What happens if you swallow your chewing gum?

What happens if you swallow your chewing 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.

What should you do if you swallow a piece of gum?

If you swallow a piece of gum, don’t be concerned. It shouldn’t cause you any problems. If you or your child have swallowed a large quantity of gum in a short time, you should see your doctor to check for an intestinal blockage.

How long does chewing gum stay in your stomach?

Answer From Michael F. Picco, M.D. 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.

What happens if you swallow gum with coins?

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.

What happens if a child swallows a piece of gum?

Although a swallowed piece of gum should pass through a child just as it would an adult, young children might swallow large quantities of gum and even objects that can get stuck to the gum in their digestive tract.

What happens if you accidentally swallow gum?

So when you swallow gum accidentally, it reaches the stomach as any food would. The stomach then tries to digest it as if it were food. When it fails, the gum will simply continue to move through the intestinal tract, as do the many foods that the body is not able to digest, until it is expelled in the faeces.

Is swallowing gum actually dangerous?

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.

Why can’t we swallow gum?

The main reason why it’s not good to swallow gum is because gum does not have stuff like vitamins or minerals that your body needs, and therefore your body cannot benefit from having it in your stomach. Most doctors agree that gum which is accidentally swallowed is just discarded from your body as waste,…

What is the myth of swallowing gum?

The common myth is that when a piece of gum is swallowed, it will take the person’s body seven years to digest it. The idea of having a glob of chewing gum sitting in the pit of your stomachs is an uneasy thought for most, but the good news is that this myth has been totally debunked by scientists.