Show destructive OF HEALTH the claim of the defenders of the chewing gum habit is that it is a powerful aid to digestion but this is contradicted in the hospital an english medical journal the paper says the habit of masticating masti cating this filthy compound of flavored india rubber is undoubtedly a cause of much dyspepsia the constant titillation of the salivary organs kept up by chewing this stuff not only causes a steady drain of saliva which is most wasteful but what is more serious still in consequence of the frequently repeated stimulation to which these organs are thus exposed they fail to respond to the normal excitation which ought to rouse them to action when food is taken A constant dribble of salivary secretion Is substituted tor for the healthy flow which should occur only at meal times the glands fail to respond to any stimulant less potent than the peppermint aniseed or other constituents found in chewing gum and the more insipid foods such as bread and other starchy compounds pass into the stomach unchanged this is disturbing to digestion at its very commencement men cement and it is extremely probable that the indigestion tor for starch substances which is so commonly met with at the present day is largely due to the waste of saliva caused by smoking and by the constant chewing of various substances which we see going on all around the chewing of gum is thus not only a nasty habit but is provocative of ill health un fortunately when chewing gum is sold in the form of a sweetmeat it may cause still more serious consequences quen ces being apt to be swallowed by children who like their first parents when they see it is apparently good for food and pleasant to the eyes are undeterred by the superscription not to be eaten the objection applies equally to other filthy habits by which the salivary secretion is artificially stimulated |