Is it okay to swallow chewing gum?

Chewing gum can exercise the chewing ability of the oral cavity, and for people with bad breath, chewing gum can effectively relieve bad breath. Nowadays, more and more people think that chewing gum is a cool behavior, so sometimes they often swallow it accidentally, and they worry that it will stick to their stomach and intestines and cause harm to their body.

Although the gum component of chewing gum is difficult to digest, it will eventually be excreted through the body and will not stick to any part of the body. This statement probably came about because children always accidentally swallow their chewing gum, which annoyed their parents who were tired of dealing with the problem, so the adults came up with this statement to scare the children. "When my husband was a child, his mother told him that there was a gum tree growing in his stomach!" said Lorien Stern, MD, professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California, Los Angeles. The inner wall of the human stomach and intestine is very smooth, and chewing gum cannot be stuck in it. If it is swallowed and cannot be digested, it will be automatically excreted. "People occasionally swallow watermelon seeds, and doctors will tell you very clearly that that seed is not going to grow into a big watermelon in your stomach."

Although it is slightly more difficult for the stomach and intestines to digest chewing gum than organic food, the inner wall of the human stomach and intestine is very slippery and chewing gum cannot stick in the stomach. Chewing gum all the time will cause swallowing of too much air, which can easily cause bloating, so it is best for children to eat less.

Don't worry, relax. The inner wall of the human stomach and intestine is very smooth and secretes a large amount of mucus. It is impossible for the chewing gum to get stuck. If it cannot be digested after being swallowed, it will be automatically excreted from the stomach.

As a precaution, children should not chew gum. To avoid accidents, it is best not to give chewing gum to children, because not only does it have no benefits, but it can also be very troublesome if it is accidentally swallowed into the trachea. In addition, if children keep chewing gum, they will swallow too much air while chewing gum.