Eli5: Given that our stomach acid is very acidic, how come drinking something with a higher pH, like alkaline water, not neutralize it?

Question

Aren’t alkaline drinks supposed to counteract the acidity found in our stomachs? How do they pass through with no effect?

In: Biology

Answer 1

They don’t “just pass through”. They react with the stomach content and it gets neutralized to a point. Once in the duodenum, the whole content largely neutralized to about pH 6 and then in the ileum to above 7 or so. What you drink/eat doesn’t make a difference, your body maintains these values by pumping bicarbonates as needed in the specific volume.