What would happen if you accidentally swallowed a piece of gum? Would it stick to your small intestine? Would it be in your digestive tract for seven years?
The answers to both questions is: no!
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Then what would actually happen if you swallowed gum? Continue to read to find out!
First, let’s talk about what gum is made of.
Originally, gum base was made of natural rubber such as chicle, but after World War II,
synthetic rubber started to replace the natural rubber. Along with the gum base, sweeteners, flavorings and softeners may be added to make chewing gum.
Now let’s talk about the digestive system.
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The mouth is the beginning of the digestive system, and in the mouth, a type of enzyme, amylase, breaks down the carbohydrates that we chew and ingest.
After swallowing the food, it will move through the esophagus and come to the stomach. Here, the secretion of acid and enzymes (hydrochloric acid and pepsin) would break the food. Then, the stomach will transport it to the small intestine.
The small intestine will absorb nutrients into the bloodstream, and when the remainder of food travels to the large intestine, water and vitamin K are absorbed. The undigested or unabsorbed food or nutrients will be stored in the rectum and removed through bowel movements.
Normally in gum, everything could be digested except for the gum base, which is made of
rubber. Gum could stick to dry surfaces easily like how it sticks to the floor or sticks to our hair. However, it won’t stick to any part of our digestive system, since it doesn't stick to our teeth when chewing it. Because of the secretions in the digestive system, the gum base can pass through and ends up being removed from the body through defecation.
However, there are also some cases where chewing gum could bring danger. Below are two stories talking about the danger caused by chewing gum.
A three-year-old boy started chewing gum a long time ago. When his parents had to send him to the hospital, he already reached the record of swallowing seven pieces of gum every day. The gum he swallowed formed a blockage that blocked his intestines, and the doctors had to clean them out through surgery.
A one-year-old girl swallowed gum with four coins, and at the end she had to go to the emergency room to take out the coins.
As a summary, both people who swallowed gum in the two cases are really young, and one swallowed a large quantity of gum, the other swallowed gum with something else.
Therefore, if you swallowed gum, don’t worry about anything as long as the quantity being swallowed is minimal, or you didn’t swallow it with any other indigestible objects.
Now we know that under normal conditions swallowing gum wouldn’t cause any harm, but there are still many other things about chewing gum we should learn about. Here are some facts about chewing gum:
Chewing sugar-free gum between meals can help protect the teeth and gums.
Chewing gum helps increase intestine moves, which is important for food digestion.
By chewing gum, stress can be relieved, and it helps us to pay more attention.
Chewing gum for a long time would cause more secretion of gastric acid; therefore, people with stomach-related problems should not chew gum often in order to prevent more severe problems with the stomach.
Overall, chewing gum brings us a lot of benefits, but we should still be careful to avoid the potential danger. If we do pay attention to what we are doing, and continue to learn more about health-related knowledge, then we may have the ability to decide what is right and what is wrong.
Written by: Benetta Wang
References:
“What Do They Make Chewing Gum From? Here’s the Chemical Composition.” ThoughtCo, www.thoughtco.com/what-is-in-chewing-gum-604296#:%7E:text=Originally%2C%20chewing%20gum%20was%20made%20from%20the%20latex,paraffin%20wax%20is%20used%20as%20a%20gum%20base. Accessed 30 July 2020.
Frothingham, Scott. “Swallowed Gum.” Healthline, 6 Feb. 1978, www.healthline.com/health/swallowed-gum.
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