Why Does Your Stomach Growl?

Sometimes our guts rumble when we're hungry, and sometimes when we're full. What gives? Learn about the digestive system and borborygmus in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/digestive/stomach-growling.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey, brain Stuff,
Laur and vocal Bomb. Here. The human body is pretty
amazing and pretty weird. Even if you don't always hear it,
your body is making all kinds of sounds while it
works hard to keep you well. We're talking about noises

(00:23):
like your joints popping or your stomach growling. Speaking of
what exactly is going on there, everybody's belly chimes in
from time to time. Whether you call it grumbling, gurgling,
or growling, These low rumbling noises sound like a pot
of bubbling stew inside your guts. This sound happens as

(00:44):
your body digests food. The medical term for this kind
of intestinal rumbling is borberignus. This is thought to be
based on an ancient Greek ono monopoia, you know, like
meow or wolf, but for stomach rumbling. But the question
is why do our stomachs growl in the first place?
What's it trying to tell us? Let's start with a

(01:08):
look at how the digestive system works. Our digestive system is,
in essence, a long, single tube that starts at our
mouth and ends at our anus. This tube connects the
various organs and passages that play important roles in digestion.
One of the most important things to know here is
how the digestive system propels food. Waves of muscle contractions

(01:34):
push the food that we eat down our small intestines
into our bowels in a process called peristalsis. These contractions
help churn food, liquids and different digestive juices together, are
rendering them into a gooey mix known as chime. The
sounds we hear our stomach growling are from moving around

(01:55):
those solid and liquid ingredients plus bodily gas and air.
Your stomach can growl at any time, but when there's
food in your stomach or small intestine, the growling is
less obvious. It's like when you put a pair of
sneakers in the dryer by themselves versus with a load
of towels. The towels muffle the noise of the shoes

(02:16):
as they bounce around. But if you're hungry and your
stomach and guts are both empty, that's when you probably
notice your stomach growling the most. The same contractions are
at work even though there isn't much food in there.
That's because when your stomach is empty, your brain releases
an appetite stimulating hormone called grellin. This signals the digestive

(02:39):
muscles to restart the process of peristalsis, so they start
contracting again. This is the rubbling that you hear. But
why two reasons. A First, those contractions are sweeping up
any food bits that they might have missed the first
time around. A second, those vibrations and rumblings of your

(03:01):
empty stomach are designed to make you hungry. The muscle
contractions will come and go about once an hour until
you eat again. In some cases, of course, excessive grumbling
could be a sign of an upset stomach, but you
shouldn't be too concerned unless the sounds are accompanied by cramping, nausea,
or constipation. So, now that we know what causes stomach growling,

(03:26):
is there any way to control it? The one tip
to mute a noisy belly is to eat many small
meals in a day instead of a few large ones.
Your digestive system will have less opportunity to create those
paristols as rumbles if your tube has something in it. Also,
eating pure foods that make you gassy may help decrease

(03:47):
the growling. Today's episode is based on the article why
do our stomachs Growl? On how stuffworks dot Com written
by Jessica Toooth Mean brain Stuff is production of Eye
Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and
is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts myheart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

(04:09):
to your favorite shows.