Ah, one of the eternal questions, right up there with "Do you really have to wait an hour after eating before you swim?" and "How many licks does it take to get the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?"
And now the question is answered at the Scientific American Web site. The old wisdom warned that you shouldn't swallow gum because it takes the body seven years to digest it. But the folks at Scientific American have investigated and the answer is ... after the jump!
Dr. David Milov of the Nemours Children's Clinic in Florida says there is no basis for this fear. Gum does not stay in the digestive tract for seven years. Dr. Rodger Little at Duke University agrees with Milov.
Now, this doesn't mean that all of us can start swallowing our gum with abandon. If a person does it on a regular basis, then there's the possibility that it could cause a blockage. So you should just continue to place it under tables and the seats of movie theaters (just kidding - don't do that either!).
Now, this brings up another question: if gum isn't swallowed, can it be considered a food?
[thanks to Scott for the tip]











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
10-11-2007 @ 4:39PM
Matthew said...
I used to manage a gelato store, and every time someone other than a child would order the bubble gum gelato I couldn't help myself but point out that they just chose the one flavor in the shop that's based on something basically inedible.
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10-11-2007 @ 5:55PM
mrMan said...
...and this article just made you a liar for all of those years!
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10-11-2007 @ 8:06PM
ann marie said...
in back to eden it says pickles are inedible....denatured with vinegar...i dont know if thats true or not.
i do remember from one of my classes that food is considered anything that when digested is oxidized and yields energy.
in humans that leaves out things like wood i believe....although other species can digest wood.
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10-12-2007 @ 12:09AM
Deuz Augustine said...
I've always swallowed all the gum I eat, and I'm not about to stop.
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10-12-2007 @ 12:05PM
kevjohn said...
I always swallow too, at about a 90% rate. Good thing I don't chew all that often.
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10-15-2007 @ 4:20PM
Simon Arch said...
Pickling is not denaturation. Pickling is an ancient and well-practised form of food preservation. Almost every culture around the world throughout recorded history has employed pickling in a variety of ways on a huge variety of foods, from eggs and meats to vegetables and fruits. If pickles were inedible and of no nutritional value they would have died out centuries ago.
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10-16-2007 @ 2:50PM
Ben said...
I'm no doctor, but I would think that the acids in a human's stomach would cause the gum to disolve fairly easily.
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10-16-2007 @ 2:57PM
Victoria said...
I'm too afraid to swallow gum for fear of choking on it if it somehow gets stuck in my throat. I think I'll continue to wrap it in tissue when I'm done and throw it in the trash. I never put it under seats and try to avoid throwing it on the ground to prevent anyone from getting it stuck to the bottom of a shoe.
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10-16-2007 @ 3:07PM
Laurie said...
It would have been a better article by far, and much more informative if the article had stated just how long it does take to digest gum.
Why did they leave that out. Okay, it doesn't take 7 years, but how long does it actually take? Does it just pass through like any other thing?
I like to chew gum, but I always spit it out into a piece of paper and throw it in the garbage.
This article did not give a full answer, it just stated that it does not take 7 years. What a waste of time to read that, I knew that from reading this previously, but I thought it would state the facts behind the digestion of gum. Thanks for nothing, really.
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10-16-2007 @ 3:13PM
vincetta said...
You can't digest gum , it just passes through the intestines and comes out whole if it doesn't get stuck in your intestines.
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10-16-2007 @ 3:20PM
Lizzy said...
Gum goes through your body just like anything else.
Not to sound gross but I've swallowed gum for years, and I've seen it come out the other way with everything else I've eaten the day before.
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10-16-2007 @ 3:32PM
Jacob said...
#5 .... Thanks for always cleaning up the MESS!
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10-16-2007 @ 3:37PM
jwbecotte said...
Gum would pass through your system within hours, depending on your health and diet. It is not broken down and digested. It is only passed through. The gum is treated the same as a penny or any other foreign object one would swallow.
Think about the drug smugglers who fill the balloons with drugs and swallow them. Your body would treat the gum just the same.
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10-16-2007 @ 3:38PM
smyers said...
Ok everyone. Vincetta is right. Your body does not actually digest the gum. It can however break apart slightly while in the stomach which causes it to come out in small bits...kind of like corn! We don't digest corn either. Gum just becomes a waste that is later sent out in the form of well you know!
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10-16-2007 @ 3:40PM
3FingersGuido said...
What if the swallowed gum makes it through the digestive tract and gets stuck at the sphincter opening? Can you blow a bubble if you have gas?
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10-16-2007 @ 3:48PM
judi said...
When my son was little I would tell him that if he swallowed his gum it would blow a bubble out of his behind the next time he farted!
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10-16-2007 @ 3:48PM
lynn said...
lmao to #15 that was funny
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10-16-2007 @ 3:50PM
Ridge Runner said...
My dear 'ol Grandmother always told me that swallowed gum turned into worms in the stomach. My Grandmother never told a lie!
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10-16-2007 @ 3:57PM
fran8119 said...
Thank you all so much for this amusing you have provided me with to get throught this 3 o'clock slump. I am at my desk in tears laughing at the fact that people are actually investing their time in not really the article, but in how much it sucked and how also in the end the thread was actually more useful than the article itself. Thank you all for the laughs.
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10-16-2007 @ 3:58PM
k said...
Take note, you will step in gum at least twice for everytime you throw it on the ground!!!
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