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IN THIS SERIES, TheJournal.ie takes a look at an urban myth, old wives’ tale, or something that your mammy told you years ago to see if there’s any truth in it.
If you’re a regular chewer of gum, you’ve encountered this situation at some point: After chewing for hours, you’ve thought, “Right, I’ve had enough of this”. You go to spit it out, only to discover that you have nothing to politely dispose of it in.
Try to stick it to the seat or throw it on the floor, and you risk a hefty fine. The fear flashes through your mind that if you swallow it, it will be stuck in your stomach as an unwelcome companion for seven years.
As anyone, gum-chewer or not, will know, once stuck to anything, chewing gum is a pain to remove. It gets on your jeans, you have to freeze them. It gets on your shoe, you have to spray it with WD40. In your hair? Time to use some peanut butter, mayonnaise, vaseline or even booze.
So does your body actually have a problem getting… er… rid of it?
Little pieces of car tyre
Gum was originally made from the sap of trees, and there is evidence that it was chewed in prehistoric times. If swallowed, this would be dissolved by your stomach acids. Nowadays, it’s made from synthetic rubber, essentially the same thing as a car tyre.
As this is not the sort of thing one would usually ingest, the belief spread that your stomach hangs on to it for years. But has this ever been proven?
Professor Aiden McCormick, a consultant in Hepatology and Gastroenterology at St. Vincent’s Hospital, is a man who might know a thing or two about this. In his experience, it doesn’t seem to be true:
“I have been doing gastroscopies on patients for 30 years and I have never yet found chewing gum in the stomach.”
If chewing gum did hang around for a little big longer than other foods, something would more than likely have turned up at some stage. It seems that while eating rubber may not be the best thing for your body, it can deal with it.
Medical intervention
Now, before you start swallowing your gum every single time, there is some evidence that excessive swallowing of chewing gum can lead to something a little unpleasant.
A study (before you click that link, be warned, the level of detail isn’t very pleasant) looked at cases where children did swallow excessive amounts of the confectionery, and a mass formed in their stomach which required medical intervention to remove.
These were extreme cases, for example one where the child swallowed gum frequently in order to be given more, so fear not. An occasional swallowed piece won’t stay with you for very long.
Is there a myth you’d like debunked? Email nicky@thejournal.ie
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Does your face stay the same if while pulling a funny face the wind changes direction???
What’s that activity that makes you go blind?
Banking!!
#damnyouautocorrect
I hope the wind didn’t change just after the Liverpool match yesterday
Never wise to comment before your team plays Liam
Poking your eye with a sharp stick, repeatedly??
If some one hits on the back of the head when you are crossing your eyes – they will stay like that for ever
I swallowed gum twice in one da yrs ago, I am still waiting on the day when I blow bubbles out my arse
*Day!
When your done – bin that gum!
To quote YouTuber CGP Grey: there’s an easy way to check this… But it’s understandable why most people don’t.
I didn’t bother reading this as the headline already tells me that it’s been proven a myth. Maybe if the headline read ” true or false ” there might be some reason for me to read on
Hi Tom.
Thanks, I’ll take that into consideration. “Debunked” is actually the name of this series, and the hashtag “True or False” appears alongside it on our app and in the top corner of the article image if viewing on desktop.
If you have a read, it actually shows that there are occasions when chewing gum can become stuck in your stomach. Have a look, I wouldn’t want people swallowing chewing gum willy-nilly after reading just the headline. Be careful out there.
Well aren’t you just a clever cloggs
I’ve always swallowed my gum. Nothing worse than putting your hand under a table or chair and touching off someone’s used gum.
Just put it in the bin.
If there’s one handy!
What’s wrong with swallowing Jonathan?
That’s what he said
No, he said put it in the bin….
it loses its taste after a few chews. You would have to walk around for goodness knows how long with a dud taste in your mouth to find a bin.
Hate the stuff, have to leave the vicinity of someone chewing with their mouth open, as so many do.
Ban gum
you will go blind from too much ……..you know
:(
Since gum only sticks to dry surfaces, common sense tells you it’s not going to stick to your insides. I think I figured this out when I was about 5.
Awful stuff , you find it under tables , footpaths, under chairs , says a lot about people who use the stuff, their dirty. Can’t stand being in company of women who chew, I leave and go elsewhere
Urban Legend.
Yummy aspartame
The best kind of e coli feces
Actually I want to know the facts about aspartame. The web has millions of stories and articles but nothing the Irish government is backing up.
It leaves the body in pretty much the same condition it was ingested.
I just had to click on that link didn’t I..?
It sticks to your arsehole.
I forgot to add and you end up talking shit.
Someone I knew yrs ago bit her nails. She was told if she continued to do it and swallow them that would gather in a pile in her stomach. Lol
When I glanced at the headline I kinda missed chewing and misread gum
A teacher told me that myth when I was younger, I genuinely asked “what poor mans job was it to check when the gum came out and how happy was he after the 7 years to finally find it?”
have your say