How long does chewing gum take to digest? What to do if a child swallows chewing gum

Our magazine has already talked about how “useful” chewing gum is for pregnant women. Now we will try to find the answer to the question of what will happen if you swallow chewing gum. And what exactly to do in this situation. Well, in the process of considering this problem, we will, willy-nilly, debunk a couple of myths about swallowed gum... So, what happens if you swallow gum?

It will not be possible to find a definite answer, because one of four options can “happen”: nothing will happen; diarrhea or constipation; allergy attack; food poisoning.

The desired option is known to everyone, so we will postpone the conditions for its occurrence until “dessert” (if you want, you can consider this the whim of the author). Well, in order not to disturb the order of the points, let's discuss what can happen if you swallow gum, starting from the end of the list of consequences. By the way, it should be said right away that the effect does not depend on whether the chewing gum was swallowed by a child or an adult, except that a child’s reaction may be a little stronger, because the body is small...

When swallowed gum causes food poisoning

Food poisoning is only possible if you swallow low-quality chewing gum consisting of poisonous and toxic ingredients. Unfortunately, such chewing gum still exists, all over the world. And it’s not even about underground factories producing counterfeits. Even completely legal manufacturers of chewing gum supply stores with chewing gum containing toxic substances, the harmfulness of which has not yet been “proven.” Alas, it’s quite difficult for non-specialists to point fingers at bad chewing gum, so just don’t swallow chewing gum from unknown brands.

What to do if you swallowed poisonous gum?

The first step is to induce vomiting (if you still don’t) and see if you can’t get rid of the toxic gum this way. If it works, observe the reaction of the “patient’s” body and decide according to the circumstances; if not, go to the hospital. Let them decide how to help the victim.

When swallowing chewing gum causes an allergy attack

Sometimes an allergy manifests itself from just chewing gum, but it is much more likely that the body will react inappropriately when large quantities swallowed chewing gum. Don’t think that this doesn’t happen, because often children and adults don’t understand the dangers of chewing gum. They swallow it on a dare, out of curiosity, out of carelessness - in general, it happens.

What to do if you swallowed gum with an allergen?

If, after an adult or child swallows gum, he shows signs of an allergy, first take an anti-allergy drug and try to “extract” the gum by vomiting. At the same time, find out how much harmful rubber was swallowed in order to understand whether there is anything else left in the body. If you manage to “drive out” the chewing gum yourself, watch the “swallower” with a bottle (or whatever you have) of an antiallergic drug. If the chewing gum does not come out or there is a lot of it, go to the hospital, since it is quite possible that in this case it will be difficult to cope without professional doctors.

Diarrhea

To get diarrhea, you need to chew several packs of chewing gum per day. If you swallow gum, you will need much less.

Since this fact raises doubts among many people who at one time swallowed more than a dozen chewing gums (usually in different time), then allow me to quote data from the English medical journal “The Lancet” (the entire next paragraph). Each chewing gum contains some kind of sweetener (sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol or maltitol), which is also a laxative. Therefore, entering the body large dose one of them promises you diarrhea, and sometimes flatulence or abdominal pain.

It should be noted that other symptoms are possible. The same publication describes a slightly different case when a boy chewed about ten packs of gum in a day, after which his heart rate doubled - up to 147 beats per minute, trips to the toilet “for minor needs” became more frequent and appearance appeared. excessive aggression. And all this because of the tiny dose of caffeine in each piece of chewing gum, which simply “added up.”

Perhaps, when swallowing, it is also possible to achieve such serious “results”, since if a child swallows several such chewing gums, his level of excitement can jump noticeably, his heart speed up, and so on. So, if swallowed chewing gum caused diarrhea - get rid of the chewing gum and drink more liquid (water, compote).

How long does it take for chewing gum to be digested?

If only one portion is swallowed, the digestion process will take about 6-10 hours, maybe a little more. But what happens if you swallow gum the size of a small cupcake? Would you say this doesn’t happen? Hmm... If you believe the publication in the American magazine "Pediatrics", then this happens. By the way, it is not necessary to swallow the whole lump at once, because you can gradually - piece by piece... Apparently, this is what two 4-year-old children of different sexes did, from whose rectum, after prolonged constipation, heavy lumps of chewing gum were removed. Better be on your guard. And if anything happens, go straight to the doctor.

Nothing will happen if...

Well, in the most common case, when swallowing gum, you will not notice any deviations from the norm. This option “threatens” you when only one gum without clearly harmful components is swallowed. It will just come out after a while (remember how long it takes for chewing gum to be digested). But it’s still not worth swallowing chewing gum, since there are too many unstudied and “unproven” components, due to which negative effect it will still be there, albeit invisible. Be healthy!

Is chewing gum really not digested for 7 years? Since childhood, parents have been telling their children that they should not swallow chewing gum, because it is not digested in our stomach. But if this is true, what harm can chewing gum cause us? After all, the digestive system is built in such a way as to digest everything that enters our stomach in just a few hours, at most days, but definitely not years.

Once on the website Snopes.com rumors appeared that chewing gum is not digested in the stomach for several years; over time, some medical scientists confirmed this fact. However, gastroenterologist David Milov published an article in Scientific American magazine in which he assured that chewing gum cannot possibly remain in the stomach for seven whole years.

