Gastric acid

Gastric acid is a special liquid that our stomach makes to help digest (break down) the food we eat. Imagine your stomach like a big mixer where your food is mixed, churned and broken down into tiny little pieces before it is sent onward for further digestion in the intestines. But this is not possible without the help of gastric acid.

Gastric acid is kind of like a superhero in your stomach that helps to break down your food so your body can use it for energy. When you eat, your stomach starts to make gastric acid. This acid is very strong – it's like a special juice that's powerful enough to melt metal! (But don't worry, it doesn't hurt us because our stomach is made to handle it.)

The gastric acid is made up of different substances that work together to make it very strong. For example, it has hydrochloric acid, which is a very powerful acid. There are also special cells in your stomach called parietal cells that make the acid. These cells are like the chefs in your stomach, who mix up all the ingredients (like salt and pepper) to make the recipe just right.

When we eat, the muscles in our stomach start to squeeze and churn the food around, mixing it with the gastric acid. This is a very important step in digestion. The acid helps to break down proteins in our food, which are very important for our body. The acid also kills bacteria that may be in our food, protecting us from getting sick.

Sometimes, our body doesn't make enough gastric acid, which can cause problems with digestion. This is especially true as we get older. Doctors can give people who have this problem medicine that helps to make more gastric acid so they aren't as sick.

So, to summarize, gastric acid is a special liquid your stomach makes to break down the food you eat. It's kind of like a superhero that helps you get energy from your food and fights off bad bacteria. And like a good chef, the parietal cells mix up all the ingredients just right to make the gastric acid super strong.