Do we breathe while chewing food or while swallowing If yes, how do we do it - Biology - Breathing and Exchange of Gases

Question

Do we breathe while chewing food or while swallowing? If yes, how
do we do it?

Mushtaq · Accepted Answer

Hi
Please find below the solution to the asked query

We can breathe during chewing of food However, during swallowing
the opening of trachea (wind pipe) gets closed for small fraction
of time to prevent entry of food into the trachea
The opening of wind pipe is covered by a flap of elastic cartilage
called epiglottis The wind pipe remains open during breathing of
air but gets closed by epiglottis during swallowing of food This
prevents the entry of food into the trachea (windpipe) This opening
and closing of epiglottis takes place in only fraction of seconds
Thus, we are able to breathe during chewing and swallowing but not
simultaneously

Hope this information will clear your doubts about the mechanism of
breathing of air during chewing and swallowing of food
If you have any more doubts just ask here on the forum and our
experts will try to help you out as soon as possible

Regards

Do we breathe while chewing food or while swallowing? If yes, how do we do it?