How does gum digest

Folklore suggests that swallowed gum sits in your stomach for seven years before it can be digested. But this isn't true. If you swallow gum, it's true that your body can't digest it. But the gum doesn't stay in your stomach. It moves relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool. On very rare occasions, large amounts of swallowed gum combined with constipation have blocked intestines in children. It's for this reason that frequent swallowing of chewing gum should be discouraged, especially in children.

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Food and Drug Administration allows the use of various substances in products as long as they meet certain specifications and limitations. You see it with certain foods you eat, like corn. Gum will usually pass through your system completely in less than seven days. Your body can safely pass gum within a few days. Research shows that large amounts of gum can lead to intestinal blockages, especially in children. This can happen when a large amount of gum is swallowed at once or when someone frequently swallows gum.

Doing so can cause it to clump into a large, indigestible mass, called a bezoar. People of all ages, especially children, should avoid swallowing gum. Gum can cause choking. People have been chewing gum in various forms for thousands of years. This article explores the health benefits and risks of chewing gum.

Going to the dentist may be a relatively modern phenomenon, but did you know that people have been using toothpaste since about B. Whether you call it passing gas, farting, or flatulence, gas is a normal part of life. Is Swallowing Gum Harmful? Share: Facebook Twitter. Ready for an appointment? Doctors Featured in this Article. Featured Doctors Images. Related Doctors.

That's not true. Though 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 poop. Swallowing a large mass of gum, or many small pieces of gum over a short period of time, can block the digestive tract in rare cases. Blockage is most likely when gum is swallowed along with foreign objects, like coins, or when swallowed with nondigestible materials like sunflower seeds.

Little kids are most likely to be affected because they might not understand that gum is chewed, not swallowed. Chewing gum is made of either natural or synthetic materials gum resin , preservatives, flavorings, and sweeteners.