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health advisory Hospital Health advisory 2007-11-16 5:20:56

I was reading where people wanted to give gum to 3 or 4 year olds and most said it was OK, but don't let them swallow it. Why? I know I finally quit swallowing it, but I don't remember why.

Answer:

Unlike what many people believe, chewing gum does not harm you when swallowed. It passes through the gut and out just like anything else that you swallow. The only caveat is that it is not digested. That doesn't mean it stays in the body; it just means that you don't get any nutrition out of well-chewed gum.

Below is a link to the Snopes Urban Legends article you can read. Snopes is *the* site for checking out Urban Legends.

And here is an excerpt:

Claim: Chewing gum takes seven years to pass through the human digestive system.

Status: False.

It's hard to find anyone who hasn't heard this specious claim about swallowed gum, usually when they were children. No, there's nothing to support this rumor; as sticky as chewing gum might appear to be outside the body, once it's sent down the alimentary canal it's no more remarkable in that respect than most anything else we swallow.

This oft-repeated claim may stem from genuine confusion over a term commonly applied to chewing gum: indigestible.

Although gum resists the body's efforts to break it down (hence the 'indigestible' designation), it does not linger in the stomach. Gum is eliminated as human waste in the same way-and at the same rate-as any other swallowed matter. Granted, it comes out the far end relatively unchanged by the trip, but it does come out on schedule.

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They say it stays in you for 7 years blocking stuff up, but that is bull....I can chew winterfresh right now and do number 2 tomorrow and smell mint.....

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It takes a long time to digest and pass through the system. And by "long time," I mean years.

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you dont excrete the gum. it goes to the appendix, and you may need surgery to get it removed.

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It's hard for the human body to digest.

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it may cause digestive problem, diarrhea, gas and burping but that's about all. The parts of the gum that can't be digested pass right through your system and are excreted. It's more dangerous if you choke on the gum, so kids probably shouldn't chew it at all.

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Bubble /Chewing Gum, has been known to stick to the Appendix,and cause serious problems. It is very hard to digest too. (Something I learned in Biology Class)

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It's actually plastic with flavour.... It's what I heard, so I guess that's bad.

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cause eventually it will clog your poop shoote

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Sure you can swallow if you like it. Lol of course it is wrong...because it is a "chewing gum" just chew dont swallow!

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It can stay in your body for 7 years.

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It doesn't digest as easily as food.

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N8UR already took my answer and some of my links. So instead of trying to outdo him, I'll just say that N8UR is right.

So since i'm not going to get the best answer, I will say that I swallow my gum at least twice a week during my running, and haven't had any problems. Swallowing boogers however sometimes makes my stomach weezy....

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