Definition of Gastric Juice

Within the digestive system we find numerous organs and tissues that perform functions of great importance. Inside of the stomach, perhaps the most important organ in this entire system, we find the gastric juice that we can describe as a liquid naturally produced by various cells of the stomach to promote the digestion and the processing of the food bolus when it reaches the stomach cavity. This gastric juice has a high level of acidity, that is, a pH that goes between 1 and 2 in the scale and this means that what reaches the stomach can be more easily disintegrated and assimilated by the body.

Gastric juice is a light-colored liquid that is produced naturally in the stomach, inside it, more precisely by the parietal cells found in the stomach epithelium. Gastric juice is made up of several elements: hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, Water and various enzymes that also aid the process of digestion or processing of food. These enzymes are actually activated with the combination of the aforementioned chemicals and the entire resulting product acts as a digestive.

Gastric juice is produced and secreted into the stomach in various phases, which is why its generation is considered a complex phenomenon that is not limited only to the moment after ingestion of food. In this sense, it is estimated that one third of the total gastric juice produced by the stomach at a time is secreted before eating or ingesting food begins and that is the sensation stomach emptiness or hunger you feel when you want to eat. The participation of nervous system and of the senses it is vital here since they act by generating desire or stimuli for certain foods that favor the gastric juice to begin to act. Most of the gastric juice, about sixty percent, is released at the time of processing of the food that has already been ingested, as soon as the stomach begins to distend. Finally, the remaining ten percent is released when the rest of the bolus begins to travel through the small intestine.