This is What happen to your Body when you swallow gum | Is it Harmful ?

You might have heard the rumours as a kid: Swallow gum and it will sit stubbornly in your stomach for seven long years.

But what does science have to say about that? Reactions, a video series from the American Chemical Society, traced the steps taken by our body’s digestive system to find out that while some of the gum we chew can survive digestion, it "doesn’t mean the gum you swallowed in grade school is still there".

Turns out there are three basic components of digestion: The first includes the mechanical processes that are required to process your food when you first ingest it, i.e. chewing.

The second focuses on the enzymes or proteins in your saliva and stomach that help break down that food. Last but not least are acids, which dissolve what’s left into something your body can comfortably pass through your intestines.

Traditionally, when you eat, your teeth and tongue work together to munch the food into small bits. Then your muscle movements push the food through the digestive tract until it is emptied into the stomach and churned with digestive juices, as shown below:While this is happening, the enzymes in your saliva, stomach juices, and intestines drive chemical processes that allow you to convert that food into nutrients your body can use.

Then, the acids in your stomach get to work, dissolving what’s left of that food into a mush that your body can comfortably pass through your intestines and, eventually… dispose of.

But gum isn’t designed to be smoothly digested by your body like regular food. That’s because it contains either a natural or synthetic rubber base, which is what gives it its gummy consistency. Butyl rubber, commonly used in gum (as well as tires and basketballs, mm!), is a synthetic rubber that provides it with an ideal chewiness.

You’ve probably noticed that gum is unaffected by the crushing of your teeth - that’s kind of the point. So when you swallow the gum, it moves through your digestive tract into your stomach as one giant wad.

While your enzymes are able to break down the carbohydrates, oils, and alcohols in the gum as they would with regular food, the rubber base in the gum is basically immune to these enzymes.

Even the 'harsh brew' of acids in your stomach is no match for this rubber base. (Remember that rubber is so resilient that we use it in gloves for protection.) As a result, part of your gum survives all of your digestive system’s attempts to break it down.

But so do parts of a lot of other things you eat, like sunflower seeds or corn. So while that gum you swallowed is rebellious enough to stand up to your digestive processes, that doesn’t stop your muscles from eventually ushering it through your body and out the other end within a couple days.

Is it Harmful ?

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. But the gum doesn't stay in your stomach. It moves relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.

On rare occasions, large amounts of swallowed gum combined with constipation have blocked intestines in children. It's for this reason that frequent swallowing of chewing gum should be discouraged, especially in children.

Can You Digest Gum?

The better question is, Can we digest gum? The short answer is: Kind of. Gum is made of a number of ingredients, including sweeteners (e.g., sugar or xylitol), flavorings, preservatives, and softeners (like vegetable oil or glycerin). Our digestive system can be break down, digested, and excreted ingredients. Gum’s base, however, is made from substances like butyl rubber (the same kind used to make rubber inner tubes), which can’t be digested.

“By design, gum is not easily digested,” explains Dr. Jenifer Lightdale, Division Chief of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition at UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center. “Although it may have some sugars in it (which can be broken down by special enzymes in your small intestine), the reason gum cannot be digested is because it’s made of natural or even synthetic ingredients—including wax and resins —that your body does not digest.” 

Ever notice how corn kernels come out the other end looking the same as they did going in? It’s a similar concept with the butyl (or other base) used in gum. Since it can’t be digested, your digestive system moves it along slowly and eventually (in a day or two—not seven years) it passes in your poop. (How could I not use that word in an article about what happens if you swallow gum?)

Another Reason Not to Swallow Gum

“Swallowing gum is…kind of gross,” says Dr. Lightdale. “I have actually seen gum on occasion when performing a special procedure in children – called colonoscopy – where I use a camera to look inside their large intestines. Trust me!  Once you have seen a piece of gum inside someone’s intestine, you are never tempted to swallow a piece ever again.”