I used to love chewing gum. Something about it is soothing. I’m one of those who keeps their hands busy tying knots, flipping coins, throwing a yo-yo or rolling chinese yin-yang balls. Chewing gum hits that spot when hands aren’t free.
Yeah, the sugar in the gum is bad, but, it beats a cigarette all day long.
Back to the Good Ole’ Days
As unappealing as some of the ingredients are these were the good old days:
It all came to an end for me with the invasion of the the pink, blue and yellow stuff lovingly called sugar substitutes:
- Pink is Sweet & Low which is saccharin where anthranilic acid successively reacts with nitrous acid, sulfur dioxide, chlorine, and then ammonia to yield saccharin (Yummy!).
- Blue is Equal which is aspartame derived from the amino acids L-aspartic acid and L-phenylalanine and breaks down into formaldehyde, formic acid and DKP (Ghostly delicious!).
- Yellow is Splenda which is dextrose, maltodextrin and sucrose where food chemists substitute chlorine atoms for three hydrogen-oxygen groups on the sucrose molecule (Why chew water when you can slurp down chlorine?).
Turns out the Blue stuff lost market share to the yellow stuff because the yellow stuff still tastes sweet when heated. Guess it’s back to the drawing board for the blue team.
Sugar substitutes, like stevia, are good for diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Stevia doesn’t cause an insulin spike like sugar and is a near perfect solution to the obscene amount of sugar consumed by the average person. But, the calorie cutting aspect of sugar substites in gum is trivial. Most people burn the 15 calories of sugar in a stick of gum in the very act of chewing it.
Can there be any doubt that sugar is the more healthy choice among these Frankenstein sugar creatures?
Xylitol to the Rescue?
Xylitol. That’s the sweet stuff that gets rid of harmful bacteria in the mouth, right?
Gee, maybe it does kill harmful bacteria in the mouth. But, not so fast. According to Dr. Jim Humphries many dogs have died of liver disease as a result of xylitol poisoning. He advises keeping children’s chewable vitamins and candies (Ok for the kids, you see) away from dogs.
As for humans, Dr. Russell Blaylock says studies have shown that xylitol can cause damage to brain cells in his September 2008 Blaylock Wellness Report.
Without delving further I think it’s IX-NAY on the Xylitol-NAY.
SteviaDent?
Awesome: A gum sweetened with the natural herb Stevia. What could be better?
SteviaDent has Xylitol in addition to stevia extract.
Other Ingredients in SteviaDent: maltitol, gum base (i.e. original latex from sapodilla trees), xylitol, natural flavoring (peppermint oil, menthol), gum arabic, lecithin, glycerin, carnauba wax, beeswax.
Bubblelicious Burst?
Better than most, but, what’s up with the BHT? BHT and BHA prevent rancidity at the expense of being carcinogenic for the gum chewer.
INGREDIENTS: Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Gum Base, Invert Sugar, Water, Artificial and Natural Flavoring, Soy Lecithin, Glycerin, Corn Oil, Red 40 Lake, BHT (to maintain freshness) and Red 40.
Come On, Bazooka!
Now, we’re talking. For me, Bazooka is the very symbol of the good ole’ days. Surely they just kept stamping out this classic bubble gum and we can pop one for a trip back in the time machine?
Ingredients for Bazooka:
Sugar, gum base, corn syrup, natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, softeners, red 40 lake, red 40, BHT (preservative).
Yikes! Foiled again. Hey, I was just a kid. For all I know it always had BHT.
Peelu
You may have seen this one at the health food stores. I opted out because of the Titanium Dioxide.
Ingredients:
Sorbitol, Gum Base, Maltitol Syrup, Natural Oil of Spearmint, Lecithin, Peelu Extract, Titanium Dioxide, Resinous Glaze, Carnauba Wax. Does not contain Sugar.
Last Commercial Gum Standing – Ginseng
There’s a warning for pregnant women, but, with immune system benefits and a nice minty taste this one might be worth the risk.
Ingredients: Sugar, Chewing Gum Base, Glucose, Corn Syrup, Glycerine, Gelatine, Sucrose Fatty Acid Ester, Ginseng Extract, Ginseng Powder, D-Sorbitol, Licorice, Peppermint Flavor, Propylene Glycol, Persimmon Juice Concentrated.
Note the corn syrup, propylene glycol and sucrose fatty acid ester and keep it away from your pregnant wife.
Just Roll Your Own
Sorry to put you through all this. Barry Lewis has got you covered if you can spare the hour to roll your own in batches. If you can stomach the gum base, corn syrup, sugar you can pretend you’re back in the ’50’s with chewing gum that won’t kill you:
