Throughout the first 18 years of my life, swallowing pieces of gum whether on purpose or just on accident has occurred many times. I’m sure this has also happened to most other students at least once. Have you ever been in a situation where there is no place to dispose of your gum properly and you face a very difficult decision of what to do with it? If your answer is yes like mine, then learning that swallowing gum is not unhealthy could save you from this specific awkward situation.
Many would believe that swallowing gum is unhealthy, which could be true, but the amount of gum you would need to swallow for this to happen would have to be a very excessive level (Templeton). Swallowing an occasional piece of gum is not enough to be harmful to the body, which leads to the conclusion that swallowing gum is perfectly acceptable. The swallowed gum will not be broken down in the body or provide the body with anything nutritious, but it will not become stuck in the body unless a very rare scenario comes about (Templeton). In some situations it is ultimately a better idea to swallow a piece of gum, rather than take alternative action.
Think about it, if you are in class and the taste of your gum is so unbearable that you cannot focus and there is no way to dispose of it, you need to do something. By swallowing your gum, you are not allowing yourself to take negative action such as sticking it under a desk. How would you like to be the one that has to scrape gum off of desks and chairs? My guess is that you would not be very excited about it. By swallowing it, you are helping another person greatly without even affecting your body in a negative way.
The same ideas apply at restaurants. It is so easy to just stick your gum under the table before eating, but this can really create problems in the lives of others. Many restaurants make the waiters and waitresses actually crawl under the table before they leave and scrape the gum from tables. According to Rob Gunther, who is a waiter, “Every single night, there’s at least one wad of chewed up gum stuck under one of my tables (Gunther).” The fact that each piece of gum takes approximately 2 minutes to clean up, really makes for a difficult end of a night as a waiter (Gunther). In most restaurants, there is not an easy way to dispose of chewed gum respectfully, so swallowing it is a fine way to make someone else’s night a whole lot easier at a low health cost.
Another situation where gum should be swallowed is when you are outdoors and there is nowhere to throw it out. 80-90% of chewed gum is just thrown on the ground or on a sidewalk (CustomMade). This percentage could be reduced greatly if more people swallowed their gum instead. Throwing a chewed piece of gum on the ground outside opens problems to other people. I know that I absolutely hate stepping on a piece of chewed gum and I think many others would agree with me. Also, chewing gum is not biodegradable, which means that it must be cleaned up which can be very expensive (CustomMade). By swallowing gum in this situation instead of throwing it on the ground, you save your community by making people feel cleaner and happier, and you will end up saving the community a large amount of money.
The fact that swallowing gum is not unhealthy makes it a viable option in situations where you would otherwise be affecting the world in a negative way. Why would someone want the feeling of hurting others on their conscience? By sacrificing being a little bit uncomfortable when swallowing gum, the positive externalities being created should most definitely make up for it.
After some research I think some things you should add to your blog are how gum moves through the digestive track when swallowed( “your stomach can’t break down a piece of gum the same way it breaks down other food, your digestive system can move it along through normal intestinal activity. In other words, it comes out the other end when you have a bowel movement”), when multiple pieces of gum are swallowed in a short period thats when it can be deemed as “unhealthy” because it can block the digestive tract, and what are the health risk of chewing gum. Some health risks I found are how sugary gum causes cavities and how “sugar-free gum sweetened with sorbitol can cause diarrhea.
I too have always been fearful of swallowing my gum. However, I always dispose of it in a trashcan or in a napkin. I found an article written by Dr. Michael F. Picco from the Mayo Clinic. He says that swallowing gum is not harmful. Even though gum “is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it generally isn’t harmful if swallowed.” The gum actually does not stay in ones stomach. It actually moves “relatively intact” throughout the digestive system and is eventually excreted in stool. However, there are some rare instance that can make swallowing gum dangerous. Sometimes “large amounts of swallowed gum combined with constipation” can block intestines, mostly in children. Children should definitely be careful, because although it is rare, frequent swallowing can have some negative effects. I know personally, I am going to continue to dispose of my gum properly instead of letting it slide down my throat. But, it is comforting to know that I can swallow a few pieces here and there and not be harmed.
As the person above me stated, people are always told that gum won’t digest for 7 years. I always questioned whether or not this was true because if you think about, there are bites of food that people swallow that are the same size if not larger then a piece of gum. I was pleased to know that my question was answered in your article and that it is perfectly acceptable to swallow gum. There are a lot of valid reasons as to why swallowing gum is better when there are no available trashcans. I think that an interesting way to further this blog post could be finding a study that showed how gum traveled through the body, or how different gums travelled.
This is a very interesting topic. Ever since I was a child I was told, “don’t swallow your gum, it can’t be broken down and will stay in your system for 7 years.” I came across a problem the other night at dinner where i had no place to spit out my gum. My friend told me that I should just swallow it. I stared at her with a digesting look on my face. I thought it was very unhealthy. I am very glad this article has informed me that swallowing your gum will not harm you. I also agree that it is better for the environment to swallow your gym. Another myth I have always been told was that “gym is biodegradable,” when in fact, like you said, its not. I completely agree with your blog and feel you have made some very strong points.
I always thought that swallowing gum was bad for you and I also heard that if you swallow gum, it stays in your body for seven years. Now I know that is false. I researched this topic more because i wasn’t sure what to believe. WebMD says that the rumor that gum stays in your stomach is completely false, and says that it is indeed does not get broken down, but it is eventually excreted by your body. I think this rumor started from childhood because swallowing gum could be dangerous to young children. This video explains this topic well.