There is an extremely widespread misconception that if you swallow a chewing gum, it will digest at least seven years. All Wine - the old myth, who mother told the children to prevent them about the danger of swallowing inedible or harmful items. Developing the theme, moms often scared children with terrible stories about giant chewing chewing, who were stuck in the intestines for many years, in the most difficult cases causing obstruction and other health problems. Fortunately, this " folk wisdom"- the most powerful not true, since chewing gum rarely remains in the body for more than a few days.

In fact, an elastic band, instead of getting stuck in you inside, it will simply pass through your digestive system. That's what happens in fact, if you swallow a chewing gum.

First, since the chewing is made of synthetic material, your teeth do not affect it. Unfortunately, this is true for enzymes and proteins of your saliva, as they dissolve only foods. That is, when you swallow your chewing, it will pass completely.

After that, she goes down the esophagus, and then falls into your stomach. At this point, it will be in digestive juice and acids that are contained there. They are designed to digest food, so the chewing will again remain the whole. If there are some artificial sweeteners, flavors or sugar in the rubber band, only they will digest.

An elastic band can remain in the stomach for quite a long time - up to five days. But, as a rule, it goes down in thin gut For thirty-ninety minutes.

It will pass through the digestive tract along with other unsecured substances and stop in the colon. Other things that the body cannot digest, include Popcorn kernels, seeds, fiber and shells from nuts.
Together with other waste, the chewing will be there until the next intestinal emptying. It usually happens from 24 hours and to three days after meals.

However, even though chewing gum is not digested seven years, swallowing it too often - the bad idea is still. This can lead to complications, such as strong constipation. And those who suffer from gastroparesis - a disease in which the stomach is hard empty, the chewing can really accumulate in the stomach.

In addition to the gastroprota, the chewing can stay in your body for a long time, only if it is too large. It is because of this that she can get stuck inside your intestines or stomach. Doctors can see the chewing gum in the digestive tract only if the patient who came to X-ray swallowed it immediately before receiving.

In addition, if you swallow a lot of rhums in a very short period of time - for example, for 24-48 hours, it is also fraught with such consequences. Copying in the digestive tract, the chewing can cause constipation. But if you swallowed a few pieces of cheeks for all your life, then you have nothing to worry about. It will pass through your body, like any other undequired substance that falls into it.

Right holder illustration ThinkStock.

Remember how we were frightened in childhood? Do not swallow chewing gum, but it will remain in your belly forever! The correspondent decided to digest testimony to find out whether it is true.

Just imagine that you swallowed a piece of chewing gum in the summer of 2006. The owner of the White House was still George Bush Jr. Social network Twitter was just waiting for its o'clock. Pirates of the Caribbean-2 "headed the movie rating. It seems that all this was a long time ago, but if, according to the underlying myth, you were swallowed by chewing gum, your body would complete the process of digestion only now, in 2014.

When we were children, we were told that we would not dare to swallow chewing gum, because she digested seven years. Even before, we believed that it would lie in the stomach, invulnerable for the usual processes of splitting and processing food. This statement with unshakable conviction from generation to generation is repeated 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, softeners. Sugar and flavoring ingredients such as mint oils are easily cleaved and quickly derived from the body. Similarly, softeners such as vegetable oils or glycerin, also do not constitute problems for the human digestive system. The only ingredient capable of resolving acid in the stomach and digestive enzymes in the intestine is a rubber chewing base.

Traditionally, many manufacturers are used as a chewing basis with a sapodyillia sapping, which grows in the south of Mexico, in Central America and the Islands of the Caribbean Sea. However, since during World War II, American soldiers brought with them a rationing chewing gum on the theaters of hostilities around the world, the sapodyillic trees were no longer able to satisfy the growing demand.

Right holder illustration ThinkStock. Image Caption. Synthetic materials are used in modern chewing gum

Today in most chewing gums use other natural or synthetic polymer bases. The US Food and Drug Administration Authority allows us to use various substances, including butyl rubber, which comes, among other things, to manufacture interior chambers of automotive and cycling wheels and self-tight elastic films. Each manufacturer has own recipeHow to achieve an excellent degree of chewing basics elasticity.

But even if the rubber base does not decompose, this does not mean that it is preserved in your lack for seven years.

And she is not wreamed around the heart, as some assure. Since chewing gum is just a small lump, it eventually comes out of the organism on the digestive tract.

Foreign bodies, such as coins, usually come out of the stomach - provided that their size does not exceed two centimeters. Chewing gum has one undoubted advantage over many other objects that a person may accidentally swallow - it is soft.

The only reason for which chewing gum can linger in the body for seven years is the considerable amount of this substance. And even such symptoms, such as constipation, do not always allow you to detect it in a timely manner.

