Why Do We Choke On Our Spit?

We choke on our spit when it gets stuck in the wrong place inside our throat.

Imagine your throat is like a hallway with two doors: one leads to your stomach, and the other leads back out of your mouth. Usually, when you swallow, spit (which is just extra saliva) goes through the door to your stomach, and everything’s fine. But sometimes, especially if you're distracted or not paying attention, the spit tries to go back out the other door, the one that leads back to your mouth.

That’s when things get tricky! Your body thinks something is coming in from the wrong direction, so it sends a signal to your brain saying, “Wait, what is this?!” That causes you to cough or choke as your body tries to push the spit out of the way.

It’s like when you're trying to put on your shoes and accidentally drop one on the floor. Your brain says, “What was that?” and you stop to pick it up, your body does something similar with spit!