Cud Cud Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More accurately, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the physical digestive process of rumination. The idiomatic expression "chewing one's cud" means "meditating" or "pondering"; similar expressions such as "he chewed that over for a bit", or "chew on that!" likely have the same derivation. The alimentary canal of ruminants, such as cattle, goats, sheep, alpacas, and antelope, are unable to produce the enzymes required to
Chewing gum specific in its inhibition of "Streptococcus mutans", bacteria that are significant contributors to tooth decay. Xylitol inhibits "Streptococcus mutans" in the presence of other sugars, with the exception of fructose. Xylitol is a safe sweetener that benefits teeth and saliva production because, unlike most sugars, it is not fermented to acid. Daily doses of xylitol below 3.44 grams are ineffective and doses above 10.32 grams show no additional benefit. Other active ingredients in chewing gum include fluoride, which strengthens tooth enamel, and p-chlorbenzyl-4-methylbenzylpiperazine, which prevents travel sickness. Chewing gum also increases saliva production. Food and sucrose have a demineralizing effect