how can some types of worms survive the stomach acid and some die?
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Micro organisms often secrete a protective film (bacterial colonies, etc.) where the outside dies but the interior colony stays alive and breakthrough when the outside situation becomes more hospitable.
Also, the foods you eat can create a buffer that allows this to happen. It is believed certain foods w a higher pH can act as a buffer to stomach acid, allowing a infectious amount of pathogens to go through.
Some species have evolved to contend w the acid levels in their host gut. Perhaps they can survive for only several hours until passing through to the small intestine or only in the presence of a medium such as certain foods, etc.
Lastly, as humans have spent so much time cooking food our ability to combat pathogens has decreased. This is thought to be bc high amounts of stomach acids denature amino acids and lower the nutritional value of foods consumed leading to the need to eat more. Cooking kills pathogens while sparing nutrients more than chemical methods thus is *preferred* (selected for over time). Those who evolved lower stomach acids we able to gain equal amounts of calories/nutrients w less effort. This lead to more time being able to create tools, mate, protect offspring, etc. That lead to more sophisticated tools, which lead to more efficient hunting/hunting larger game, which meant they could sustain more ppl, thus they out competed other hominids of the same and other species over time. This lead to humans having a relative weaker stomach acid concentration and more pathogens being able to survive the stomach.
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