This simply cannot happen, since our digestive system is designed to get rid of all undigested residues. When a person swallows food, it moves down the esophagus into the stomach. In the stomach, enzymes and acids process it, and the process of breakdown begins. From the stomach, partially processed food enters the intestines, where it is further broken down into nutrients and waste. Nutrients support the functioning of the entire body. Unprocessed residues are then sent to the large intestine.

Basically, chewing gum is made from four components, three of which our body digests without problems. These include dyes, flavors and softeners. It is the fourth component, gum base, that is not processed by our body. Gum base is made mainly from synthetic chemical substances, which make chewing gum so “rubbery” and elastic. Its components are not softened by saliva in the mouth, therefore, unlike other ingredients, they are not digested by our stomach. But even if you swallow it, the stomach will still “process” it, like everything that gets into it. When the digestive system “recognizes” it as unnecessary substance, chewing gum goes through the same path as all unprocessed residues.

Chewing gum dates back 7,000 years ago when researchers discovered a piece of gum with imprints of human teeth on it. It emerged as we know it today in the 1860s, when Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (who captured Alamo, California, in 1836) demonstrated chicle (vegetable gum) to Thomas Adams. He subsequently began making chewing gum from it.

However, it is difficult to give a definite answer to asked question. Despite the above medical evidence, there have been cases in history that indicate that chewing gum is harmful. For example, David Milov in the journal Pediatrics described several cases of children who, having disobeyed their parents, swallowed chewing gum, and paid dearly for it. So one boy, swallowing 5-7 chewing gums a day, suffered from chronic constipation (constipation) for two years. Doctors had to simply pull the chewing gum out of his intestines.

But in any case, chewing gum cannot remain in the stomach for seven years. This boy was only four years old when this incident happened to him. It's possible that she would have been stuck there for 7 years, but experienced doctors They couldn't just let that happen.

Illustration copyright Thinkstock

Remember how we were scared as children? Don't swallow chewing gum, otherwise it will stay in your stomach forever! The correspondent decided to digest the testimony to find out if this was true.

Just imagine swallowing a piece of chewing gum in the summer of 2006. The owner of the White House was still George W. Bush. Social network Twitter was still waiting in the wings. "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" topped the film ratings. It seems that all this was a very long time ago, but if, according to the prevailing myth, you swallowed chewing gum then, your body would have completed the process of digesting it only now, in 2014.

When we were children, we were told not to dare to swallow chewing gum because it took seven years to digest. And even earlier we believed that it would lie in the stomach, invulnerable to the normal processes of breakdown and processing of food. This statement is repeated with unshakable conviction from generation to generation on school playgrounds in many countries. However, is it justified from the point of view of medical science?

Chewing gum consists of a polymer or rubber base, sweeteners, flavors, preservatives, and softeners. Sugar and flavoring ingredients such as peppermint oils, are easily broken down and quickly eliminated from the body. Likewise, softeners such as vegetable oils or glycerin also do not pose a problem for the human digestive system. The only ingredient that can resist the acid in the stomach and the digestive enzymes in the intestines is the gum base.

Traditionally, many manufacturers use oleoresin or the resinous sap of the evergreen sapodilla tree, which grows in southern Mexico, as a chewing base. Central America and on the islands of the Caribbean. However, since World War II American soldiers brought ration gum with them to theaters of war around the world, sapodilla trees were no longer able to meet the growing demand.

Today, most chewing gums use other natural or synthetic polymer bases. Quality Supervision Office food products and medicines the USA allows the use various substances, including butyl rubber, which is used, among other things, for the manufacture of inner tubes of automobile and bicycle wheels and self-tightening elastic films. Each manufacturer has its own recipe for how to achieve superlatives elasticity of the chewing base.

But even if the rubber base doesn't degrade, that doesn't mean it stays in your gut for seven years.

And it doesn’t wrap around the heart, as some people claim. Because chewing gum is just a small clump, it eventually leaves the body through the digestive tract.

Foreign bodies, for example, coins, usually come out of the stomach on their own - provided that their size does not exceed two centimeters. Chewing gum has one undoubted advantage over many other items that a person can accidentally swallow - it is soft.

The only reason why chewing gum can stay in the body for seven years is because of the significant amount of this substance. And even symptoms such as constipation do not always allow it to be detected in a timely manner.

One of these children was a four-year-old boy who had suffered from constipation for two years. He had such a hard time going to the toilet that his parents started giving him chewing gum as a reward to help him have a bowel movement. The child was given five to seven records a day, and he always swallowed them instead of spitting them out.

For four days we tried fiber, oils and enemas. Nothing helped. Then the doctors, under anesthesia, removed from the boy’s rectum a mass resembling the consistency of toffee candy. The mass consisted mainly of rubber. Although the age of the substance did not reach seven years, it created a fair amount of problems for the boy.

In the body of another patient, a girl also four years old, doctors discovered a multi-colored mass, which in fact also turned out to be chewing gum. According to doctors, the patient had a habit of quickly swallowing gum so that they would give her more.

