduce stress?
The results on chewing gum and stress are mixed. Before surgery, gum lowered anxiety in a trial with 94 women (Bang and colleagues, Scientific Reports, 2022). Before a C-section, gum didn’t lower anxiety in 66 women (Bang and colleagues, Annals of Palliative Medicine, 2023).
Does chewing gum change your brain activity?
Yes, brain scans show that chewing gum changes brain activity. In a 2025 review of 32 studies, chewing activated areas for movement, sometimes also at the front of the brain. Chmiel and Malinowska (Brain Sciences) say these changes can’t be directly linked to better performance.
