March 2, 2021

Why chewing Ape Gum will sharpen your jawline and fix overall facial structure

Ape Gum is a hard chewing gum that helps promote healthy facial development with the characteristic that it's hard. It forces the chewer to truly workout their facial muscles and to leverage their jaw structure. Overtime, it will promote jaw muscular hypertrophy alongside structural changes, allowing for the development of a sharp jawline and proper facial form.

Ape Gum is a tool to help fight craniofacial dystrophy, a theorized pathological process by which the quality of facial form and function has deteriorated for individuals and societies across time. Simply put, it explains why so many people today lack correct facial structure (strong jawlines, healthy teeth, and functional airways).

Craniofacial dystrophy is thought to be caused by the compounding effect of these factors, a lack of masticatory exertion (jaw muscles use), poor oral posture, and improper swallowing patterns, all of which Ape Gum solves.

Masticatory Exertion (Jaw Muscle Use)

There is a common misconception among most people who assume that the weak narrow jaws and crooked teeth common amongst a large proportion of people today is due to genetics. It’s easy to assume so. People think, oh well, since the advent of civilization have been eating softer and softer foods that don’t require as much bite force and as a result humans have evolved to have weaker jaws. But the truth is, foods have only gotten soft during industrialization. The weak facial structures we see today are actually a consequence of improper development, not genetics.

An important term to understand is occlusion. Within the scope of dentistry, it means the contact between the teeth. Since the teeth rest on the jaws, improper jaw formation leads to malocclusion, or bad contact of the teeth.

The reason many people suffer from facial malocclusion today is because of modern soft diets brought on about by industrialization (processed and artificial foods, finely milled grains, and liquid diets). It is not because our genetics have evolved to no longer promote healthy facial form, they still hold the capability to produce healthy jaw lines. It is because throughout the course of an individual's lifetime the consumption of soft foods fosters unhealthy facial development.

This problem is getting worse however through the theory of epigenetics, which is not normal evolution, if you want to learn more about it, read this article.

A 2013 study by Rachel Sarig and colleagues found almost no facial malocclusion and great teeth alignment in early modern human skulls. Considering these are relatively recent ancestors, modern humans should not stray far away from this ideal facial form, unless there are other external factors that affect facial development.

Supplementary studies in recently industrialized populations have found factors that affect facial development.

Many studies have been done on the variation of occlusion within populations through time for the purposes of finding out what has caused the deterioration of facial form.

For example, a study concerning the facial occlusion in Aboriginal Australians compared the facial occlusion of (those who grew up eating more traditional diets consisting of harder rougher foods) older adults, seniors, the skull remains of members within the specific tribe to that of younger children developing alongside the prevalence of industrial diets. They found a substantial increase in negative facial morphology characteristics in the younger subjects. This includes recessed and narrow jawlines and crooked teeth.

Craniofacial Dystrophy observed in Australian Aboriginal Population

Similar studies were done within Pima Amerindian groups who found similar trends. They compared the facial form of older adults raised on traditional diets to that of younger children who grew up on industrialized diets. In their study they found, “Permanent dental occlusion is significantly more variable from defined ideals in the younger sample… The youths had relatively narrower palates”.

A study was also done on a relatively isolated kentucky farming population, where they compared the occlusion of younger children who grew accustomed to softer foods as a result of the area recently modernizing to older people within the community. Again, they found significant negative differences in facial structure when comparing the different age groups.

Another study was done comparing Punjab rural communities to urban ones. When they compared the two populations, they found significant differences once again, suggesting the tougher rural diets aided in the development of healthy facial form and function. On average, the rural populations had 8kg more bite force than the urbans groups. The rural punjab group in comparison had larger bigonial widths and bizygomatic widths, all consistent with healthier faces.

The short time frame within which the average facial form and function of these populations varied strongly suggests that lifestyle habits affect how a face develops. Intuitively, this makes sense. Of two twins, one of whom was physically active their entire life and the other not so much, the healthier one would have a much better structured body, even in it’s skeletal structure. This is because our bodies adapt to our environments.

