Received: 24 September 2014 / Accepted: 26 November 2014 / Published online: 21 December 2014# The Author(s) 2014. Link to study

Results: In a controlled military setting, repeated doses of caffeine maintained reaction speed, vigilance (attention), and logical reasoning during three nights of waking and limited sleep.

What It Means: When a good night’s sleep is out of reach, MEG helps keep your brain sharp and responsive. Participants who chewed MEG performed better on attention tests and thought tasks than those without caffeine, even after being awake all night.

By: Margaret Scheikowski
September 30, 2015, 6:10 pm. Link to Study

Results: A Defense fatigue study found that MEG can reduce driver error in sleep deprived people. Caffeine intake via MEG significantly reduces driver errors, even in the presence of significant fatigue.

"Gum was used to administer the caffeine as it takes only 10 minutes to be absorbed by the brain and lasts for 90 minutes."

What It Means: When people are tired, their performance — especially on tasks like driving that demand attention and precision — goes down. Adding MEG into the mix has been shown to cut down mistakes that would otherwise occur as a result of fatigue.

STUDY: Link

– Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior

– Pharmacokinetics – Biopharmaceutics Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland at Baltimore.

Results: “In summary, caffeine administered in the chewing gum formulation was absorbed at a significantly faster rate while its bioavailability was near comparable to that of the capsule formulation for the 100mg and 200mg dose groups.”

What It Means: Caffeine in MEG is absorbed faster than caffeine from beverages or capsules, meaning the onset of caffeine benefits are felt much quicker. MEG is a convenient and effective means of rapidly administering caffeine and has been shown to be useful in ameliorating the effects of mental or physical fatigue associated with sleep deprivation or shift work.

STUDY: Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine Vol.76, No.1 -Jan 2005. Link to Study

STUDY PERFORMED BY:

– Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior
– Defense Research and Development Canada – Toronto

Results: MEG maintained marksmanship vigilance in conventional troops at 85% for the duration of the second night without sleep as compared with the soldiers receiving the Placebo, who significantly declined to 61.4 +/- 28.2%.”

What It Means: Using MEG was shown to be an effective strategy to sustain vigilance and alertness during military operations involving sleep deprivation. MEG supports sustained focus and mental endurance when sleep is limited - especially during critical night or early morning activities.

STUDY: National Academy Press, Copyright 2001 National Academy of Science. Link to Study

Library of Congress Control #2001097708

STUDY PERFORMED BY :

– Institute of Medicine , Committee on Military Nutrition Research, Food and Nutrition Board

Results: MEG reliably enhances alertness, vigilance, reaction time, and sustained wakefulness. The use of a caffeinated chewing gum appears to provide the most rapid absorption.

What It Means: While caffeine can be taken in many forms, MEG is a more appropriate choice for scenarios where immediate energy is needed, or when weight/bulk is a concern.

STUDY: Biopharm Drug Dispos 26: 403-409, 2005, Gum 2. Link to Study

STUDY PERFORMED BY:

– Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior

– Pharmacokinetics-Biopharmaceutics Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School  of Pharmacy, University of Maryland at Baltimore.

Results: Healthy adults who chewed multiple doses of Military Energy Gum throughout a period of restricted sleep maintained higher performance on vigilance tests compared to the placebo group that did not receive MEG.

What It Means: Cognitive performance deficits due to sleep loss/fatigue can be reversed more quickly by using MEG. Caffeine in MEG is absorbed through the oral membranes which leads to faster onset of functional benefits. MEG allows controlled, precise, and repeatable dosing to help maintain steady attention and performance.

STUDY: Aviat Space Environ Med 76 1046-1050, 2005, Gum 2. Link to Study

STUDY PERFORMED BY:

– Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Behavioral Biology

Results: Regular doses of MEG across early morning hours maintain vigilance performance across a single night without sleep.

What It Means: MEG helps fight the early morning performance slump - keeping attention and responsiveness stronger when the body is biologically inclined to be less alert.

STUDY: Perceptual & Motor Skills: Motor Skills & Ergonomics 2013, 116, 1, 280-293. Link to Study

STUDY PERFORMED BY:

– Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Department of Behavioral Biology

Results: MEG is effective at reducing the performance impairment/lack of alertness that often results from abrupt awakening (i.e. sleep inertia) after severe sleep loss (1 hr of total sleep) and modest sleep loss (6 hr total sleep).

What It Means: MEG is a reliable tool for anyone who needs to be alert and able to perform in high-risk jobs on very short notice upon awakening (e.g., police, first responders, surgeons, utility workers).

STUDY: Department of Defense Biotechnology High Performance Computing Software Applications Institute, Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD; 2Air Traffic Organization, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC; 3Behavioral Biology Branch, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD. Link to Study

Results: The 2B-Alert Web tool allows users to obtain predictions for mean response time, mean reciprocal response time, and number of lapses. The graphing tool allows for simultaneous display of up to seven different sleep/wake and caffeine schedules. The schedules and corresponding predicted outputs can be saved as a Microsoft Excel file; the corresponding plots can be saved as an image file.

What It Means: This app was developed & engineered to help warfighters reduce fatigue during training and operations. It was first piloted in a cohort of Army Ranger Instructors allowing Army Rangers to more accurately determine optimal timing and dosing of caffeine intake. The app is now available for public use.