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What happens if you swallow gum?

health.clevelandclinic.org

61–66 of 66 posts

Re: What happens if you swallow gum?

#61
post #3

I'm not sure why, but this makes me think of the time before ubiquitous internet, when the answers to questions like this one were much harder to come by.

What I did when I was a kid was swallow every gumball in a carton of gumballs to prove that they couldn't possibly be staying in my stomach for 7 years because nothing else would be getting through.

Narrator: Urban legends say they're still in his stomach to this day.

Re: What happens if you swallow gum?

#62
post #3

I'm not sure why, but this makes me think of the time before ubiquitous internet, when the answers to questions like this one were much harder to come by.

Before the internet, everyone knew that if you swallowed a watermelon seed that it would grow in your belly. Ipsofacto, if you swallow gum, a gum tree would grow. It is known

When I heard the song about kookaburra and where they sit, I damn near shat.

("Kookaburra sits in the old gumtree, eating all the gum nut he can see...")

:- O

I was confusing kookaburra with chupacabra, and I also confused capybara with chupacabra too... and umpires with vampires... being a child was terrifying. LOL

Re: What happens if you swallow gum?

#63
post #12
post #7

Nothing, really. It's food-grade plastic and it will come out the other end. Now, what happens if you seal high-pressure hydraulic oil systems with it? Let's find out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1RYVSmuOmc

What if it's chicle, does it differ?

It would be an achievement on itself to find true chicle, the vast majority of chewing gum worldwide is synthetic rubber.

Re: What happens if you swallow gum?

#64
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if it's chicle, does it differ?

It would be an achievement on itself to find true chicle, the vast majority of chewing gum worldwide is synthetic rubber.

There are several chicle gum companies out there. I forget the name, but I bought some. It comes in pellet form instead of sticks or bricks.

Edit: "Simply Gum" is the company I tried.

Re: What happens if you swallow gum?

#65
post #8

My child went through a phase of swallowing a bunch of gum. He got appendicitis. It might have been a coincidence. The article does not mention appendicitis but some of the symptoms are the same as intestinal blockage.

Once during a LAN party (back when those were a thing) I chewed gum for 24 hours straight. Near the end of the 24 hours it quite suddenly turned to dust in my mouth. It's anecdotal of course but I'd be highly surprised if enough gum made it through the stommach intact to cause issues farther down the line if it can't even survive the mouth for any appreciable length of time.

Re: What happens if you swallow gum?

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gasoline's abilities as a solvent led to it being used as a dry cleaning agent at one time.

...and its flammability is what lead to the use of chlorinated solvents: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_cleaning#History

Yes. But it was effective.
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