If one were to look at a pH scale one would find water to be about seven which is neutral, acid rain is about 4, and grapefruit juice is three. Surprisingly the fluid in your stomach is about one to two. The acid in your stomach contains ten times the amount of hydrogen ions than lemon juice. The reason for this is that the cells on the stomach wall excrete hydrogen chloride which is used to prevent the growth of bacteria and to initiate the digestion of food. The reason that the stomach doesn’t digest itself is because it is lined with bicarbonate ions that instantly react with the hydrogen chloride and form safe bicarbonates. Although if you eat too much food at one time you may produce too much hydrogen chloride which is the cause for heartburn. Antacids can be ingested in order to reduce heartburn. In this process carbon dioxide is produced which is the reason why you may burp. There are other types of heart burn medication such as Zantac or Pepcid AC that will not neutralize the hydrogen chloride, but limit the output of it.
Bicarbonate: a substance created in the process of digestions
The fact that our body produces a substance that can break down substances that are used in metals is unfathomable to me. The body ceases to amaze me. Each and every function has a purpose. Even if it is as small as a receptor on a fingertip or the medulla oblongata controlling involuntary actions. The body’s complexities range further that the human mind may ever imagine. The stomach is just one of the many functions that amazes me in the fact that it operates without our knowledge.
Baird, Colin. Chemistry in Your Life, 2nd Edition. W.H. Freeman & Co. New York, NY, 2006
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