What is gleeking? How to do so on command explored as TikTok trend takes over 

Gleeking is one of the human body's most unique talents.

It involves applying pressure to your salivatory glands and spitting out saliva using them. It doesn't have any health benefits as such, but is baffling people who are repulsed by this viral trend.

Although this action can generally not be controlled, there are a number of ways to train your body to do this trick on command, if required. Statistically, only a shocking 35% of people can gleek, while only 1% can do it on demand.

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"Hidden talent" : Gleeking is the act of spitting out saliva on command

Generally, most people end up gleeking by accident while yawning, eating or talking. However, the new viral TikTok trend has got everyone trying to gleek in front of each other, and often in videos.

There are thousands of small salivary glands located in your mouth, among which are an added three pairs of larger glands, the submandibular gland and thesublingual gland. Both can be found at the bottom of your mouth.

These glands naturally pump out saliva and drain away the surplus when you eat. However, if you frequently apply pressure on the glands and the tongue adds more stress onto it, the saliva involuntarily shoots out and, well, you end up gleeking.

There are several methods to elevate this action. Dr. Wolff, dean of the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennyslavannia, told Health magazine that you should start by eating something sour. Sour foods like tart cherries, kimchi and vinegar are said to stimulate the salivary glands so you can gleek.

Drinking lots of water before trying to gleek helps to hydrate your body and produce sufficient amounts of saliva to aid the process. Taking deep breaths and catching your breath is also important as it is difficult to breathe and gleek at the same time.

Next, you need to push your tongue out of your mouth and lift it. Curling the tip of your tongue backwards and resting it behind the top front teeth helps to gleek better.

Dr. Wolff explains:

"If you tense the muscles in the tongue right, it squeezes the duct, and saliva squirts right out."

The doctor also mentions that while everyone can gleek, it can take a number of trial and error series to master it on command. He also talks about how there is no harm or gain in it.

"There's nothing medical about it. But there's nothing harmful about it. It's the salivary glands doing what the glands are supposed to do."

Netizens are either extremely disgusted by this trend or are highly addicted to it. The irrational spitting comes in the category of things you cannot do in public. Too much of it can even cause your friends to question their association with you.

However, that hasn't stopped TikTokers from posting videos of them gleeking to gain viewers throughout the day.