Usually when I’m bored I will eat so I would sometimes opt to have chewing gum to try not to eat anything? But I haven’t read anything in michaels books about his thoughts about gum. Obviously most gum and the ones I have would contain artificial sweeteners which would not be ideal but would it be better to chew gum rather than break a fast?

Ideally you would break the link between boredom and eating, plan ahead another way to occupy your hands and your time. Sometimes that includes changing other parts of your routine, such as sitting in a different chair to watch TV.

The act of chewing as well as the sweet taste can fool the body to expect food.

Chew gum? But avoid gums with artificial sweetners because they cause dysbiosis as well as insulin spikes – hence why diet coke is MORE diabetogenic than “full fat” coke!

You also need to keep an eye out for aspartame . Its in a few gum brands. There is quite a bit on the web suggesting its link to cancer .
I will say though there is one huge benefit to having a litre of coke in the house , its fantastic at cleaning the stubborn rust off the chrome on my bike … !