Chewing gum: Encyclopedia II - Chewing gum - Gum and society

Chewing gum - Gum and society

Unusually for a confectionery, chewing gum has some health benefits; sugar-free chewing gum stimulates saliva production, and helps to clean the surface of the teeth, whilst even sugary gum may be helpful, as the sugar dissolves out very quickly. Chewing gum has also been identified with improving memory according to various studies. Also, it is known that chewing gum increases blood flow to the brain by 25%. ^[1] The chewing process expends 12 calories per hour (14 watts) and chewing gum when travelling on an aircraft can counteract the irritation caused by changes in air pressure. ^[2] Gum containing the sugar xylitol can help counteract tooth decay.

When spat on the ground, chewing gum will stick firmly and can only be removed with great difficulty. For this reason, the sale of chewing gum has been prohibited in Singapore since 1992. [3] Recently, however, some types of chewing gum (e.g., nicotine replacement gums) have been allowed under strictly monitored distribution. (See Chewing gum ban in Singapore)

The notorious stickyness of dropped chewing gum is described:-

• In the words "I want a bubblegum friend, one who'll stick with me." in a song in the Jay Jay the Jet Plane episode "Missing You".
• In various incidents real and fictional when chewed chewing gum is used as an impromptu adhesive to patch a small hole, e.g. in a rocket pack's fuel tank in the movie The Rocketeer.

An old wives' tale states that chewing gum, if swallowed, may take up to seven years to become fully digested, and that swallowing gum could also result in the substance becoming lodged in the esophagus. This is untrue, and although chewing gum does resist complete digestion by the body, it is expelled like other foods, though relatively unchanged. There is also a very low, but real risk of gum becoming lodged inside the body. See http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/chewgum.asp .

Some people find these features of chewing gum irritating:-

• Seeing people chewing continually without eating or swallowing.
• The unclear distorted speech that results when people talk with chewing gum in their mouths, including when that speech is then subjected to more distortions, e.g. from being transmitted over a telephone or radio link.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Gum and society", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki