Why does your mouth water when you’re about to vomit?
In: Biology
Your vomit contains really harsh acid. Your saliva can help to protect your mouth from this by basically forming a layer between your skin and the acid.
As far as how it knows, your stomach has a ton of sensors in it that tell your brain something is wrong. As the brain gets a stronger and stronger signal it starts prepping the body (deep breaths, increased saliva, tensing of the abs, closing of the wind pipe). Eventually the signal crosses a threshold and you vomit.
Actually. When your body wants you to vomit, it secretes stuff in your saliva. Swallowing that saliva will make you puke. Spitting it out might stave off puking.
So the reason your mouth waters is that your body is preparing you to puke. By the time the saliva floods your mouth, your body has given up holding the puke in and is ready to purge.
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