Bubble gum myth or truth?

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When you were a child did your parents tell you to "Never swallow your bubble gum because it will ball up in your stomach and you won't digest it for seven years?" Well, I just told my son the same thing. Come on, is this really true or just a myth?

Specializes in Everything except surgery.
Originally posted by Mary Dover

Brownms - my dad told us something similar, only it was fish and ice cream. :confused: He swore it was true. I'm still living, so I doubt it - if I get a hankerin for ice cream, doesn't matter what I ate previously. :uhoh21:

Yep my father said ice cream also...and he wouldn't let my mom serve us milk or ice cream on Fridays with fish!!! He REALLY did believe this! You can't imagine my horror when I realized what I had done:eek:! Never told anyone I had eaten the two together...and when I didn't die...I just figured I had got lucky! But come to think of it I don't think I have ever ate the two together again! Not sure why....as I know it isn't true....but at 13 and a freshman...I probably believed a lot of stupid stuff...:chuckle:

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Specializes in Everything except surgery.
Originally posted by Furball

When I was 10 I ate a WHOLE bag of black licorice while fishing with my brother at a pond. Later in the evening I developed a horrendous stomach ache and fever. Went to the ER in the middle of the night with acute appendicitis! I can't look at licorice anymore even 20 years later!

Hey Furball...:)

I LOVE your little stick person...:cool:

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Specializes in Everything except surgery.
Originally posted by greer128

EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! :imbar

Gross!!! What was that women thinking?!?!?! :confused:

Well I gotta say that using it as a diaphram once it sprouts and stinks would definately keep her from getting pregnant!!!!! Of course it will keep her from getting a date too!!!!! :rotfl:

:roll :roll :roll

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Specializes in Mental Health.

Older sibs (youngest of 6) told me that hot dogs were made from rats tails - don't like 'em to this day.

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haha my family would always bug me about my love of hotdogs saying they were "hooves and lips"

I got told that the gum I swallowed would stay in my stomach for years and that the dr would have to remove it surgically, also that if I went out in any season other than summer with my hair even reomtely wet that I would get a horrible case of the flu or a cold *my mother still swears by that one!*

mmmmm what else..... I was told as a kid , because I said I hated turnips that they werent turnips they were "golden carrots" haha how creative :)

I used to be scared of driving on the highway, because I thought it was high in the air, so my parents always told me that we were gonna take the long street instead

they would order pizza after I was supposed to be in bed sleeping and stuff and they would spell it out, cuz I learned what pizza was, then I learned what P I Z Z A meant and then they had to start spelling it backwards A Z Z I P , after I learned that they just let me have some damn pizza already!

hmm there are so many things that parents tell their kids, I cant wait to have kids just to mess with their minds

just kidding :)

cheers

oh on the licorice thing, my parents never told me anything about it but when I got my period for the first time, a wiser, already menstruating friend said that if you eat tons of red licorice during your period it will stop sooner and you wont bleed as much

I ran to the store for that damn licorice , and all I felt was bloated and tired after eating the whole bag :)

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About the bubble gum: Gum is made from rubber as a previous poster stated. If you are latex intolerant/allergic then you should avoid gum! Yes, I was told the same thing about not swallowing gum. The fish and milk thing too but I can't remember why! I grew up thinking that I'd grow watermelons from my ears after swallowing seeds!

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A couple of years ago there was an article in our paper about a mom who gave her toddler bubble gum as an incentive to potty training. The kid swallowed a lot of gum and ended up with an obstruction...so bubble gum swallowers BEWARE!

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potato as a diaphragm. omg!!! that is too funny. sound like something that should have been posted on lame er awards thread.

my fiancee's grandma used to tell his sister to eat the crust on her bread and it would give her big breasts...it worked!!! lol :lol2:

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Specializes in obstetrics(high risk antepartum, L/D,etc.

Oh, I was told that bread crusts gave one curly hair. I made the mistake of loving the heals. Boy, do I have curly hair. Hmmmmm. The boobs aren't too shabby either.

Some of these others are really gross! You can sure tell they are nurses tales!:chuckle ;)

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Specializes in CV-ICU.

I was told that eating bread crusts would give you curly hair too. Didn't work; I never was told that they gave you big boobs, but I do have those, LOL! :);)

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Specializes in LTC/Peds/ICU/PACU/CDI.

pile-up in our colons & that we would need enemas & milk of magnesia (sp?)- :uhoh21: yuk :chair: - to get it out.

we were also told that we would get worms if we ate chocolate candy during the summer- :eek:-i love chocolate...it's my favorate!!! :p

christ, the potato story really beats all doesn't it...lol :clown:

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I was told the same thing about the bread crusts: big boobs.

Well, I didn't eat enough apparently, LOL

About eating seeds, no matter from what fruits, they might start growing in your belly and the leaves will come out of your ears.

Bubblegum will give you a bowel-illness, yo you have to go to the hospital and the need a operation.

Fish and (sour) milk is only for grown-ups, when they have a hangover, when kids eat and drink these two together they'll get terrible sick!

The hairball is true though, once had a autistic girl in the OR and she had a hairball the size of a tennisball in her stomache.

Take care, Renee

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