If we have stomach acid, how come if we eat something that may have some type of bacteria on it. Our stomach acid doesn’t kill it all before we get infected?
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Immunologist here!
There’s dozens of factors, from your health to your immune system, but..
Basically, when your stomach fills with food and drinks, the PH of stomach acid changes. It becomes diluted. Most bacteria that give us food poisoning, like Ecoli, Listaria, and Salmonella, have hardened shells that protect them from environmental factors, its why they can live on counter tops and your hands for an extended period of time. Stomach acid isn’t meant to break everything down, you wouldn’t be able to get any nutrients from your food if its all destroyed in strong hydrochloric acid. There has to be a way for organic material to make it to the intestines, where nutrients are absorbed. Bacteria take advantage of that
TL;DR The more you eat, the less acid in your stomach, the longer bacteria can survive to multiply
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