ZAPP! The #1 healthy gum it claims to be. I received an e-mail about this fairly new gum manufacturer, who has been making “the world’s best chewing gum since 2003!” – Zapp! Zapp! gum is  100% sugar free, 100% aspartame free, and sweetened with 100% all natural xylitol. The e-mail I received was how the gum was primarily popular for it’s ability to prevent cavities, bacteria prevents the growth of bacteria, therefore preventing cavities, while most other gums that contain loads of sugar actually promote the growth of bacteria, causing cavities.

Now me, I am someone who chews on gum 24/7, it’s kind of an addiction, a chewing gum addiction. I have to chew gum all the time, I don’t know what it is. Well anyways, I guess I never took much notice to how chewing so much gum could effect the health of my teeth. I always thought “oh chewing this little piece of gum isn’t going to do anything to my teeth.” But it does, it’s almost the same as putting granulated sugar in your mouth, depending on how much gum you chew, I chew about 5 pieces a day, and chewing on it until it dissolves. For me that would be taking a handful of granulated sugar a day and just chewing on it. Imagine how unhealthy that would be for your teeth. When you chew gum you never think about chewing a handful of granulated sugar, but that’s what it’s like. Most other popular brand name gum’s like Trident, Big Red, Wrigley’s and so on contain the ingredient Aspartame.

I googled “aspartame” to find out a little more about the ingredient, and what I found is that most of what I read about it was negative. Here is an excerpt from http://www.dorway.com/

“Aspartame, the artificial sweetener used to make Nutrasweet / Equal and sometimes labeled as phenylalanine in products, has been the subject of heated controversy—both because of safety issues and the shady circumstances surrounding its approval. Considering possible connections between aspartame and diseases such as brain tumors, brain lesions and lymphoma, and taking into account alleged conflicts of interest during the approval process, you owe it to yourself to learn the facts—not just what the lobbyists and manufacturer want you to know.”

Here is a video I found on YouTube! from Fox News on the ingredient aspartame. When asked “do you think aspartame should be on the market today?” Dr. John Olney, researcher at Washington University at St. Louis responded “No, because it hasn’t been demonstrated to be safe.” It is otherwise known as an “ignored epidemic”, “sweet poison”, and “the silent killer.”

Aspartame aka Nutrasweet is contained in many soft drinks, hot, chocolate, breath mints, children’s vitamins, cookies, ice tea, chewing gum, equal, pudding, and so many other ingredients we eat on a daily basis.  Over 10,000 complaints to the FDA since 1980 on the ingredient Aspartame have been filed. Since the e-mail i received on the new gum Zapp! only did I look up more info on Aspartame, I didn’t know how highly it was disapproved until today. Doctors around the world do not approve of the ingredient, so of all the negative reports why is Aspartame an approved ingredient? Hmph.

So back to the gum Zapp! Whose main ingredient is Xylitol, a beneficial organic sweet compund found in certain fruits and vegetables. Here are a few excerpts I pulled from the official Zapp! website http://www.zappgum.com/index.html

Additional clinically proven dental benefits are:
Inhibiting plaque growth and dental cavities by up to 80%
Retards Demineralization of tooth enamel
Increases Saliva Production
Relieves dry mouth symptoms
Protects salivary proteins to improve breath odors
Helps to reduce infections in the Ear Nose and Throat

The benefits of Xylitol certainly are not limited to the Dental Category. Xylitol has 40% fewer calories than ordinary sugar and is absorbed very slowly. This has allowed it to become one of the best kept secrets within the diabetic community since its use creates negligible changes in insulin levels. Additional benefits in this category include: Excellent taste and comparable sweetness to sugar Low Calorie Low Glycemic Index Minimal effect on blood sugar and insulin levels Slow, steady release of energy Increases absorption of B vitamins and calcium Aids weight loss

Unfortunately the gum is only sold online as of right now. But I already placed my order for the ZAPP Fresh Fruit Paradise flavor, and when I receive it, I’ll definitely let you know how it tastes. Also there’s a promotion going on for five free packs of Zapp gum + S&H. So check that out here http://www.freezapp.com/

Tags: aspartame, free, gum, healthy, organic, sweet, unhealthy, zapp!

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