Swallowing Gum

Ofcourse it does harm to the body. If the gum is big enough it can obsruct the bowel and could lead to serious complications. Once in a while if swallowed accedentally it can be pushed out by eating more of bananas. But if it is done continuously there is always a risk.

I sometimes swallow my gum if I do not have access to a trash can or even a piece of paper to put it in. It just goes right through me. Here is what I found on the subject though. Although chewing gum is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it isn't harmful if swallowed. An old wives' tale 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 sit in your stomach. It progresses relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/digestive-system/AN01006 In rare cases, swallowing a large mass of gum, or many small pieces of gum over a short period of time, can block the digestive tract. Blockages in the digestive system are most likely to happen when gum is swallowed along with other indigestible things (like sunflower seed shells). http://kidshealth.org/teen/question/dieting/swallow_gum.html

Nope. Unless they have some sort of medical problem it will just pass through like all other "food".

I have always heard that it is not good to swallow gum. Your body does not digest it like regular food. It can also make you constipated also.

Well, this was an interesting question. Made me look and see what was said about it. The Mayo Clinic had this to say: "Although chewing gum is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it isn't harmful if swallowed. An old wives' tale 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 sit in your stomach. It progresses relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool." I still wouldn't swallow it. I don't even like swallowing a pill - gag......

Hi carolbee, That is disgusting, but I wouldn't like to look inside his body, I don't know what it will do to his insides. Love & Hugs. Tamara

I know when I was little that my mother always told me not to swallow gum because it would stay in my system for years and I believed it. I heard one day someone asking a doctor about that because their child swallowed gum and they had heard the same thing as I was told and the doctor said that it does not stay in your body and your body digests it just like it does anything else. I am not sure what show I saw this on.