If l am eating and something starts ''going down the wrong way'' l begin to cough, not gag.Would l not cough if l had no gag reflex? Does the gag reflex trigger coughing or are they separate and unrelated? l am trying to understand a speech therapist is theory that if l have no gag reflex l need to remain on a feeding tube and cannot begin to eat orally.

You would check a person for a gag reflex for swallowing difficulties. This will prevent Choking

As its name suggests, ur gag reflex is one of ur natural reflex actions. It is designed to protect u from accidentally swallowing small objects & is a natural way to stop u from choking.

You can test ur own gag reflex by touching the soft palate at the back of ur throat (for example, by sticking a finger or two down ur throat). Unless u r one of the rare people who suffer from no gag reflex, this should produce a natural gag response.

As part of ur body is natural defense systems, ur gag reflex normally serves u well