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The stomach's acid barrier
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Stomach acid has two jobs. The familiar one is denaturing proteins, that is, unfolding them so they can be digested. The other is defensive: that acidic environment protects against potentially infectious agents, meaning microbes that can make a person sick.
The reason has to do with the route. Everything you consume has to pass through the stomach, and many bacteria are killed or inhibited by that acidity. It is a filter that everything you swallow has to pass through.
That is why the stomach's functions are not only digestive ones. They include forming chyme, the soupy mixture that moves on toward the intestine, and they also include microbial defense.
The barrier is not foolproof. Helicobacter pylori, the stomach bacterium, manages to colonize the stomach precisely because it neutralizes the acidic environment around itself.
In brief
The stomach's acidic environment does not just denature proteins: it also protects against potentially infectious agents.
Everything you consume has to pass through the stomach, and many bacteria are killed or inhibited by that acidity.
A filter that everything you swallow has to pass through.
The stomach's functions include forming chyme and microbial defense.
The barrier is not foolproof: Helicobacter pylori colonizes the stomach by neutralizing the acidic environment around the bacterium.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Stomach, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
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