why is it hard to take a full a breath when i’m eating
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In: Biology
You have two tubes in your neck. One (the esophagus) is for food and leads to the stomach. The other (the trachea) is for air and leads to the lungs. It’s really bad to send food (or liquid) down the air pipe. It can block that pipe or interfere with the lungs. Fortunately, you have ways of covering and protecting that pipe while there’s food in your mouth to prevent any from accidentally getting in there. The main one is a flap called the epiglottis that covers it when swallowing.
The two pipes are not open at the same time. Think of an upside down Y. One branch is the lungs, the other towards the stomach. If both are open at the same time, that’s what happens when you choke on your food or drink.
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