system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If the liquids we drink end up in the stomach, how does our stomach acid not get thinned down by the constant flow of liquid?
gpt
It does get diluted, but the stomach walls just add more concentrated acid back in. Even if you weren't drinking anything, purely solid food is mixed with the acidic liquid-y contents of the stomach and sent on to the small intestine together, so you "lose" acid over time regardless. The stomach would lose its function very, very quickly if it couldn't maintain its contents' proper acidity.