BeeBuzzz

Millennials are in agreement over a childhood myth that’s had many of us fooled for decades.

Growing up, we were told an awful lot of stories by parents, teachers and, of course, other kids.

The classic: ‘Don’t stand too close to the TV, or your eyes will turn square’ is one I’ll never forget.

Or how about: ‘Don’t rock back on your chair, or you’ll fall back and crack your head open.’

I mean, that’s technically not a lie, but it seemed odd that every single school teacher had the exact same story to tell…

Fair enough, the adults in our lives were only looking out for our health.

And perhaps that’s where this now-debunked childhood myth has come from?

Naturally, people have been taking to Reddit to discuss what it was like growing up as a millennial.

Taking to the social media site’s R/AskReddit section, one person asked: “Millennials, what’s something you were taught growing up that turned out to be completely wrong in adulthood?”

There were a number of stellar examples, including the food pyramid – which apparently recommended up to 11 servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta daily – and that the belief that Beanie Babies would be worth ‘a bunch of money‘ in the future.

But one comment particularly resonated with others.

“Don’t swallow gum, it will stay in your stomach for x years,” one person shared, as another filled the blank with: “Seven years!”

Seven appeared to be the magic number, as one person recalled: “My 40 year old wife still believes this.”

Another explained: “I never heard ‘stay in’ for 7 years, I always heard, ‘it takes 7 years to digest.’

“Which I think is true if it stayed in, but your body actually just passes it through undigested with everything else.”

Meanwhile someone else chipped in: “I’m 70 and heard this. It’s been a myth for a long time lol.”

Turns out, this isn’t the case at all.

According to McGill University gum, like other undigested foods, will pass through your system within 24 to 48 hours – so, not quite seven years!

And it ‘generally isn’t harmful’ to swallow a piece of gum, as per Mayo Clinic.

The medical site explained: “Folklore suggests that swallowed gum sits in your stomach for seven years before it can be digested. But this isn’t true.

“If you swallow gum, it’s true that your body can’t digest it.

“But the gum doesn’t stay in your stomach. It moves relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.”

On rare occasions, however, ‘large amounts’ of swallowed gum can block intestines in children – but this would cause quite a bit of pain.

Perhaps we were told the ‘seven year’ story as children to put us off chewing – or even eating – gum in the first place.

The more you know!