I am having the same prob. If I not had a decent drink of water before a meal, I end up choking. My brother is a doc, his advice was just live with it. Have a drink of water (I prefer scotch) before every meal as a habit, and it's no longer give me any grief unless I forgot to have a drink of water (or scotch). According to my brother, it's common among Sinhala Buddhist people, because our ancestors are vegetarians throughout the history, and our food tube (GALANAALAYA) is not as strong as meat eating people.