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Spotlight on S&T - December 2003

Chewing gum can provide an eye-opening experience

It weighs only 15 grams, is the length of a finger and cost about 20 cents - yet it could revive the way of war. It is also something that is available on every continent and in every country. It can taste like sour apples or peppermint and you likely already have a piece in your kit. It relieves stress and freshens breath. It is chewing gum!

Since 2000, Dr. Tom McLellan, of Defence R&D Canada – Toronto, has been working with U.S. Army scientists through the auspices of The Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP), to determine how a piece of caffeine-laced gum can help soldiers stay awake.

This fall, Dr. McLellan along with his American research partners, conducted some field trials at CFB Petawawa. They experimented with caffeinated chewing gum on a group of 30 soldiers. "The testing was done to see if ordinary chewing gum laced with caffeine would have a positive effect on the vigilance," explains Dr. McLellan. The personnel were evaluated during a 54-hour period of sustained operations with only three hours of sleep.

"When you're tired, lapses in concentration could cause…death," says LCol. Bernd Horn, the Directorate for Land Strategic Concepts that explores the army's capability requirements to operate in future environments. "That is why this experiment is so important."

"The motto is, if you own the night, you (win) the war," Dr. McLellan adds. ""That is why this research is critical, we want to own the night but the consequence of maintaining night operations is a progressive impairment in cognitive and physical capabilities. We are trying to reduce the extent of this impairment and extend operational effectiveness."

When Operation Nighthawk: Sustained Vigilance was said and done, those with the caffeinated gum outperformed their placebo colleagues by more than 35 per cent during the final phase of the experiment. Participants were given a total of 600 mg of caffeine (six sticks of gum) divided into four doses throughout the second night of sleep deprivation. This amount of caffeine is equivalent to the caffeine in six small cups of coffee.

Caffeine is the most commonly-used stimulant in the world. In battles gone by, soldiers have been known to just open their ration packs of freeze-dried coffee and chomp it down. Ingesting caffeine, either through coffee or other means, takes about 45 minutes before peak effects are observed while chewing a piece of gum takes only about 10. The tissue of the mouth absorbs the caffeine and it is transferred directly in the blood stream.

"This type of innovative research is transforming the way the Canadian Forces will prepare in the future," says Dr. Leggat, DRDC Chief Executive Officer. "The Technical Cooperation Program allows us to maximize our resources and partner with our international colleagues to further understand the issues and research," TTCP is an international alliance promoting collaborative defence science and research among its five member nations: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The only indication that your next pack of gum is the caffeinated sort would be the extra dime in cost - and the camouflaged wrappers, of course!