To my understanding, when food is broken down in the stomach it turns into this stew of broken down food and HCL. When this sluree is being passed to the small intestine, how does our sphincter discriminate between the HCL and the food? And if it doesn’t, how does the small intestine stay intact without the stomach mucus?
In: Biology
Yes stomach acid passes through the sphincter into the small intestine, but your small intestine secretes a mucus/solution that contains bicarbonate, a base.
This base mixes with the acid coming from
The stomach, neutralizing the stomach acid.
Keeping any damage from being done
Stomach acid is passed into the first part of the small intestine where it gets neutralized by bicarb secreted by the pancreas. Stomach acid isn’t as strong as what you’re thinking of when you think of the word “acid” and it isn’t going to instantly burn through your intestine. It isn’t like your insides are full of 12M laboratory grade HCl or something.
The acid gets neutralized while it’s digesting food and it passes in largely alkaline intestine environment where the rest are reacted with bicarbonates. The sphincter is a muscle that keeps your stomach/anus closed, it’s not involved in digestion.
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