The answer to ‘does chewing gum reduce face fat’ would be no. Chewing gum does not reduce face fat. It is a popularised myth that chewing gum reduces face fat.
The simple fact is that you cannot reduce fat from one spot. Chewing gum can give your facial muscles a good workout but isn’t effective in reducing face fat.
If you like to chew gum, enjoying it once in a while is okay, but chewing it in the hope of getting your face fat reduced can be detrimental and leave you with several side effects such as:
- Pain in the jaw
- Headache
- Clicking or popping sound of the jaw while opening the mouth
- Injury of the jaw joint (temporomandibular joint)
- Enamel demineralization (Loss of minerals from the outer layer of teeth)
- Dental caries or cavities
A study concluded that excessive gum chewing causes chronic headaches and should be avoided. Another study cautioned the use of chewing gum by those with frequent migraines and tension-type headaches, as chewing gum may trigger these aches.
According to a study that involved 200 subjects, excessive chewing of gum may cause injury and disorders of the jaw joint.
Tips To Reduce Face Fat
Losing fat from one place is called spot reduction. Spot reduction is not possible without an overall reduction in weight. Thus, to reduce fat from your face, you need to follow tips to reduce overall fat from your body and get fitter.
1. Balanced Diet
What you eat matters more than how much you exercise. Hence, the role of a balanced diet in overall weight reduction is crucial.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a balanced diet contains fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and unsaturated fats present in fish, sunflower, soybean, and olive oils.
A balanced diet can help achieve weight loss along with face fat reduction.
It is recommended to avoid consuming trans-fats present in baked, fried, and packed foods like pizzas, biscuits, cookies and spreads. You must also be cautious about your calorie intake and calories expenditure.
To achieve healthy weight loss and face fat reduction, your calorie intake must be from a balanced diet. Also, your calorie intake must be less than or equal to the calorie spent through daily activities like exercise, talking, chewing, and sleeping.
2. Exercises Of The Face
Facial exercises may help tone your facial muscles, slow down aging and improve your facial appearance.
It is essential to know that facial exercises have not been researched to reduce face fat but may enhance face fat reduction results achieved with overall weight loss.
Here are a few facial exercises that you might consider including in your daily routine:
1) Lower Jaw Movement:
In this facial exercise, you need to move your lower jaw forward and backwards. Make sure your face is straight and your chin is raised.
2) Open Your Mouth Wide:
Opening your mouth wide and holding it in an open position for 10 seconds helps activate the muscles around the upper lips. This facial-lift exercise may help prevent sagging and keep face skin tight.
3) Simhasana or The Lion Pose:
This yogic posture involves exhaling with your tongue out and roaring like a lion. It helps release the tension in your jaw, neck and face. Do it daily five to six times to get the desired results.
3. Exercise And Strength Training
Staying active, exercising, and strength training are essential steps to achieve an overall healthy weight loss and, thereby, reduced face fat.
It is recommended to exercise at least 30 minutes daily and include strength training on alternate days for a healthy toned body and reduced face fat.
4. Facial Procedures
As most of the muscles involved in chewing are present in the cheeks and neck, chewing gum will not help your face look sharper or more muscular with less fat.
To get your facial skin tight and a sharper jawline with reduced face fat, you can consider certain procedures that might help you achieve reduced face fat with a sharper jawline:
- Botox Injections: This may help you achieve a slim and more defined face. Treatment is required every six months for maintaining the desired sharpness and definition of the face.
- Kybella Treatment: This FDA-approved treatment is known to reduce your double chin and give more sharpness to your jawline. According to a research article, kybella is a safe, effective, and well-tolerated alternative injectable drug for reducing double chin fat.
- Surgical Alternatives: If required, you can consider surgical alternatives for having face fat reduced from under your chin. Some surgical alternatives to get a sharp and well-defined face with reduced facial fat are neck lift, neck liposuction, and chin augmentation.
References
- Touba Karagah, Ehsan Aliabadi, Seyed Ali Hoseini, September 2014; Does gum chewing increase the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders in individuals with gum chewing habits? - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25203577/
- Gianfranco Cervellin, Camilla Mattiuzzi, 2015; Gum-Chewing and Headache: An Underestimated Trigger of Headache Pain in Migraineurs? - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25714969/
- Nathan Watemberg, Manar Matar, Miki Har-Gil, January 2014; The influence of excessive chewing gum use on headache frequency and severity among adolescents - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24188910/
