Why doesn't your stomach digest itself?
AI-generated illustrated lesson. Hand-drawn and narrated, step by step.
Why doesn't your stomach digest itself?
If you unraveled your digestive system, it would stretch across an entire school bus. It's a continuous, nine-meter tube running right through your core. Food enters the mouth, slides down the esophagus, churns in the stomach, and winds through the intestines.
Think of this entire tract as a highly specialized conveyor belt. At every station, specific enzymes and acids break your meal down into raw energy.
But the most hostile station is right in the middle: the stomach. It's a holding tank filled with hydrochloric acid so strong it can dissolve metal. Which begs the question: why doesn't this meat-sack melt itself?
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