Very true and great observation. Gum today, like most other things is nowhere close to the natural, and relatively harmless, fun substance it was 100, 50 or even 20 years ago. The artificial colors, sweeteners and ingredients are in one plain word “gross”. And many think it is no big deal, because they don’t swallow the gum, but many of these chemicals come out as we chew… proof is even on our tongue…. someone is swallowing those artificial substances.

Thank you for your comment and visit :)

thanks for great article.

Your story sounds very similar to my journey. For a few years I tried to find at least one gum that didn’t include artificial sweeteners to no avail, so I stopped chewing all gum. I think it has been about 4 years for me and life has been great since. I don’t miss it one bit. It is amazing what we can get used to and think we can’t live without. Living without gum can be just as easy as living with gum – it all depends on the thoughts we choose to think. As they say, “change your thoughts, change your life…”

And your comments about labels and GMO are also very dear to my heart. I am glad you are taking proactive steps with your health and being accountable for your choices. It is always wonderful to hear stories like yours and know that people are changing their ways and not just accepting the status quo mindlessly.

I am glad that you enjoyed the article and with respect to the usage of the word “chemical”, I know this is a sensitive area. I try to use the word in its general, most common used way, but know that I am not naive to the broader sense of the word.

My paradigm that I stand by and teach people is “not everything natural is good; and not everything chemical is bad”.

However, ask for your understanding that I cannot always fully explain this in all the articles, for various reasons, like length, on topic, etc.

Bottom line you have just motivated me to write an article that has been on my mind for a long time now and it is about time to bring it to fruition. And that is exactly on the definitions of “natural” and “chemical”. I cannot speak for the world out there, but at least I can explain and express my stand on it, and link to it in cases such as these to help people understand better where I am coming from.

But with regards to this article, I am referring to the chemicals ingredients in gum as rather negative. Basically some of these are proven to be harmful to us, while others our body has not use for and for optimally healthy reasons we should not put them there.

Thanks again for the feedback!

Today unfortunately, as far as I know nothing like this exists on the market any longer. Any gum you pick up, Excel, Trident, Wrigley’s, Dentene, etc, is that same old story, artificial sweeteners, flavors and colors. When I was still interested in chewing gum I looked for at least one with natural sweeteners and could find none. So I reflected a little and realized, “wait a minute, I don’t need this substance in my life period.”

Obviously we all have our choices and preferences, but I invite you to reflect on why you actually chew gum, and imagine a life without it. Would it be so bad? Often I find we get hooked on automatic actions without actually stopping to think of whether these actions serve us. Plus it definitely saves some money in the long run, which is just an added bonus.

Other than that, maybe try a local health food store, depending on your area, they may have some “natural” gums, which do not contain at least some of the unnecessary substances in them.

Hope that helps a bit.

Your health is definitely benefitting from the choices you made Sagan :)