Does Gum Really Take Seven Years to Digest?

We’ve all had someone tell us not to swallow our gum before. Whether it’s been a friend, a parent or even a teacher, they’ve all said the same thing. “Throw your gum out in the trash, don’t swallow it, it takes seven years to digest!” Hearing this as a naive child, I obviously was bound to believe that when I swallowed my cinnamon flavored chewing gum, it would be trapped inside my body for seven years. And back then, seven years seemed like a life time. I guess it technically was a lifetime to me, considering I probably heard about this for the first time when I was around seven years old. But when I’m trying to have fun on the playground with my friends and there’s no garbage around me, what’s a seven year old supposed to do?

Thankfully, this well-known gum myth isn’t true. According to Dr. Rodger Liddle, a gastroenterologist at the Duke University School of Medicine, “Nothing would reside that long unless it was so large it couldn’t get out of the stomach or it was trapped in the intestine.” Just like every other food we digest, gum travels through our digestive systems, as our body breaks it down. In a matter of days, our gum is completely gone.iStock_000005748460XSmall-300x199

Although swallowing gum isn’t much of a problem, chewing gum should not be consumed on a daily basis. Chew it, and then spit it out in the garbage. If large amounts of gum are swallowed constantly, a problem could occur. A study in 1998 shows three cases of children who had issues due to excessive quantities of chewing gum being swallowed. One of the children was just four years old, and had been facing constipation for about two years. After eating about five to seven pieces of gum a day, they had finally realized there was a problem, and doctors removed a “taffy-like mass” from his body.

So, for everyone who swallowed a piece of gum seven years ago, when Steve Jobs released the first iPhone ever, you can let out a huge sigh of relief. Don’t worry, the chewing gum is already out of your body. And for all of you who swallowed a piece of gum today, it won’t be sitting inside your body until the year 2020.

http://www.livescience.com/22448-does-gum-really-take-7-years-to-digest.html

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130625-does-gum-take-years-to-digest

http://www.fembodynutrition.com/can-chewing-gum-stop-a-craving-in-its-tracks/

2 thoughts on “Does Gum Really Take Seven Years to Digest?

  1. Nicole Kristen Abunassar

    I always used to be terrified of swallowing my gum, but as I grew older, I learned to become skeptical of such preposterous claims. Although swallowing gum in moderation is harmless, it makes complete sense that eating too much would cause digestive problems considering gum is made from a latex.

  2. Heather Elise Wagner

    My brother used to swallow his gum all the time and my mom would constantly tell him this. There are a couple other reasons that we advise people to spit out their gum, choking is the main concern. It is easy for a large piece of gum to become trapped in ones throat if thy swallow it to quickly or cough on it. I read in Scientific American that the actual amount of time it takes for gum to pass through your system is up to a week. Here is the article http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-chewing-gum-takes-seven-years-to-digest/

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