The third case occurred with a one and a half year old girl. Doctors found four coins in her stomach, stuck together with a sticky wax-like substance. It turned out that she regularly swallowed chewing gum, and also small coins. The families of two children were aware that their children were swallowing chewing gum, considering this habit a sign of frivolity, the authors of the report report.

Swallow chewing gum in large quantities- not the best good idea. However, if you happen to swallow a lump, it is unlikely to cause you any harm. By at least, there is no evidence in favor of this version.

And if you swallow chewing gum now, it will not get stuck in your stomach and will come out much earlier than it starts. Olympic Games 2020.

Legal information. This article only contains general information and should not be construed as a substitute for the advice of a physician or other health care professional. The BBC is not responsible for any diagnosis made by a reader based on material on the site. The BBC is not responsible for the content of other sites linked to this page and does not endorse commercial products or services mentioned on those sites. If you are concerned about your health, consult your doctor.

Can chewing gum really be harmful to your health if swallowed? How long does it stay in the stomach, and should you worry if your child accidentally swallows gum?

Contrary to the belief of many adults and children that swallowing chewing gum is dangerous to health, there is nothing wrong with it. Like any product that falls into gastrointestinal tract, chewing gum is digested under the influence of acids and enzymes, and those of its components that the stomach could not digest are excreted from the body without any problems, without sticking to the intestinal walls and without sticking them together. The only thing that distinguishes the digestion of chewing gum from the digestion of regular foods is the time it takes to remove the remains from the body. Chewing gum may remain in the gastrointestinal tract for several hours or days longer than food, but will eventually suffer the same fate.

Thus, experts say, claims that chewing gum remains in the stomach for a long time are pure fiction. Real danger Chewing gum is not yet swallowed. The fact is that small children can easily choke on chewing gum. Perhaps that is why parents come up with “scary” stories about what will happen if it is swallowed, wanting to wean their children from the habit of chewing gum.

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All children grow up and sooner or later some kind of trouble may happen in their lives; it is practically impossible to protect them from this. In our article we will talk about whether it is possible to swallow chewing gum, how long it takes for chewing gum to be digested in the stomach, and what to do if a child swallows it.

Very often, many parents scare their children that if they swallow chewing gum, it will get stuck in the stomach and stick together. Of course, this is a myth, if you swallow one or two chewing gum at a time, then nothing bad will happen, it will react with the acid that is in the stomach and part of the chewing gum will dissolve within 10-15 minutes, the rest will come out in the feces. Therefore, when wondering whether it is possible to swallow chewing gum, you can safely answer “yes,” but it is better to try never to do this.

Consequences

Many children have a big sweet tooth and always want to try something new and tasty. Chewing gum is no exception, especially if they see that mom and dad regularly chew something that tastes good and has a sweet aroma.

Chewing gum is a culinary product, elastic, most often consisting of a chemical polymer with various flavoring additives and dyes

So, if suddenly a child swallows gum, what could be the consequences? If he swallowed just one piece of chewing gum, then most likely nothing will happen; as mentioned earlier, it will be digested and left the body naturally. Don’t panic if you suddenly notice that your baby has eaten it, just explain that you can’t do that and generally try not to give this sweetness to your children. However, not all chewing gum is so safe for children. What are the consequences if a child swallows poor quality chewing gum? We list below:

• poisoning;
• constipation;
• allergy.

It is also worth noting that the same reaction can occur if the child eats the entire pack at once. It is better not to give this thing to small children and hide it away so that they have no interest or temptation to try it, and then most likely you will not have a question about what will happen if you swallow chewing gum.

What to do

Typically, all modern chewing gums do not contain any highly dangerous substances for the body. They are not able to glue the walls of the stomach or intestines and cause great damage to health. Many parents scare their children that they will have to go to the hospital and have surgery in order to get gum. Perhaps due to inexperience, parents themselves do not know what to do if their child swallows chewing gum. In fact, a much greater danger lies in the gum that a child chews while playing.

Do not give your child candy, chewing gum or anything edible if he is playing, running, or having fun, because he may choke and the consequences of this will be much worse.

Let's list Negative consequences from frequent use chewing gum:

1. Some chewing gums contain a dose of caffeine, and therefore can be stimulating. nervous system, increase frequency heartbeat and lead to malfunction of the cardiovascular system;
2. long-term use of chewing gum can have a bad effect on the functioning of the stomach, because while a person is chewing gum, he secretes gastric juice, its excessive release negatively affects digestive system and can lead to gastritis;
3. Constant use of gum negatively affects teeth, although now advertising, on the contrary, promotes chewing gum to avoid caries. It is worth noting that when you chew gum, only a few teeth are involved, so if you want to remove plaque from your baby during the day, it is better to let him eat a fresh carrot or an apple;
4. Constant chewing of gum in children leads to slower development of intelligence, since gum makes it impossible to concentrate, dulls attention, reduces memory and weakens the thinking process.

To summarize, we can safely say that children under 3 years old should not be given chewing gum at all. If you suddenly notice that your baby’s reaction or behavior has become strange or worsened general state, then you should immediately consult a doctor and tell him that the child swallowed gum and ask what to do.