People are only now realising why you shouldn’t swallow chewing gum

We were all told not to swallow chewing gum when we were growing up.

When you’re little it’s easy to think it will all become stuck, cause a blockage or whatever myths you were told about the horrid habit.

But now it’s been revealed what actually happens to your body if you manage to eat it.

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It’s probably considered common sense not to swallow gum, but sometimes it can’t be helped.

If you accidentally manage to chomp some down then it’s going to head into your stomach, and this is where the body’s internal vat of acid works to break down the food you eat.

But – acid doesn’t dissolve chewing gum – which means it continues to travel through your innards pretty much in its natural state.

Eventually things that gather in your stomach will move, whether it gets broken down by the acid or not, so the chewing gum will continue its voyage to the digestive tract.

Then it will get pushed through your small intestine, which is actually around seven metres long, but it’s not digestible.

Due to this it will progress to the large intestine, which measures around a metre-and-a-half long, but is a lot wider than the small intestine.

In a nutshell – this is where your body turns food into pooh – and it’s here where the gum will get lodged in one of the turds that form in the normal way.

So, basically, the gum should still end up down your bog at some point.

Issues can arise if you swallow a large amount of gum in one sitting, as this can lead to a few issues.

This is because a build-up of the substance can result in a blockage, but the chances of this occurring are very rare.

In the past there have been situations where children have swallowed several pieces of gum in a day, and it’s led to blocking their intestines, so there are always risks involved.

But, on the whole, if you don’t do it that often the odds are you’ll be fine.

Obviously the best thing to do is always try and avoid swallowing it completely.

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