Digestive / VISUAL EXPLAINER
Why Doesn’t Your Stomach Empty a Whole Meal at Once?
Distal stomach contractions mix contents and drive them toward the pylorus. Some material passes onward while other material returns for further mixing, and feedback from the duodenum helps regulate delivery.
READ THE IMAGE
What the illustration shows
A cutaway of the distal stomach connects the antrum through a narrowed pylorus to the duodenum. Gold arrows show material returning for mixing, a blue arrow shows a small portion passing onward, and a blue feedback arrow points from duodenum toward stomach. Three lower schematic panels show approaching contraction, limited forward passage and retropulsion. Gold AllHumanBody.com branding and slogan appear at the bottom.
How to interpret this poster
- No fixed emptying time, universal particle cutoff, passage volume or wave frequency.
- The feedback arrow is conceptual, not a literal nerve or duct.
- No valve leaflets, permanently sealed plug, dietary treatment or gastric nutrient-absorption claim.
- AI-assisted educational illustration; not physician certification, microscopy, a diagnosis or individualized medical advice.
- Fine annotations need enlargement; the full description provides an accessible text alternative.
- Display the full uncropped illustration; do not trim titles, legends or boundary annotations.
AI-assisted educational illustration, adapted into web-sized images without changing its composition. This is general education, not an individual diagnosis or treatment recommendation.
EVIDENCE / CONTEXT
Sources and what they support
- Anatomy and Physiology 2e: 23.4 The Stomach ↗
Antral mixing, restricted forward passage, retropulsion and duodenal feedback; preserved lines 102–106.