5 calories?

MrsKoolaid15
MrsKoolaid15 Posts: 30 Member
in Food and Nutrition
This is something I have always wondered because I am an avid gum chewer. But the Extra gum pack says that it's only five little calories per stick. My question is, is that if you swallow it? I have a mental block that won't let me swallow gum. So am I getting those five calories? Not that the five cals are a big deal. I'm just wondering. Thanks

Replies

  • coliema
    coliema Posts: 7,646 Member
    The 5 calories aren't a big deal, regardless of if you swallow it or not because you are burning those calories when you chew it.

    But I've never thought of it that way, I'm assuming it's just chewing because you swallow the "flavor" with your spit and then the gum becomes flavorless!
  • cristeberga
    cristeberga Posts: 251 Member
    I think you eat 5 calories from chewing on it only ...... from the juice. I never swallow gum either, but I always count those 5 calories. :)
  • healthmore
    healthmore Posts: 1
    You never know . . . you could be burning MORE than five calories - keep chewing!
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
    I'm fairly positive the calories are from swallowing the juice that the gum produces
  • smtillman2
    smtillman2 Posts: 756 Member
    Sooo THEY say you burn 11 cal per hr chewing gum.
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
    I would assume that it's from the juices. But, I don't count that 5 calories - I figure not only does the chewing burn them but and I chew gum as a substitution for eating when I can't for whatever reason...
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    nope I think it's the sugar content.
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
    :laugh: i doubt it..
  • spoonful
    spoonful Posts: 200 Member
    I don't think you're supposed to swallow gum. I was always told it would kill me. You suck out all the calories while you chew it so spitting it out does not help.
  • TangledUp_InBlue
    TangledUp_InBlue Posts: 397 Member
    Chewing gum fools the mind into thinking you are eating. It enhances the digestive process and raises your metabolism. A report by the Mayo Clinic and cited by Fox News found that chewing gum burns 11 calories per hour. If you chew gum for 12 hours a day, you'll chew through 132 calories. If you weigh 150 pounds, you'd have to walk for 35 minutes at 3 miles per hour to burn that same number of calories, the myOptumHealth website calculates.



    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/315274-how-many-calories-does-chewing-gum-burn-per-hour/#ixzz22sioYppn
  • spoonful
    spoonful Posts: 200 Member
    I would assume that it's from the juices. But, I don't count that 5 calories - I figure not only does the chewing burn them but and I chew gum as a substitution for eating when I can't for whatever reason...

    That's an excellent point. The chewing burn. Now I think I can go back to my gum. I do miss it.
  • coliema
    coliema Posts: 7,646 Member
    I would assume that it's from the juices. But, I don't count that 5 calories - I figure not only does the chewing burn them but and I chew gum as a substitution for eating when I can't for whatever reason...

    That's an excellent point. The chewing burn. Now I think I can go back to my gum. I do miss it.

    Now...if only the gum tasted like Taco Bell....
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
    I would assume that it's from the juices. But, I don't count that 5 calories - I figure not only does the chewing burn them but and I chew gum as a substitution for eating when I can't for whatever reason...

    That's an excellent point. The chewing burn. Now I think I can go back to my gum. I do miss it.

    Now...if only the gum tasted like Taco Bell....

    They may not have Taco Bell but they do have that dessert gum!
  • coliema
    coliema Posts: 7,646 Member
    I would assume that it's from the juices. But, I don't count that 5 calories - I figure not only does the chewing burn them but and I chew gum as a substitution for eating when I can't for whatever reason...

    That's an excellent point. The chewing burn. Now I think I can go back to my gum. I do miss it.

    Now...if only the gum tasted like Taco Bell....

    They may not have Taco Bell but they do have that dessert gum!

    Ooo, I know! I've been too afraid to try it, have you tried it? A woman I work with said that the Root Beer Float one tastes EXACTLY like a root beer float.
  • MrsKoolaid15
    MrsKoolaid15 Posts: 30 Member
    Root beer float is the kind I was chewing!! Haha. I also LOVE the mint chocolate chip icecream one!!!

    And thank you all for your input. As for the swallowing gum can kill you thing, that's why I can't swallow it. My family always told me as a kid that it doesn't digest. It just sits in your stomach. And builds up. And the more it builds up, the more you can't eat, and then you starve to death. Lol
  • Jenniferyeaman1
    Jenniferyeaman1 Posts: 8
    I like the comparison to a 155lb guy walking 30 min just to burn the same calories as someone chewing gum for 12 hours lol that's a good one!
  • MrsKoolaid15
    MrsKoolaid15 Posts: 30 Member
    I think MFP needs to have a section in the cardio that I can put that I chewed a peice of gum today for about six hours. So I burned about sixty calories! And it was only half a stick. Lol and the more you chew it, the harder it gets, the more resistance you have, the more calories you burn!! Right?!? Haha

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