Spit or swallow... that is the question?
Do you spit it out or do you swallow? It’s the age old question and it probably didn’t help that your mum always said that swallowing is bad for you. And because of those myths many of us have probably spent endless years wondering what happened inside our stomachs when we did swallow... Would my intestines get clogged up, and miraculously an organism would grow out of my belly button?
Could swallowing chewing gum (it's not what you think, you dirty people. Okay I admit I misled you a little in my first paragraph on purpose), really make a Wrigley's-shaped tree grow? Having choked on, and swallowed a strawberry flavoured Hubba-Bubba at work, (and heard the boss say: 'You'll have a gum tree growing now') I decided to do some research on this very important topic. I just had to put the swallowing myths to rest.
Wrigley’s say: “Chewing gum has five basic ingredients – sweeteners, corn syrup, softeners, flavours and gum base. The first four ingredients are soluble, i.e. they’ll dissolve in your mouth – probably explains why Hubba Bubba’s lose their flavour after five minutes. The gum base which is the chewy part is the only ingredient that isn’t dissolvable. But if gum is swallowed it will pass through your system pretty much like any other piece of roughage – think sweet corn here, and the gum that freshened your breath will pass through freshening your derriere… well, we could hope.
Though I must add a note of caution, as pointed out by Mr Barnes, from the Clinic of Healthy, Unspoilt Mastication (CHUM): “I think the danger of swallowing is gum is sticky - so if it gets caught in your windpipe it is hard to get out again - and you die.
“Also not all non-dissolvable stuff passes through - it can stay in you belly and cause appendicitis. But the appendicitis thing is based on something a friend's mum told me about biting nails when I was nine, so it may not be true.”
So folks, I think that’s cleared up one old wives’ tale, albeit we’ve probably scared you about choking – neither I, nor the people at CHUM can help you with that.
So carry on swallowing if you do. If you haven't started, I suggest you do.
Could swallowing chewing gum (it's not what you think, you dirty people. Okay I admit I misled you a little in my first paragraph on purpose), really make a Wrigley's-shaped tree grow? Having choked on, and swallowed a strawberry flavoured Hubba-Bubba at work, (and heard the boss say: 'You'll have a gum tree growing now') I decided to do some research on this very important topic. I just had to put the swallowing myths to rest.
Wrigley’s say: “Chewing gum has five basic ingredients – sweeteners, corn syrup, softeners, flavours and gum base. The first four ingredients are soluble, i.e. they’ll dissolve in your mouth – probably explains why Hubba Bubba’s lose their flavour after five minutes. The gum base which is the chewy part is the only ingredient that isn’t dissolvable. But if gum is swallowed it will pass through your system pretty much like any other piece of roughage – think sweet corn here, and the gum that freshened your breath will pass through freshening your derriere… well, we could hope.
Though I must add a note of caution, as pointed out by Mr Barnes, from the Clinic of Healthy, Unspoilt Mastication (CHUM): “I think the danger of swallowing is gum is sticky - so if it gets caught in your windpipe it is hard to get out again - and you die.
“Also not all non-dissolvable stuff passes through - it can stay in you belly and cause appendicitis. But the appendicitis thing is based on something a friend's mum told me about biting nails when I was nine, so it may not be true.”
So folks, I think that’s cleared up one old wives’ tale, albeit we’ve probably scared you about choking – neither I, nor the people at CHUM can help you with that.
So carry on swallowing if you do. If you haven't started, I suggest you do.
posted by Daffaduck at
3:31 PM
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