Study reveal why chewing gum might actually help with focus and stress relief

Humans have been chewing gum for thousands of years — long after the flavor fades and without any clear nutritional benefit.

The habit dates back at least 8,000 years to Scandinavia, where people chewed birch bark pitch to soften it into a glue for tools. Other ancient cultures, including the Greeks, Native Americans and the Maya, also chewed tree resins for pleasure or soothing effects, National Geographic recently reported.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, William Wrigley Jr.