33. Why can't we breathe while swallowing
food?
Our respiratory system and our alimentary system are closely linked
to each other.
Both the air we breathe and the food we eat pass down the pharynx, a
wide muscular tube situated behind the nose and mouth.
The air reaches the larynx to go to trachea and lungs while the food
has to go to the oesophagus and stomach. These two systems have to
be separated some means, so that they don't get mixed up.
Swallowing, thus, temporarily interrupts breathing by closing the air
passages, while the food is gulped down. If we accidentally pass a
food particle into wrong way, the lungs respond immediately and
expc with a cough.
