# Why does chewing gum melt or sort of fall apart in my mouth if I've been crying?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-chewing-gum-melt-or-sort-of-fall-apart-in-my-mouth-if-ive-been-crying/960108>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 25, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-chewing-gum-melt-or-sort-of-fall-apart-in-my-mouth-if-ive-been-crying/960108 "2022-02-25T15:59:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 6

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**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-chewing-gum-melt-or-sort-of-fall-apart-in-my-mouth-if-ive-been-crying/960108/6 "2022-02-26T17:23:34Z")

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Some interesting speculation, and maybe info, here:

> **[Does passionate kissing cause your chewing gum to disintegrate?](https://www.straightdope.com/21341648/does-passionate-kissing-cause-your-chewing-gum-to-disintegrate)**

And a single comment on that column here, with speculation about stress-induced ketones in the saliva:

> [@Gum Disintegration](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gum-disintegration/638837):
>
> I have had this happen to me under stressful situations before, but never connected it to stress. I used to chew gum in class to help stay awake (I’m narcoleptic) and during particularly stressful exams it would basically dissolve. Last night, at a marriage counseling session, the gum I was chewing disintegrated near the end of the session. Afterwards, I realized that the strange taste in my mouth that accompanied this event reminded me of the metallic taste I get sometimes when I am in ket…

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