The acid in your belly melts steel

Your stomach houses hydrochloric acid with a pH level typically between 1 and 2. This is the same chemical used in industrial cleaners to remove rust from steel.

In a laboratory test, scientists submerged single-edge stainless steel razor blades in simulated gastric juice. After only 24 hours, the blades lost 17% of their mass and became as fragile as wet tissue paper.

The acid is strong enough to eat right through the stomach itself. To prevent literal self-digestion, your body replaces the entire inner lining of your stomach every three to four days.

This caustic bath isn't just for breaking down your lunch. It serves as a biological frontline, incinerating the majority of bacteria and viruses that hitch a ride on your food before they can enter your bloodstream.

If you spilled this fluid on a wooden floor, it would eat through the finish and char the wood. Despite this power, your stomach produces about two liters of the stuff every single day.

Curiously, while it can melt steel, the acid struggles to break down a simple kernel of corn, which relies on a cellulose shell that the human body lacks the enzymes to crack.