Terrell Dutton's List: Digesting chewing gum - Myth Buster research

• it generally isn't harmful if swallowed.
• If you swallow gum, it's true that your body can't digest it. But the gum doesn't stay in your stomach. It moves relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.

• Dr. Michael Picco has been with Mayo Clinic since 1999. He is board certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Picco is an assistant professor of medicine at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and a consultant in gastroenterology at Mayo Clinic in Florida.

• This myth is definitely false.
• It is true that your body is unable to digest the synthetic portion of chewing gum,
• The gum then moves through the small intestine into the colon and is eventually passed in the stool. 
• Tougher things than gum will often pass through harmlessly in a couple of days
• Despite what the "old wive's tale" says, it'll be out of your system in a day or two.

• Adam Brandeberry, Med IV (Ohio State College of Medicine)

   

  John A. Vaughn, MD (Ohio State Student Health Services)

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• Your body may not be able to break down the gum, but it may actually help speed up digestion.
• Chewing gum is not digestible but it definitely doesn't sit in your stomach for years

• Dr. Billy Goldberg has been an emergency medicine physician for more than 20 years.  He is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the NYU School of Medicine and the Vice Chairman of Strategic Planning and Business Operations in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He practices clinically in the emergency rooms at Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City.