A study done on mice found that jaw bone structure actually responds to increased forceful chewing. It found increases in jaw bone formation as it adapted to mechanical tension. The exact mechanisms for this are unclear, one hypothesis states the part of the brain being activated when chewing signals increased production of IGF growth hormone which then supports jaw bone growth.

Jaw Bone Formation from Forceful Chewing

Regardless, another study was conducted regarding improvements in maximum bite force. They found that individuals struggling with weak jaws and long face morphology increased their maximum bite force. Another study was done on actual structural changes to their face. They found that gum chewers had larger gonial angles, meaning sharper jaw lines.

Improper Swallowing Patterns

One of the mechanisms through which the craniofacial complex deteriorates are improper swallowing patterns. Soft foods do not require the eater to swallow properly. Soft solids easily turn liquidy, allowing the eater to suck it as if it were a sludge. This sucking motion over time is very detrimental. As opposed to eating harder coarser foods, which require proper swallowing technique.

For example, imagine eating dry chicken. It is very difficult to swallow, so the chewer is forced to use their tongue, pressed against the roof of the mouth, to push the food down the throat. This healthy swallowing motion also promotes proper tongue posture, because it is forced against the roof of the mouth during this process.

Eating dry chicken is not pleasant, eating in general was not pleasant up until very recently for the vast majority of people due to technology and industrialization. Now everyone can enjoy sweet easy food. But at the same time, it is messing up the way people look.

With Ape Gum, you can practice a healthy swallowing motion by using your tongue to swallow saliva when chewing. And then when you are eating regular foods, you can carry over this pattern. Overtime, it will improve your craniofacial complex.

Poor Oral Posture

Just like a slouched back is bad for your body's development, contorting your spine until it’s very hard to fix, poor oral posture is bad for your face's development, contorting your jawline, alongside crowding your teeth and obstructing your airways.

Severe Jaw Recession from Mouth Breathing and Poor Oral posture

But consider how people go to the gym, which causes muscle growth, inducing healthy musculoskeletal development which eventually leads to proper posture. Why would it be any different for your face?

Poor oral posture is when your face is loose leaving your jaw and tongue hanging. This can be caused by two things, obstructed nasal airways, and lack of facial muscular development.

Nose breathing is how people are supposed to breathe, but due to the increased prominence of allergies and weaker immune systems, many resort to breathing out of their mouths. A study analyzing mouth breathing subjects found that, over time, leaving your mouth open deteriorates your facial structure.

This goes the other way as well. Weak jaws that lack muscular development do not exert the tension required to keep the mouth properly closed, as a result it's left to hang. Again, causing facial malocclusion.

Recessed facial structures cause breathing problems, and breathing problems cause recessed facial structures. However by introducing Ape Gum and maintaining healthy oral posture, these problems can be accounted for.

Conclusion

All these studies suggest that diets are a major risk factor when it comes to the development of the face. Or more importantly, masticatory exertion (jaw muscle use), or how much force is required to eat.

The solution here is to simply workout your face consistently throughout your life. Just like going to the gym, if you want a healthy and attractive face, you have to use it properly. People have to start introducing healthy facial habits into their lives.

Our ancestors, and the ancestors of the tribes studied, had a primal chewing experience within their lives because they lived before industrialization. And as a result of chewing harder foods and leading naturalistic lifestyles, their faces developed properly so their faces looked and functioned better than their modern counterparts.

Chewing Ape Gum will provide a window into a lifestyle from far in the past. Hopefully it will bring with it, certain elements of that time into our modern lives. Over time and consistent use, it will promote healthy facial development. You will start looking and feeling better. You will become as your body was designed to be.

If you want to learn how to properly use Ape Gum to fix all three of these problems, go to our blog and Ape Gum tutorial.

Masticatory Exertion (Jaw Muscle Use)

Improper Swallowing Patterns

Poor Oral Posture

Conclusion

Research Study Links