The Stomach: A Very Complex Organ

My medical dictionary describes the stomach as a distensible saclike organ connecting the esophagus and the duodenum (throat and small intestine). The stomach is a major protein-digesting organ and lies just below the diaphragm, to the right of the spleen and partly under the liver. The stomach is made up of three parts, the fundus (base of a hollow organ, the part farthest from the opening), antrum (the cavity, the part adjoining the pylorus) and pylorus (the lower part of the stomach that leads to the duodenum).

The Stomach sits at a slight angle, with the inlet at the cardiac orifice (throat) and the outlet at the pyloric sphincter (beginning of the small intestine). The angle allows food to be bathed in the stomach acid solution (hydrochloric acid and pepsin) while being moved around or churned by the muscular action of the outer layers of the stomach. It has the capacity to hold about 2-3 quarts of solid or liquid material and secretes up to 2 quarts of digestive juices per day that are between 1.5 and 3 pH (very high acid). The stomach continues the digestive process that starts in the mouth. Gastric juices, hydrochloric acid and pepsin are secreted by glands in the mucosal lining and contribute to the digestive process. The semi-liquefied and partly digested food is passed on to the duodenum.

There are about 35 million glands in the stomach consisting of two basic types. The first type secretes acids. The parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid and the chief cells secrete pepsin.

The pH factor of hydrochloric acid (HCl) is 0.8 and is a major protein digestive enzyme. The inability to produce HCl is generally seen as a consequence of aging, but some authorities feel it's not age connected, but directly related to years of stomach abuse. My own personal experience in years past would bear that out. I thought indigestion was part of life until I changed my diet and eating patterns about 25 years ago. Now, I have indigestion so seldom, maybe once a year, that I can point directly to the cause, because I ate it.