吞下口香糖竟然會(huì)在腸子上黏7年

It is a classic playground scare story - if you swallow chewing gum it will stay in your digestive system for seven years.

這是一個(gè)大人拿來(lái)嚇唬小孩的經(jīng)典的善意謊言——如果你吞下了口香糖，它將在你的消化系統(tǒng)停留七年。

But according to scientists at the American Chemical Society, the tale is myth as chewing gum is no more harmful that the rest of the food that passes through our digestive system.

但是據(jù)美國(guó)化學(xué)會(huì)科學(xué)家稱(chēng)，真相其實(shí)是：嚼過(guò)的口香糖和其他經(jīng)過(guò)我們腸胃的食物一樣，沒(méi)有什么危害。

It says while gum is harder to digest, it tends to pass harmlessly through our guts much like other foods.

研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然口香糖很難消化，但是它和其它食物一樣，都能從腸道排出。

When we eat something - whether it be normal foods or chewing gum - it goes through three main phases in our bodies.

當(dāng)我們進(jìn)食時(shí)——不管是正常的食物還是嚼過(guò)的口香糖——都會(huì)在消化道內(nèi)經(jīng)歷三個(gè)主要階段：

The first of these phases is the ’mechanical’ phase (otherwise known as chewing).

第一階段是“機(jī)械”階段(也就是咀嚼)。

As the Reactions video explains, with normal foods ’your teeth and tongue work together to crush the food you eat into tiny bits.’

正如這個(gè)“反應(yīng)視頻”所解釋的那樣，你的牙齒和舌頭協(xié)同工作，將你吃進(jìn)去的食物嚼成小小的碎末。

The second phase involves enzymes - biological catalysts which speed up chemical reactions - which are found in your saliva, stomach juices and intestines.

第二階段是酶促化學(xué)反應(yīng)消化階段——這些消化酶主要存在于唾液、胃液和小腸液中。

Enzymes ’kick start’ the reactions to break down the food into its constituent parts, whether they are fats from foods such as cheese, carbohydrates from food such as pasta, or proteins from meat or nuts.

酶能“啟動(dòng)”這些化學(xué)反應(yīng)，把食物分解成脂肪、碳水化合物或者蛋白質(zhì)等基本成分。比如從奶酪里分解出脂肪，從面團(tuán)里分解出碳水化合物或者從肉類(lèi)、堅(jiān)果類(lèi)分解出蛋白質(zhì)。

These constituent parts are the nutrients your body can use.

這些成分就是人體需要的營(yíng)養(yǎng)物質(zhì)。

Stomach acid, which is made up of hydrochloric acid and salts, leads the third phase of digestion.

第三階段就是胃酸引導(dǎo)的消化。胃酸由鹽酸和鹽分組成。

After this point, whatever remains goes straight down the toilet.

經(jīng)過(guò)此步之后，剩下的東西就以糞便形式被排出體外。

How does your body process chewing gum?

那么身體又是如何處理口香糖的呢?

As you’ll have probably noticed, the main difference when processing chewing gum is the fact that during the ’mechanical phase’ you don’t crush the chewing gum down into tiny bits - that would somewhat defeat the purpose of chewing gum.

可能你已經(jīng)注意到了，處理口香糖，和其他食物最大的不同就是，在“機(jī)械”階段，口香糖不能被分解成小塊——如果真的被嚼碎了，一定程度上就沒(méi)有達(dá)到吃口香糖的目的。

Instead, if you swallow the gum, it will go down in one big wad before it enters phase two - the enzyme phase.

因此，如果你將它吞下去了，它就會(huì)整個(gè)一大團(tuán)直接進(jìn)入第二階段——酶消化階段。

Most of the molecules in gum are carbohydrates, oils and alcohols. As with any other food, on their own these molecules are easily broken down.

口香糖里的主要成分是碳水化合物、油類(lèi)和醇類(lèi)。與其他食物一樣，僅僅是這些分子的話(huà)，它們很容易分解。

However, the video explains ’your body doesn’t have an enzyme for the rubber polymers, regardless of whether they’re natural or synthetic’ so the gum passes through to Phase three.While stomach acid is strong, it still can’t dissolve the rubber polymers in the chewing gum.

然而，視頻解釋說(shuō)，“你的身體里沒(méi)有能分解橡膠基質(zhì)的酶類(lèi)，不管是天然的還是合成的。”所以，口香糖來(lái)到了第三個(gè)階段。盡管胃酸很強(qiáng)大，但它仍然不能分解口香糖中的橡膠基質(zhì)。

In fact, the video explains ’rubbers are very good at shielding from acids in general - that’s one reason we wear rubber gloves for protection.’

事實(shí)上，視頻解釋說(shuō)，“橡膠從來(lái)就沒(méi)有怕過(guò)任何強(qiáng)酸，這也是我們?cè)谶M(jìn)行涉及強(qiáng)酸類(lèi)實(shí)驗(yàn)時(shí)戴橡膠手套保護(hù)的原因”。

So, while part of your gum does survive digestion, it does not remain in your stomach for seven years.

所以，盡管口香糖的部分物質(zhì)確實(shí)在消化系統(tǒng)中幸存下來(lái)，但它卻不會(huì)在腸道中呆上7年。

The video concludes ’even though you don’t break down the rubber polymers, your body has no problem moving that lump of gum through your digestive system and out the other end within a day or two.’

因此，視頻最后總結(jié)道，“盡管身體無(wú)法分解橡膠基質(zhì)，但僅需一到兩天，你的腸道就能將這團(tuán)橡膠排出體外。”