Chewing Gum Does Not Take Years to Leave Our Intestines

Question

In an effort to stop chewing gum from being swallowed by kids who were to impatient to spit it out, parents told them that it would be stuck in their stomach for years if they swallowed it. However this seems to be challenged by health professionals who think it gets wiped away with all the other food in our intestines in a regular amount of time.

Answer 1

This blog claims that gum cannot get stuck in your stomach for seven years, and that this is a myth most likely started by concerned parents. I believe that this claim is most likely true. Firstly, the article appears to be reliable - although it is outdated (published in 2013), the source is Duke Health, which is Duke University's health system and which as the website states, "incorporates the health and health research programs within the Duke Global Health Institute as well as those in schools and centers across Duke University." Duke is a well-known and esteemed ivy league school, and widely known for its reliability. Additionally, the article's claim is largely backed by Dr. Nancy M. McGreal, who is a gastroenterologist and is an expert on the digestive system. She is board certified with the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. Here is her page: https://www.dukehealth.org/find-doctors-physicians/nancy-m-mcgreal-md. Dr. McGreal explains that while the stomach can't digest chewing gum, it isn't harmful and it won't get stuck in your stomach. I also searched "can gum get stuck in your stomach" on Google, and found multiple articles corroborating Duke Health's claim, including from mayoclinic.org and health.clevelandclinic.org, which were written more recently than the Duke Health blog (2019 and 2022). Both are organizations and both feature answers from certified medical professionals. With all of this in mind, I believe that it is true that gum will not stay in the stomach for long, and definitely not for seven years.

Comments

This is a relatively sound fact check by providing other sources that back up the original claim that chewing gum does not stay in one's intestines for several years, and while I appreciate you giving background on the source such as Duke University's prestige, it is not; however, a recognized member of the Ivy League, though it is still a fairly exclusive school.

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This is a really good fact check that goes into depth about the myths of how long it takes for gum to digest. I like how you provided multiple articles in order to back up your claim. Something else that I like is how you pulled specific facts from the article in order to support the claims. The articles also look very high-quality, in other words they look like articles that do a good job of backing up your claim.

Answer 2

This claim that chewing gum does not stay in your stomach for years is true. According to Mayo Clinic, while we cannot digest gum, it does move quickly through the digestive system. This claim is a result of parents instilling in their children that it would get stuck to stop a choking hazard. 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/indigestion/expert-answers/digestive-system/faq-20058446

Answer 3

Contrary to popular belief, chewing gum does not take seven years to leave the human bodies digestive system. In reality, it is usually in an out within a couple days. It is true, however, that the gum doesn't really digest, but rather stays intact as it moves through your system.

DukeHealth

MayoClinic

Answer 4

The claim that chewing gum does NOT take years to leave our intestines is true. According to the Mayo Clinic, chewing gum moves through the digestive tract smoothly and is not digested, but does not stick to the stomach or intestines. The original myth was most likely propagated by parents to stop their kids swallowing gum.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/indigestion/expert-answers/digestive-system/faq-20058446