One of these children was a four-year-old boy who suffered from constipation for two years. It was so difficult for him to go to the toilet that his parents began to give him chewing gum as a promotion that should have helped him empty. The child was given five to seven plates per day, and he always swallowed them instead of spoing.

Right holder illustration ThinkStock. Image Caption. From chewing gum get rid of not so simple ...

Four days tried fiber, oils and enemas. Nothing helped. Then the doctors under anesthesia were extracted from the rectum of a boy a mass, reminiscent of the consistency of candy-Irisky. The mass consisted mainly of rubber. Although the age of the substance and did not reach the seven years, she created a boy of fair problems.

In the body of another patient, the girls were also four years old from the family, the doctors discovered a multicolored mass, which also turned out to be chewing elastic. According to doctors, the patient used to quickly swallow the gum so that she was still given.

The third case occurred with a half-year-old girl. The doctors discovered four coins in her stomach, alone on the other with a certain sticky substance resembling wax. It turned out that she regularly swallowed chewing gum, and also minor coins. Families of two children were aware of the fact that their children swallow chewing gum, considering this habit of levity, the authors of the report report.

Swallow chewing gum in large quantities is not the best idea. However, if you suddenly beat the lump, it is unlikely that it will cause you any harm. At least there is no evidence in favor of this version.

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

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In childhood, you were also scared with all sorts of karas, including painful death when you swallowed chewing gum? You grew up, and now you are interested, is it harmful in reality?
Let's deal with it - once and forever!

Chewing gum is designed to chew it - it is obvious. But sometimes an unpleasant accident occurs.
Perhaps you swallow it, siping a little water ... And maybe you just have nowhere to spit it!
And perhaps you heard stories that the gum remains in your stomach seven months, seven years or for another absurdly long period.
Myths about swallowing gum were superpopular in your childhood, right? You may still believe in childhood heard in childhood what will happen.

So what happens really when you swallow chewing gum?

Gastroenterologist Lisa Ganja, Adjunct Professor of Medicine Medical center Langon at the New York University, gave an answer to the question about what is happening in your digestive system when stroking the chewing of the chewing (and is it bad).

In general, we can say that chewing gum passes through your digestive tract, like any other food - but not completely digested.
"If your digestive system It can digest a hard steak - she will cope with the chewing, "explains Ganja. Acids and enzymes are really able to cope with it. The only subtle moment is that the gum does not dissolve completely due to its chemical properties, and her remnants are not absorbed in thin intestines. And of course, there is no special period of time during which she will not digest.


So yes, she really can get out naturally!
And no, she will not stick to the intestines and does not forms a huge "stone" from the cheerful. Even if it does not completely dissolve, says Ganja, it will simply be cut out with other fecal masses, as, say, inexpressive grains Popcorn. The only case when the ingestion of the chewing can concern you - too large for passing through the esophagus piece, but it probably does not touch in touch, and certainly it is difficult to swallow it imperceptibly!

Experts, however, advise not to swallow the chewing, but not for the reasons you thought about.
"Chewing gum does not have absolutely no nutritional value. That is why it is not necessary to swallow, "says Ganju. In addition, the whole meaning of the chewing is to chew it, until the taste is lost, and then turn off. "The chewing gum will not harm you and will not kill you, but to swallow it is illogical," adds Ganju.
And you should not swallow large amounts of chewing - they can be simply suppressed. But the same recommendations are true and in relation to any big slices of food.


Thus, the chewing gum will not remain in your stomach and will not kill you. But it is still worth sparing it.
So why is this myth about irreparable consequences so popular? Apparently, it is simply the misunderstanding of the fact that the gum is not digested completely. But the fact that she is not digested and does not absorb, does not mean that it remains inside you! "It's akin to the myth that the apple tree will grow inside, if you swallow the apple seed," says Ganja. Myths about health is full, and some of them are difficult to dispel.

In addition, often artists find a chewed cheer best application. For example, the "head of the chewing" Douglas Copeland.

Is chewing gum can be dangerous for health if you swallow? How long does she stay in the stomach, and whether to worry if the child swallowed the chewing gum?

Contrary to the confidence of many adults and children that Zhwum's swallowing is dangerous for health, there is nothing terrible in this. Like every product falling in gastrointestinalThe gum digested under the influence of acids and enzymes, and those of its components that the stomach could not digest, are removed from the body without any problems, without gluing to the intestinal walls and without gluing them. The only thing that distinguishes the digestion of gums from digesting ordinary food products is the time you need to remove the remains of the body. Chewing gum can stay in the gastrointestinal tract for several hours or days longer than food, but ultimately the same fate awaits it.

