According to a Daily Mail article published earlier this week, a study found that scavengers tended to have the highest levels of stomach acid, which may be a form of protection against harmful microbes present in their food.
The study revealed that humans had levels of stomach acid similar to scavengers, such as vultures, which researchers suggest could be an evolutionary outcome due to the scavenger-like diets of our ancestors.
“This raises significant questions about how humans have evolved, our species’ relationship with food over time, and how modern changes in diet and medicine are affecting our stomachs, our gut microbes and – ultimately – our health,” said North Carolina State University biologist, Dr. DeAnna Beasley.
This suggests that heartburn, which occurs because of excessive stomach acid, could have originally been our body’s way of defending against illnesses caused by contaminants in foods.