08/02/2026
Stress tends to show up in the jaw before people even notice it. Clenched teeth during a tense meeting, a tight jaw while sitting in traffic, chewing faster than usual when something's bothering you. It turns out that instinct might actually be doing something useful.
Researchers who reviewed both animal and human studies found that mastication tends to blunt the body's stress hormone response, including cortisol, and seems to calm some of the same brain regions involved in anxiety and mood. Some human studies found this effect specifically after a longer stretch of chewing, closer to ten or fifteen minutes, rather than just a few chews.
It's worth being clear this is about intentional chewing, not the clenching or grinding that happens without noticing, often overnight or during a stressful moment. That kind of tension still wears down teeth and strains the jaw joint over time, so it still matters even if the underlying stress response is a normal one.
Read more here, https://tinyurl.com/duxkjd2s