CHICAGO -- Here's a juicy thought to chomp on. What if the simple act of chewing gum helped you keep your weight down, reduce stress, improve focus -- or all three?

Sure, a cynic might reply, just as eating pizza raises your IQ and chocolate-chip cookies make you skinny.

Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., though, is so hopeful of the possibilities that it is launching a multimillion-dollar, multiyear effort to prove them. Citing "emerging research" that suggests chewing may be beneficial, the gum maker has created the Wrigley Science Institute, consisting of an international advisory panel of scientists and research experts who are studying the sticky matter.

Surinder Kumar, Wrigley's chief innovation officer, says the 115-year-old company has been hearing from consumers for decades about chewing's benefits -- some of them, he contends, "just plain common sense." Now it is looking for proof to back up anecdotal evidence.

The company hopes the results, which won't be known for another year or so, will give people a new reason to chew gum -- any gum, although as the world's No. 1 gum purveyor and with 63 percent of the U.S. market, Wrigley clearly would reap the biggest revenue rewards.

Wrigley is so confident of a favorable outcome that it is going public with the effort and already has compiled the earlier, preliminary research in a booklet with the upbeat title, "The Benefits of Chewing."

The Chicago-based company emphasizes that the scientists remain independent and that their work, which is being carried out at laboratories elsewhere and not at Wrigley's new research center, is to be published in peer-review journals.

Current studies are looking into three potential benefits:

Stress management: What's behind the common practice of chewing gum to relieve tension? Wrigley cites research showing that it stimulates certain areas of the brain, but wants to go further.

Weight management: As a 5- to 10-calorie substitute for a high-calorie snack, gum could obviously reduce caloric intake. But could it also help suppress appetite?

Cognition and focus: Is gum-chewing a way to increase focus, concentration and alertness?