HEALTH BEAT 8-1-1999

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Suddenly, you can find the car keys, and your Post-It note usage drops considerably. This is your brain on gum?

Not just any gum: Brain Gum is one of the newest products with the alleged ability to improve memory. The secret? Phosphatidyl serine (PS), a naturally occurring phospholipid that helps facilitate synaptic communication in the brain.

"I tried it because I sell it," says Marilyn Harris, owner of Vitamin Guy, a natural-food store in Cathedral City, Calif.

The regimen requires you chew the gum three times a day, for 30 days. Harris noted a difference around week No. 3.

"My dreams became incredibly vivid," she says.

The gum, which was invented by Kevis, a Beverly Hills-based company known for its hair products, contains no artificial stimulants. After the first month, the maintenance plan requires chewing one piece a day. Harris is a believer. "I haven't had to write any 'to do' lists in three months."

A one-month supply of Brain Gum costs about $60. PS also is available in tablet form for those who find it difficult to walk while chewing.

A.D.T.