Thus, experts approve, allegations that the gum remains for a long time in the stomach - the purest fiction. Real hazard Chewing gum represents not yet swallowed. The fact is that small children can easily become a chewing. Perhaps, therefore, parents come up with "terrible" stories about what will happen if you swallow, wanting to wean your Chad from the habit of chewing the chewing.

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In our magazine, it has already been said how "is useful" pregnant chewing. Now we will try to find the answer to the question of what will happen if we swallow the chewing. And what actually do in this situation. Well, in the process of consideration of this problem, we will promise a couple of myths about the swollen gum ... So, what will happen if you swing a gum?

It will not be possible to find an unequivocal answer, because it can "happen" one of four options: nothing happens; diarrhea or constipation; an attack of allergies; food poisoning.

The desired option is known to everyone, so the conditions for its occurrence will postpone on the "dessert" (if you want, you can consider it to be a whim of the author). Well, in order not to violate the order of items, let's discuss what can happen if you swallow the gum, starting from the end of the list of consequences. By the way, it should be immediately said that the effect does not depend on whether the child swallowed a chewing or an adult, except that the child may have a little stronger, because the body is small ...

When the swallowed gum leads to food poisoning

Food poisoning is possible only if you swallow a poor-quality checker consisting of poisonous and toxic ingredients. Unfortunately, such chewing still exist, and all over the world. And the point is not even in the underground factories producing fakes. Even quite legal manufacturers of chewing gum delivered to the chewing stores with toxic substances, the harmfulness of which is still not proven. Alas, "poke" with your finger in bad chewing facilities is quite difficult, so just do not swallow the chewing of unknown brands.

What if he swallowed a poison with poison?

The first thing to cause vomiting (if it is still not) and see whether it will not be possible to get rid of toxic chewing thus. If it turned out, observe the patient's body's response and decide on circumstances, if not, go to the hospital. Let them decide how to help the victim.

When bubble gum swallows an allergy attack

Sometimes allergies manifests itself from one chewing, but it is much more likely that the body will respond inadequately with a large number of swamped gum. Do not think that this does not happen, because often children, and adults do not understand the dangers of chewing gum. Swallow on a dispute, from curiosity, by negligence - in general, it happens.

What if you swallowed a gum with an allergen?

If after an adult or a child swallowed the chewing, he manifested themselves signs of allergies, to start, accept the anti-allergic drug and try to "extract" a rhodium with vomiting. In parallel, find out how much destructive rubber was swallowed to understand whether something else remained in the body. It will be possible to "expel" a zhuma independently - watch the "swallower" with a bubble (or what you have) an antiallergic drug. If the gum does not go out or there was a lot - go to the hospital, as it is possible that without professional doctors in this case it will be difficult to do.

Diarrhea

To earn diarrhea, you need to ship several packs of chewing gum per day. If a gum is swallowed, you will need much less.

Since this fact causes doubts from many people who at their time swallowed not one dozen Zhwakhk (as a rule, at different times), then let the data from the English Medical Journal "The Lancet" (the entire next paragraph). Each boobing contains any sweetener (sorbitol, xylitis, manit or maltitis), which is part-time and laxative. Therefore, entering the body of a large dose of one of them promises to you diarrhea, and sometimes meteorism or abdominal pain.

It should be noted that other symptoms are possible. In the same edition, a slightly different case was described when the boy spookered about ten packs of chewing day for the day, after which he had twice the heart accelerated - up to 147 beats per minute, hiking was frequent in the toilet "for small need" and excessive aggression appeared. And all this because of the insignificant dose of caffeine in each plate of chewing gum, which simply "summed up".

Perhaps, when swallowing, it is also possible to achieve so serious "results", since if the child swallows a few such chewing, its level of excitement may noticeably jump, the heart will accelerate, and farther on the script. So, if the breeding chewing gum caused diarrhea - get rid of the cheekbones and drink more fluid (water, compote).

How much is the gum digest?

If only one portion is swallowed, the digestion process will take some 6-10 hours, maybe a little more. But what will happen if you swallow a gum size with a small cupcake? Say - it does not happen? Hmm ... if you believe the publications in the American journal "Pediatric", it happens. By the way, it is not necessary to swallow the entire lump immediately, because you can gradually - the plate behind the record ... Apparently, it was done two of the total 4-year-old kids, from the rectal of which, after long constipation, the rhinesticks were removed. It is better to be alert. And if anything - immediately to the doctor.

Nothing happens if ...

Well, in the most common case, when you swallowing the chewing, you will not notice any deviations from the norm. This option "threatens" when only one elastic band will be swallowed without obviously harmful components. She will simply come out after a while (remember how much the chewing is digested). But it is still not necessary to swallow gum still, since there are too many unexplored and "unproved" components there, due to which the negative effect will still be, albeit invisible. Be healthy!