Here’s some news to chew on.

According to a new study from Cardiff University, chewing gum can help you stay focused on long tasks. The researchers used an audio task and short-term memory recall to determine if chewing gum would help with concentration.

The study involved 38 participants being split in to two groups. Both groups completed a 30 minute audio task that involved listening to a list of numbers from 1-9 being read out in a random manner.

Participants were scored on how accurately and quickly they were able to detect a sequence of odd-even-odd numbers, such as 7-2-1.  Participants also completed questionnaires on their mood both before and after the task.

Results showed that the gum chewers had quicker reaction times and better results compared to participants who didn’t chew gum. And even though the non-chewers started off better in the task, the chewers overtook them by the end.

(Story materials from Cardiff University. Image via Threadless.)