Chewing gum is a great ally when you want a sweet tooth or to improve your breath after a meal. Its popularity has raised several safety questions. For example, some say that it can take 7 years to digest the gum and, in some cases, that it moves inside the body until it reaches the heart. After all, is chewing gum bad for your health? The answer is: it depends.truths.

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Chewing gum is bad for you, if the habit is frequent

According to Cleveland Clinic a leading medical and academic center in Canada and other countries, it is okay to swallow gum once in a while. However, doing it all the time, such as chewing and swallowing gum for days at a time, can cause problems. The reason is that gum is made of synthetic substances In other words, its base is not a food ingredient that the body can adequately digest. For this reason, there may be the risk of the gum settling in the intestinal wall and causing an obstruction. For this to happen, more than one gum accumulates in the digestive tract. The Sírio-Libanês hospital reinforces the attention to the habit, which should be monitored especially among children.

Is it true that chewing gum stays in the body for years?

This story was probably born to discourage someone from swallowing gum. Anyway, the statement is false. Although the body cannot digest chewing gum, it passes through the digestive system like any other food we eat. Beth Czerwony, a nutritionist at the Cleveland Clinic, explains that it may take a little longer for the gum to come out in the stool, but that it is impossible for it to remain in the body for years.Normally, it takes no more than 40 hours for the gum to be expelled from the body," he says.

If we stop to think about it, our diet is rich in foods that the body cannot break down. For example, corn, raw seeds, and some leafy vegetables usually come out intact in the stool. And don't worry: The gum will also not travel through your body until it reaches your heart. After all, it follows the same logic as the other foods we ingest through the mouth, which passes through the entire flow of the gastrointestinal complex.

What to do if I get sick?

First of all, it is important to seek medical help. In principle, gastroenterology is the specialty that deals with health and gastrointestinal disorders. If the problem is related to gum accumulation, the signs of intestinal obstruction can be:

• Constipation.
• Abdominal pain and bloating.
• Nausea and vomiting.

In case you are not one of the chewing gum chewing team, but chew it all the time, pay attention: Excessive chewing gum can stimulate high production of gastric juice. As a result, discomforts such as gastritis, a type of stomach inflammation that has burning as one of its discomforts.

References: Sírio-Libanês Hospital ; e Cleveland Clinic .