As soon as you putfood into your mouth, your stomach begins releasing gastric juices. This liquid mixture will help dissolve food once it reaches the stomach and the process of digestion begins.
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How You Make Gastric Juices
Each of the glands contains cells that make specific components that together are called the gastric juices.
Foveolar cells and mucous neck cells secrete bicarbonate andmucus. Parietal cells secrete hydrochloric acid. Chief cells secrete pepsinogen. Enteroendocrine cells secrete various hormones. However, not all stomach glands contain every type of cell.
Breaking Down the Gastric Juices
Gastric juice is made up of water, electrolytes, hydrochloric acid, enzymes, mucus, and intrinsic factor.
Amylase breaks down carbohydrates, but it doesn’t have much time to work on the stomach because the acidity stops it. That’s okay, though, because your small intestine introduces more amylase later on.
It All Works Together
Your stomach muscles squeeze and churn to mix the bolus with all of these digestive juices.
The liquid mixture is called chyme. When it’s ready, your stomach squirts the chyme into thesmall intestinewhere digestion continues and absorption of those all-important nutrients occurs.
How Your Digestive System Works
1 SourceVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Willet SG, Mills JC.Stomach organ and cell lineage differentiation: from embryogenesis to adult homeostasis.Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;2(5):546-559. doi:10.1016/j.jcmgh.2016.05.006Additional ReadingGropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL.Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company; 2013.Smolin LA, Grosvenor, MB. Nutrition: Science and Applications. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing Company; 2016.Wallace M.Your Digestive System and How It Works. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). 2013.
1 Source
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Willet SG, Mills JC.Stomach organ and cell lineage differentiation: from embryogenesis to adult homeostasis.Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;2(5):546-559. doi:10.1016/j.jcmgh.2016.05.006Additional ReadingGropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL.Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company; 2013.Smolin LA, Grosvenor, MB. Nutrition: Science and Applications. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing Company; 2016.Wallace M.Your Digestive System and How It Works. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). 2013.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Willet SG, Mills JC.Stomach organ and cell lineage differentiation: from embryogenesis to adult homeostasis.Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;2(5):546-559. doi:10.1016/j.jcmgh.2016.05.006
Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL.Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company; 2013.Smolin LA, Grosvenor, MB. Nutrition: Science and Applications. 4th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing Company; 2016.Wallace M.Your Digestive System and How It Works. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). 2013.
Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL.Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company; 2013.
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