9 Reasons to Start Chewing Chios Mastic Gum
Chewing mastic gum is certainly not something you would have thought could improve your health and facial beauty, right?
I was surprised to discover it was the first natural chewing gum used in Ancient Greece. The famous Greek physician Hippocrates reported for the first time the properties of Chios Mastic gum and recommended its use for its distinctive flavor and therapeutic properties. Today, there are numerous studies done to support the benefits the Greeks were claiming.
In this article, I’m sharing with you the 9 main reasons to start chewing Chios mastic gum.
What is Chios Mastic Gum?
Chios is a beautiful Greek island situated in the northern Aegean sea, close to Turkey. It is the fifth biggest island in Greece and one the biggest in the Mediterranean sea. The island is famous because the mastic tree originated from there, the island has a nickname “The Mastic Island”.
Mastic is an oleoresin obtained from stems and branches of the mastic tree, also name “Pistacia Lentiscus” in Latin. It looks like a yellow or greenish yellow rounded or small pear-shaped tears. It is solid but once in the mouth, it becomes chewable after a few seconds. It has a nice balsamic and turpentine-like taste and odor.
Mastic chemical constituents are mono and triterpenes, polyphenol, and natural polymer. It is full of therapeutic properties.
Aside from gums, you can also use mastic in powder form and essential oil.
The word “masticate” comes from mastic gum, another fun fact is that it used to be worth more than gold during the Ottoman occupation in the 19th century.
What are the Benefits of chewing Chios Mastic Gum?
There are many studies done over the years both on animals and humans to support the evidence of positive effects on health. Here are 9 reasons, you are probably not aware, of why you should think about adding mastic gum to your life.
1) It can help you breathe better
Everything that can help you breathe better is gold. Breathing is the most vital mechanism you have and the most powerful way to detoxify and balance our internal alchemy.
When you chew mastic regularly, you will correct your face symmetry and clear the airway which will lead to a better and smooth passage of the air. The nice smell of mastic gum helps also to clear sinuses, so it is easier to breathe with your nose.
If you want to know more about why breathing slower and with your nose is the most important skill you need to learn, check this article.
2) It strengthens your jawline and improves facial beauty
Another cool benefit of chewing mastic gum regularly is the impact it has on your jawline.
Who doesn’t want to have a beautiful face?
Most beautiful faces have the same traits, pronounced and angular jawlines. When you chew, you train your masseters, which is the muscles responsible of moving the jaw. The more you chew, the more your jaw wider. The skin under your jawline will be pulled tight. Resulting in a separation between your neck and your jaw.
That change in facial beauty doesn’t appear in 1 day, you need to chew for a couple of months but it is worth it. You will breathe better and have a more appealing and sexy face.
You should start to chew daily for 30 min, and then increase as you are getting used to it. You should feel fatigued and not have pain in your jaw. Remember to chew equally from both sides.
Another interesting article you can read to understand the differences between chewing and mewing. Both are important, Mewing vs Chewing.
3) It helps to treat and remove cavities
Mastic has a lot of properties like anti-inflammatory, and anti-bacterial. Chewing mastic cleans your mouth of bacteria and reduces plaque formation on the teeth.
Back bacteria and acidic saliva are one of the main causes of dental cavities.
Many studies, like this one or that one, have proven the efficiency of chewing mastic gum for dental health.
Plus, it will leave a nice taste in your mouth and freshen your breath.
4) It is good for digestive issue
Since mastic gum has antibacterial and antibiotics properties, it is useful to clean your gut biome and restore balance. having a gut full of bad bacteria creates digestive issues. In the long run, those digestive issues may transform into more severe problems like chronic inflammation, Crohn’s disease, food allergies, and irritable bowel symptoms.
There are more and more studies to support the digestive benefits of chewing or consuming mastic gum.
5) It may prevent some cancers
Mastic gum is said to have a powerful anti-cancer potential.
Studies in mice have shown a significant reduction in colon cancer without side effects. Mastic essential oil is very potent in treating and reducing multiple types of cancers.
Mastic gum can inhibit an androgen receptor that may be responsible for prostate cancer. Most prostate cancers have one thing in common, high sensitivity to androgen receptors (sex hormones) and most drugs used to treat this type of cancer are targeting those receptors by lowering their activity.
You don’t hear too much about those kind of potential treatments or supplements to treat cancer because it’s doesn’t bring money the same way as chemicals drugs. We live in a strange word!
I’m not a doctor, I’m just sharing my discoveries. If you have a health problem, always check with your doctor first.
We can conclude that supplementing with mastic gum or oil can have a great impact on your health and recovery.
6) It is helpful to treat Candida and H pylori bacteria
Mastic gum is also a natural antibiotic and that’s probably one of the main reasons our ancestors were using it. Chewing mastic gum a few times a day or taking some oil has killed the bacteria H pylori, according to this study.
It can clean and help restore the gut biome thanks to its antibacterial properties. No disease or bacteria can thrive in a healthy gut biome. Healthy gut health will also help the body to lose weight, which is another interesting benefit of chewing Chios mastic gum.
Candida is a common problem in western society, due to our poor and unhealthy diet. Pesticides, GMOs, preservatives, growth hormones, and a sugar-heavy lifestyle. You should start chewing mastic gum.
7) It is has anti-inflammatory effect
Mastic gum has some inflammatory properties that can help reduce allergies and asthma problems. It is also used as a treatment to stop gastric ulcers in the stomach.
A recent study found that mastic gum can help ease the symptoms of IBS, which stands for irritable bowel symptoms. In those results, we can see that a lower level of IL6 and C-reactive protein were present, which are responsible for inflammation.
Mastic gum has a positive effect on lung fluid, taking mastic gum daily can inhibit eosinophilia and inflammatory response. It is blocking allergens and clears airways.
8) It can lower cholesterol
Cholesterol is often associated with cardiovascular risks. In a group of people taking mastic gum for 8 weeks, those who had real mastic gum (instead of a placebo) had a lower level of Cholesterol, you can read this study.
Cholesterol is also important for testosterone production, so men need plenty of it, however, there are good and bad cholesterol.
Mastic gum can also lower blood sugar and insulin resistance. For that benefit alone, you should start adding mastic gum to your lifestyle.
9) It can protect the liver from damage
Some researchers are promoting the hepatoprotective effects of mastic gum. If you take 5 gr a day of mastic gum, it will lower the enzyme activity that is responsible for creating damage in the liver.
Mastic gum has great protective benefits for the heart and the liver. Those are two of the most important organs we have. One is your life battery and the other one is used to clean the body.
If you want to read more about it, you can find some studies like this one.
what are the possible side effects of Chios Mastic gum?
Mastic gum has been used for centuries by our ancestors and so far no danger has been reported. It’s safe to use mastic gum and to chew Chios mastic gum.
Be careful if you have nut allergies, mastic gum comes from the pistachio tree. In this case, I would avoid it. As always, pregnant women should pay attention.
Side effects will show great attention and smiles when you walk in the street.
Where to buy the best Chios Mastic Gum?
Most of the worldwide production comes from Chios in Greece. However quality may differ from one product to another.
I would recommend using Spartan Health, there are of high quality and you promote a small local business.
My thoughts and conclusion
A few months ago, I started a new personal journey and my goal is to become a spartan warrior again, both physically and mentally. I believe God, or The Universe, name it the way you want, is sending in your way what you need to evolve and heal yourself. Through Bryan Mirabella’s breathing training, I discovered the benefits of chewing Chios mastic gum and felt like it is something I should do. As you can read in this article, there are many more benefits aside from improving your face beauty. You should also start chewing some nice and tasty Chios mastic gum now.
