When the stomach is stimulated, its environment would be describe as acidic. The stomach releases proteases enzyme and hydrochloric acid to help in digestion. The presence of hydrochloric acid will maintain low pH of the stomach, which make the enzyme proteases to work best in cleaving proteins. After the meal has been digested, the stomach pH returns to its resting level. Therefore, the stomach secretes acid in response to food that aids in proper digestion.