If you swallow a piece of gum, it stays stuck in your stomach forever. A: This myth is definitely false.The body is very good at digesting material that it can use and passing the rest out in the stool. We’ve all heard it before: “Don’t swallow your gum! Almost everyone has swallowed a piece of gum, but few kids have ever needed a doctor because of it. “The digestive system has difficulty digesting chewing gum, but the gum doesn’t stay in the stomach … “This is folklore,” UAMS gastroenterologist Dr. Farshad Aduli says. It’ll stay in your system for seven years!” Not to burst anyone’s bubble, but that statement is full of hot air. Either way we need to know, does gum actually stay in your stomach for 7 years? The urban legend that a piece of gum will sit in a person’s stomach for seven years if swallowed has stood the test of time, making many wonder just how many pieces of gum are down there. The simple answer is no. My grandmother told me that if I swallow my gum, it will stay in my stomach for seven years. Carrots won't give you superpowers and, no, gum doesn't stay in your stomach for seven years By: health enews Staff. I'm sure many of you, like me, have always heard the old rumor about gum. Rumor has it that gum stays in your stomach for 7 years but is there any truth to this? 10 food myths busted. Chewing Gum Takes Seven Years to Digest. You might have heard that swallowed gum stays in your stomach for 7 years. An exception to this would be people with gastroparesis, or paralyzed stomach, which can result in a buildup of food in the stomach. As far as the dangers of swallowing gum, they’re pretty much the same as the problems linked to chewing gum. Swallowing a large mass of gum, or many small pieces of gum over a … It does not. This weeks Reactions takes us back to the playground. It turns out, there is a lot less than a person might think. Q: Is it true that swallowed gum stays in your stomach for 7 years?. To see if your elementary-school buddy was right, Reactions looks at the mechanics and chemistry of digestion in order to settle the myth. But…that’s highly unlikely to happen, and if it did occur it’d be much sooner than 7 years time. Instead of hanging around for years, gum simply travels the same path as food and is excreted in stool. However, there is no evidence to support the idea that it can stay inside your system for 7 years. The gum technically could glob together and become lodged in your gastrointestinal tract. Read full article. ... "Don't swallow chewing gum—it will stay in your system for seven years!" Does gum stay in your stomach for 7 years? But even in extreme cases, Dr. McGreal says it’s unlikely that gum would stay in the stomach for seven years. If you swallow it, it will stay in your stomach for at least 7 years. That's not true. Does gum stay in your stomach for 7 years? 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