Question About Chewing Gum...

[sweetp]

does anyone else have reactions when they chew certain gums? I know it sounds really crazy...but does anyone know if gum is gluten free?????

[Guest nini]

I've heard that some brands of gum dust the lines with flour to keep the gum from sticking to the wrapper... but I chew Wrigley's brand gums and they are gluten-free.

[KaitiUSA]

Some is and some isn't. I love Wrigleys and they are all safe.

[lovegrov]

After four years being gluten-free, I can't name a gum that I know has gluten. I've always heard the thing about using flour to keep the gum from sticking, but think how gross that would taste. I haven't found one yet.

If anybody does know of any with gluten, please tell us the brands so we can avoid them.

richard

[tarnalberry]

Yep, I haven't found a gum that had gluten, but the aspartame, sulfate-K, or other artificial sweeteners in almost all gums doesn't sit well with some people and may be causing your reaction.

[uclangel422]

Thats so strange that you posted this because i was thinking the exact same thing.

I just bought some Trident gum and chewed it two days in a row and got sick both days. I didnt even think it was the gum, i just thought that i had been accidentally glutened when i ate out.

It was one of those new gums with Xylitol? Anyone hear of any reactions to that?

[KaitiUSA]

The gum is supposed to be gluten free. I have used stuff with Xylitol too and have had no problems. I guess that may have not settled well with you though.

[skbird]

Xylitol is fine - in fact many gums have xylitol, also toothpaste. My favorite is Xylichew which uses xylitol, not sugar or artificial sweeteners to sweeten it. But I emailed them and they couldn't confirm one way or another if it has gluten in it. I will chew it sometimes but it does seem at times I may be having a reaction.

I had bad reactions to aspertame in gum - they are now including aspertame and acesulfame K even in regular gums to make them sweet longer. These include Doublemint, Wrigley Spearmint, Big Red and Winterfresh gums by Wrigley.

Stephanie

[Rachel--24]

I was having bad reactions every time I chewed gum...burning mouth and lips, tingling, and headaches. Eventually I figured out it was the aspartame. I think the gum I was chewing was Extra. Its been like 2 years since I've chewed gum cuz of that. Scared now . I think Aspartame is especially bad for those with autoimmune disease.

-Rachel

[skbird]

The only time I ever got "addicted" to gum was when I first went low carb - I chewed gum for the sweetness and didn't think much about it. I was chewing Orbit peppermint. I would actually get cranky if I didn't have my gum at the same times every day, which were increasing all the time. I was beginning to chew about 8-10 pieces a day! Then my lips and tongue especially started burning. I thought it was related to allergy season as the trees were in bloom and I was eating a lot of pecans at the time - it felt like I had had really hot coffee and burned my tongue! But I did a search on the web and kept coming up with aspartame poisoning. I stopped the gum and the tongue pain went away. I tried it again, it came back. So I have been off aspartame ever since. I was also having horrible migraines, totally debilitating, couldn't get up off the sofa. They totally went away when i stopped the gum.

Scary stuff, what we react to, and then there are all those out there who don't react at all...

Stephanie

[uclangel422]

Wow that is completely scary.

I have been getting sick after chewing gum and to the point of wondering if some of my gum contained MSG because i was sensitive to that. I will have to look into this.

I wish we were all the types that didnt react to anything at all. It seems like just when i start to figure one thing out another problem shows up.