We started by typing three words into the Yahoo! search field: chewing, gum, and swallow. We weren't impressed with the site matches, so we focused on the web page matches.
We noticed a page from Ask Dr. Weil, a popular health and alternative medicine web site. Dr. Weil reassures us that the body will get rid of the gum in due time. However, he does point out that sugar-free gum, whether swallowed or chewed in large amounts, can cause digestive problems. The sugar substitutes (hexitol, sorbitol, and mannitol, to name a few) found in sugar-free gum are not absorbed, but pass into the small intestine and colon, where they can cause diarrhea.
We wanted a second opinion, so we headed over to the Loyola University Health System, where a newsletter focusing on health myths addressed the topic of swallowing chewing gum. In their opinion, it's not the healthiest thing you can do, but if you do swallow your gum, it will simply pass through your system undigested into your stool (much like fiber).
The consensus seems that it's best to toss your chewed-out gum in the trash, but if you do happen to swallow a piece, don't worry -- it won't sit in your tummy for seven years.
Wrigley, one of today's top leading gum manufacturer's, explains, "Chewing gum has five basic ingredients - sweeteners, corn syrup, softeners, flavors and gum base (the part that puts the "chew" in chewing gum). The first four ingredients are soluble, meaning they dissolve in your mouth as you chew. Gum base doesn't. And although it isn't meant to be swallowed, if it is, it simply passes through your system, just like popcorn or any other form of roughage." It starts traveling down your esophagus, into your stomach, enters the small intestine, and makes its way to the large intestine. This normally takes only a few days.
