Though it's very rarely dangerous, you shouldn't make a habit of swallowing your Juicy Fruit.
We're sorry to burst your bubble. The popular schoolyard myth—that swallowing a mouthful of Yubble Bubble or Big League Chew leads to undigested chewing gum remaining in your stomach for seven years. (For what it's worth, drinking Pepsi and Pop Rocks at the same time won't make your stomach explode; throwing yourself over the playground swing set won't turn your body inside-out; and if someone slaps your back while you're crossing your eyes, they won't get stuck that way.)
On the other hand, what happens to your body if you swallow your chewing gum? Would it live for hours, days, or even weeks in your stomach? Is that chewy confection going to clog your intestines? Will it stick to your stomach's walls like it does to the bottoms of your shoes? And, in the end, will it affect your body? Continue reading to learn the truth about what happens to your insides when you swallow chewing gum.
1. Your body gets to work breaking it down.
The misconception that gum lasts seven years in your body is no exception. The truth is that your body can't digest all of the chewing gum you've consumed.
The enzymes in your digestive system break down carbs into sugars (or glucose), proteins into amino acids, and fats into fatty acids when you consume regular food. Bacteria in your digestive tract will begin to transport many of the nutrients from your food into your body, and your hormone insulin will kick in to direct all of that broken-down glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids into your muscles and tissues, where they will either be burned as energy or stored as fat.
Your chewing gum? Not so much, to be honest. While your body can break down and deal with preservatives, flavorings, sugar, and sweeteners, it can't manage the gum base, as Dr. McGreal pointed out. That mixes with the rest of your stomach contents (no, it won't attach to anything) and moves through your body at the same rate as everything else.
2. Though rare, swallowing gum can cause intestinal blocking.
"On infrequent occasions, large amounts of swallowed gum mixed with constipation have resulted in blocked intestines in children," notes Mayo Clinic's Elizabeth Rajan, M.D. "It is for this reason that chewing gum should not be swallowed often, especially by children."
According to a widely recognized study published in the journal Pediatrics in 1998, the story of a youngster who ate as many as seven pieces of gum per day and suffered from constipation for more than two years before requiring surgery to remove the obstruction was told.
3. Repeatedly swallowing chewing gum can lead to painful issues.
Suppose you consume an excessive amount of chewing gum regularly, regardless of your age. In that case, you're putting yourself at risk for belly pain, gas, diarrhea, chronic constipation, and mouth ulcers, according to Healthline researchers.
4. How Long Does It Take Chewing Gum to Pass-Through Your Body?
According to Yale University health specialists, it takes 40 hours to seven days. "Gum is quite immune to the digestive process," says David Milov, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist at the Nemours Children's Clinic in Orlando. "It will probably pass through slowly than most things, but the digestive tract's normal housekeeping waves will finally push it through, and it will exit fairly undamaged."