# Can lungs remove food?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lungs-remove-food/144739>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 24, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lungs-remove-food/144739 "2002-12-24T17:25:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 10

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [December 24, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lungs-remove-food/144739/10 "2002-12-24T20:20:11Z")

</div>

Lungs clean themselves of small particulate matter pretty easy and regularly with the cilia (hairlike structures) that line the bronchioles and sweep it out. _Unless you smoke_. This knocks out the cilia, and prevents lung cleaning. That’s why ex-smokers can develop coughs that last for months: The cilia grow back and start catching up on their housework. But it a year or two they should be about as clean as they can get.

QtM, MD

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-lungs-remove-food/144739)._