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Hey guys, Amy with you on DNews today, talking about that most obnoxious of habits: gum chewing.
大家好，我是艾米，欢迎大家和我一起走进今天的DNews，今天我们要聊的是最最令人讨厌的习惯：嚼口香糖。
Whether you were told a gum-tree would grow in your tummy or that swallowed gum would stick around for seven years,
无论你是被警告肚子里会长出口香糖树，还是吞下的口香糖会在你肚子里停留七年，
pretty much everyone was told to never swallow gum…
几乎所有人都曾被警告过永远不要吞下口香糖......
But why? What would happen if you did?
问题是，为什么？如果真的吞了，又会怎么样呢？
So let’s start with the obvious.
废话不多说，我们先从明显的事实开始说起。
When we chew food, it disintegrates -
我们咀嚼食物时，食物就会被分解——
that’s because we have an enzyme in our saliva that, along with chewing, starts breaking down food.
这是因为我们的唾液中含有一种酶，随着咀嚼，这种酶就会开始分解食物。
Then we swallow it, and proteins and enzymes in our stomach breaks the food down further
接着，把食物吞咽下去，我们肚子里的蛋白质和酶会进一步分解食物，
so all the necessary nutrients are ready to be absorbed by our intestines.
以便身体必需的营养素都能够被我们的肠道吸收。
What isn’t absorbed is excreted as waste along with other by-products our body wants to get rid of.
没有被吸收的部分就会作为粪便，连同我们身体想要摆脱的其他副产品一同排泄出去。
But gum doesn’t disintegrate no matter how much we chew it and slobber on it…
不过，无论我们怎么咀嚼口香糖，怎么分泌口水，都无法分解它......
it just doesn’t start going through the digestive process in our mouths!
它就会不开始口腔的消化过程！
And this isn’t a new discovery.
这并不是什么新发现。
Archaeologists have found tooth-marked lumps of birch bark tar dating back to the Mesolithic period of the Stone Age.
考古学家曾发现留有齿痕的桦树皮焦油块，其历史可以追溯到石器时代的中石器时期。
Ancient Greek women chewed mastic to clean their teeth and freshen their breath;
古希腊妇女会咀嚼乳香来清洁牙齿，清新口气;
Native Americans taught colonists they could quench their thirst by chewing a resin from spruce trees;
美洲原住民教导殖民主义者他们可以嚼云杉树的树脂解渴。
and in the 19th century, people chewed sweetened paraffin wax.
而19世纪的人则会咀嚼加了甜味剂的石蜡。
Until the Second World War, the base of gum was chicle, the latex sap from the sapodilla trees.
第二次世界大战以前，口香糖的主要成分是糖胶树胶，即人心果树上流下来的乳状树胶。
Modern gum uses a synthetic or natural rubber that mimics the properties of chicle…
现代口香糖用的合成橡胶或天然橡胶模拟的就是糖胶树胶的性能...
it’s rubber mixed with sweetener and flavours that release into your mouth when you chew it… super appetizing, eh?
橡胶混合着甜味剂和各种咀嚼时会释放到你的嘴里的口味，......诱人得不得了哈？
So swallowing gum comes down to swallowing rubber, which just sounds like it'd be bad for your body!
话说回来，吞了口香糖就等于吞了橡胶，听起来就让人觉得对身体有害！
I mean, the FDA classifies gum as a "nonnutritive masticatory substance"!
毕竟，FDA也将口香糖归到了“无营养咀嚼品”一类！
The bad part is that gum's base - that rubber - is not digestible;
问题就出在口香糖的主要成分 - 橡胶 - 不易消化;
our bodies can break down some of the sugars that give gum its sweetness and flavour,
我们的身体能够分解某些赋予口香糖甜味和香味的糖，
but the wad of rubber isn’t getting broken down.
但还是分解不了那团橡胶。
On the plus side, our bodies have other ways of getting things out; our digest tract is an active place.
好在，我们的身体还有其他解决办法：我们的消化道是一个非常活跃的地方。
Muscle contractions that move food through our bodies will help the gum wad along, and it’ll eventually come out the other end.
肌肉收缩，带动食物在身体里运动，口香糖也会随之移动，最终从那个出口排出来。
It’s sort of like the husks of corn seeds.
这有点像玉米粒外面的壳。
Our bodies can’t digest them, but they don’t just pile up in our stomachs.
我们的身体消化不了它们，但它们也不会一直堆积在我们的胃里。
If you look closely, you’ll notice you pass those husks in a few hours or couple of days, depending on your own digestive system.
仔细观察的话，你就会发现你会在几小时或几天内排出这些外壳，具体时间取决于你自己消化系统的好坏。
But that doesn’t mean you should make a habit of swallowing gum.
但这并不是说你应该养成吞口香糖的习惯。
Because it doesn’t get broken down, your body is pushing a significant mass through your system,
因为口香糖没有被分解，所以你的身体就要把这个大块头往你的消化系统的后端推，
and if you add to that mass you could end up with an intestinal obstruction,
如果你增加你体内这一物质的数量，你就可能患上肠梗阻，
basically a blockage in the one tube that processes everything.
从根本上说，就是堵塞要处理一切物质的那根管子。
The immediate symptoms are stomach aches and constipation, but left untreated, an obstruction can get much worse.
其直接症状包括胃痛，便秘，不及时治疗的话，阻塞就可能变得严重得多。
But this is super rare.
不过这种情况还是极为罕见的。
So swallowing that one piece of gum probably isn’t going to kill you, but still, try not to do it.
总而言之，吞一粒口香糖可能不会要了你的命，但大家还是尽量被那么做为好。
And need something to do while chewing that gum?
咀口香糖的时候还想干点儿别的？
Why not binge on Sex Sent Me to the ER!
那不妨看看《性爱让我挂急诊》呀！
You can watch all the fun and other Discovery Life shows on the Discovery Life Go App!
您可以在Discovery Life Go App上观看所有有趣的探索生活节目！
Check it out and download for free at your App Store.
手机应用市场就可免费下载。
We once looked into whether or not gum is better than flossing; you can find the answer right here.
我们曾经研究过口香糖是否比用牙线好;你可以在这里找到答案。
Well, what weird gum myth have you heard? Let us know in the comments.
好了，关于口香糖，你都听过哪些奇怪的言论呢？请在评论中告诉我们。
Don’t forget to like this video and subscribe so you never miss an episode of DNews.
还有，不要忘记给这个视频点赞，并订阅我们的频道，这样您就不会错过我们的每一期节目啦。
