Other / 20/02/2020

What happens if you swallow a big piece of gum?

Although chewing gum is designed to be chewed and not swallowed, it generally isn’t harmful if swallowed. 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.

Where does the gum go after you swallow it?

This also doesn’t mean, however, that your body will retain the gum for longer than anything else you’re likely to swallow. Instead of just sitting in your stomach, a regular piece of swallowed gum will move through your small intestine to your colon and then pass as regular waste when you go to the bathroom.

Is the digestive system lined with chewing gum?

Unlike Seattle’s famous Gum Wall, your digestive tract is not lined with gum. It’s true that your body can’t break down gum, but the digestive wait time is actually closer to a weekend. What exactly happens if you swallow chewing gum?

How long does it take for gum to pass through your body?

Despite the popular myth, swallowed gum doesn’t age in dog years. Your body can’t digest chewing gum, but the gum will pass through your system in 1 to 3 days and arrive in its porcelain palace fully intact. There’s no need to be concerned unless you’ve swallowed enough gum to block your intestines — that would warrant a trip to the ER.

Where does gum Go when you go to the bathroom?

Instead of just sitting in your stomach, a regular piece of swallowed gum will move through your small intestine to your colon and then pass as regular waste when you go to the bathroom.

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.

Instead of just sitting in your stomach, a regular piece of swallowed gum will move through your small intestine to your colon and then pass as regular waste when you go to the bathroom.