Your Stomach’s Special Suspension System

1. Stomach membrane
2. Esophagus
3. Muscle link
4. Circular muscle layer
5. Vertical muscle layer
6. Inclined muscle layer
7. Muscle layer around pylorus
8. Folds
9. Duodenum

The stomach muscles are arranged in three separate directions. This allows the stomach to move easily from right to left, up and down, and diagonally, permitting food to make better contact with the stomach fluids. However, movements of this kind always bring with them a drawback: friction.

After eating, you experience a feeling of fullness, even of heaviness. But apart from that, you may well be unaware of the considerable activity that’s happening in your stomach. Your stomach constantly twists from right to left and up and down, in the effort to digest food better. Thanks to your stomach’s special suspension system, however, you remain unaware of these movements.

The stomach is located next to the intestines. Its constant movement means that it rubs against the intestines, which could give rise to serious health problems.

A precaution against this danger has been taken, of course. The stomach’s outermost surface is covered with a membrane called the peritoneum, which secretes a slippery liquid that lubricates the stomach and intestines externally, thus preventing these organs from abrading each other and being damaged by friction. 31