It is funny that the entire abdominal region, i.e. between chest and pelvis is addressed as stomach . Whether it is the liver, spleen, gallbladder, pancreas any part of your digestive system signals a pain it is the poor stomach which is blamed.

The stomach is a hollow, muscular organ of the gastrointestinal tract (digestive system), between the esophagus and the small intestine is shaped much like the letter 'C' and its average capacity is one to one and a half litres. But the stomach expands to accommodate more foodstuff. It can stretch further when we are tempted into taking a second or third helping.

The stomach secretes the gastric juices including the various enzymes and hydrochloric acid that help to digest food. Half a litre of gastric juice is required to digest an average quantity of food.

The hydrochloric acid, which forms most of the gastric juice, helps in the digestive process. It also kills any bacteria that creep into the stomach along with the foodstuff. One of the most important enzymes secreted in the stomach is Pepsin. It is the enzyme that works on the proteins in the food and converts them into a form that is absorbed into the bloodstream.

The stomach can be split into three parts.

The first is the Fundus. It is in this part that the air that we unwittingly swallow along with the food floats in the stomach.

The second part of the stomach is the bag-like central section where the food that we eat and the liquids that we drink settle. This is known as the body.

The third part of the stomach is very narrow. It is just a few centimeters wide. It is called the Antrum, and ends at the Puloric Sphincter, which is a tight ring of muscle between the stomach and the duodenum.

Once the food reaches the stomach, two valves, one connecting the oesophagus with the upper portion of the stomach and the other connecting the lower portion of the stomach with the small intestine, close themselves. Then the stomach muscles get into action, grinding the food inside.

The grinding motion of the muscles begins in the tip portion of the stomach and moves down to the lower parts. It takes about a minute for the grinding motion to move from the top to the bottom. The food in the stomach gets broken down into smaller particles during this grinding process.

It must be noted that the stomach continues to be in action even when there is no foodstuff inside. It is this action that causes what we describe as 'pangs of hunger' and makes the stomach growl.

The food in the stomach is broken down into down the oesophagus, the stomach expands in direct proportion to the amount of food that we eat.

Everyday the stomach secretes up to one and a half litres of gastric juice. Every hour a certain amount of gastric juice is secreted. But this secretion happens in a larger quantity for people who suffer from ulcers and makes it more painful for them.

Each time we smell, see or taste some foodstuff, the gastric juice flows into the stomach. At the smell of food, the information about the food is sent to the brain through the vagus nerve. Then when the brain conveys that information to the stomach, it starts secreting the gastric juice in anticipation of the food that is going to arrive. This goes on for about an hour.

Stomach is indeed the bag which holds the food and churns it like a blender, reducing the food to a fine thick shake called 'chyme'.

If the stomach does not function properly, it can lead to various problems such as continuous belching, gastritis or inflammation of the inner lining of the stomach, hyperchlorhydia or excessive secretion of acid, stomach ulcers and cancer.

Every pain in your abdomen is not due to stomach. I am sure even after knowing this, we will still call the pain in the Abdomen as stomach ache. Habits die hard! Or is it because we don't know the other organs as well as our stomach??? Which signals us to fill it periodically????