Aren’t alkaline drinks supposed to counteract the acidity found in our stomachs? How do they pass through with no effect?
In: Biology
ELI5: Alright, imagine your stomach is like a big, bubbling cauldron full of acid, right? That acid helps break down the food you eat into smaller pieces so your body can use it for energy. It’s super strong, like the evil villain of digestion! Now, let’s talk about alkaline water. It’s kind of like the hero of the story, with a higher ph level than your stomach acid. So, you might think when the hero meets the villain, they should cancel each other out, right? Well, not exactly. ( i have watched way too many youtube shorts with the guy explaining stuff that i can’t hear that sentence in my own voice anymore)
When you drink alkaline water, it does mix with the stomach acid, but it’s not enough to completely neutralize it. Think of it as adding a little bit of water to a big pot of soup; it might dilute it a little, but the soup is still pretty strong. Plus, your stomach is really good at maintaining its acidic environment. It has special cells that constantly produce more acid to keep things balanced. So even if you drink something alkaline, your stomach just ramps up the acid production to keep doing its job. So, while alkaline drinks might help balance out the ph in other parts of your body, like your bloosdtream, they don’t really have a big impact on the acidity of your stomach.
Non ELI5:When you consume alkaline water or other alkaline stuff, they indeed have a higher ph, usually around 8 or 9. At face value, one might assume that consuming alkaline substances would neutralize stomach acid due to their higher ph. However, the stomach’s acidic environment is maintained by a complex system of proton pumps that actively secrete hydrogen ions (H+) to maintain acidity.
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