Every kid knows they should never, ever, ever swallow their chewing gum, right? Its rubbery texture has been rumored to take years to digest if you swallow it and can supposedly wreak havoc on your digestive system.It turns out that this “fact” is just playground lore. While the composition of chewing gum does make it difficult to break down (which is why it doesn’t disintegrate in your mouth), it doesn’t actually linger around in your body if you swallow it. Instead, it gets pushed out with the rest of your body’s waste, just as any other foreign object would.