Every time you place a piece of food in your mouth you set off a complex process of actions and reactions. As the food makes its way through your digestive system, the body removes the essential components for energy as well as the other nutrients it needs to function and expels the rest from your body as waste. However, before the body can remove what it needs, the food must be processed and broken down in the stomach.
Ingredients
The stomach breaks down food using specialized acid. Stomach acid, also referred to as gastric acid, is made up of three main parts: sodium chloride, potassium chloride and hydrochloric acid, which makes up the bulk of the gastric acid. These three components combine to form an acid capable of quickly breaking down the food you eat.
Production
Stomach acid is secreted in the stomach by cells called parietal cells, also referred to as oxyntic cells. These cells are activated to produce stomach acid by hormones released into the bloodstream such as gastrin and secretin.
Function
Before food reaches your stomach, some digestion has already occurred through your mouth and saliva, which break down the starches in food into sugar. Once the partially digested food reaches your stomach, the acid begins to do its work. Stomach acid in a healthy individual has a pH of between one and two. This acid mixes with enzymes called lipase to start breaking down proteins in the food into smaller peptides. The stomach churns the food like a mixer until it is broken down into a substance called chyme. The chyme particles break down further to be absorbed by the body into the bloodstream. The food then passes through pyloric sphincter into the small intestine for further digesting.
Time Frame
There is no set time frame for how long food remains in the stomach acid before being passed to the small intestine. Digestive time can be affected by several factors such as the health of your digestive system, the composition of the meal -- such as how much protein, fiber and fat are included in the meal -- and other factors such as stress and even gender.
Problems
Stomach acid can sometimes cause or contribute to health problems. One of the most common is heartburn, which occurs when stomach acid backs up into the esophagus. Chronic heartburn can lead to problems with gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. If left untreated, GERD can cause ulcers in the esophagus or even cause pre-cancerous changes to cells in the esophagus, referred Barrett's esophagus, according to MayoClinic.com.
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