What makes growling stomach

Some people may wish to eat 4 to 6 small meals a day, instead of the standard 3 large meals, to prevent hunger and stomach noises. Digestion begins in the mouth, through the physical act of chewing food. Stomach growling that is linked to indigestion may be prevented by more thoroughly chewing food and eating more slowly.

Chewing food properly also reduces the amount of air that is swallowed, which prevents gas and digestive distress. Alcohol, sugary foods, and acidic foods can all trigger stomach sounds. Sugars, such as fructose and sorbitol, are especially problematic. Acidic foods, including citrus fruits and coffee , are also known to cause stomach growling. Alcohol irritates the digestive tract and can cause stomach noises. It also increases acid production and causes inflammation in the lining of the stomach.

High doses of alcohol can delay gastric emptying and cause stomach pain. Certain food and drink produce more gas than others. If stomach growling is caused by large amounts of gas moving through the digestive tract, then avoiding these foods and drinks may solve the problem of borborygmi. It may be beneficial to remove one food or drink at a time to pinpoint the source of the excess gas and intestinal noises.

For example, lactose intolerance is caused by a deficiency of lactase, the enzyme that helps to digest lactose. Approximately 65 percent all people have difficulty digesting lactose, although the prevalence varies widely among ethnic and racial populations.

The best way to manage a food intolerance is to avoid the foods that cause symptoms. People with chronic stomach growling should discuss the possibility of a food intolerance with their doctor. Stomach growling and other noises may become more noticeable after eating big meals, particularly meals rich in fats, sugars, red meats, and other foods that may be hard to digest.

Eating smaller portions at more regular intervals, along with thoroughly chewing food during meals, reduces the risk of overeating. Going for a walk after meals has been proven to aid the digestive process by speeding up the rate at which the stomach empties. This faster emptying can reduce stomach rumbling. A post-meal walk can also benefit digestion in other ways.

Research indicates that a minute walk 15 minutes after eating lowers blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. However, high-intensity activities should be avoided immediately after eating.

Peristalsis is generally responsible for the rumbling sound you hear after eating. Hypoactive, or reduced, bowel sounds often indicate that intestinal activity has slowed down. On the other hand, hyperactive bowel sounds are louder sounds related to increased intestinal activity. These can occur after eating or when you have diarrhea. While occasional hypoactive and hyperactive bowel sounds are normal, frequent experiences on either end of the spectrum and the presence of other abnormal symptoms may indicate a medical problem.

Abdominal sounds alone are not usually a cause for concern. However, the presence of other symptoms that accompany the sounds may indicate an underlying health issue.

These symptoms may include:. For instance:. If the sounds are accompanied by a bloated, gassy feeling in your stomach, you may want to limit your intake of foods that can produce more gas.

These include:. Avoid dairy if you have lactose intolerance. Swallowing air by eating too quickly, drinking through a straw, or chewing gum can also lead to excess air in your digestive tract. If your stomach noises are causing you a bit of stress, a good thing to keep in mind is that most of these sounds can only be heard by you! Most other people are unaware of them or unconcerned and definitely experience them as well.

After your doctor talks to you about your family medical history and asks a few questions about the frequency and severity of your symptoms, they will most likely use a stethoscope to listen for any abnormal bowel sounds. This step is called auscultation. To get to the bottom of your health issue, your doctor will most likely perform some additional tests:. Bowel obstructions typically produce very loud, high-pitched sounds that can often be heard without using a stethoscope.

They may also co-occur with pain in the stomach, bloating, and a lack of bowel movement. For some people, receiving fluids by vein and allowing the intestinal system to rest will be enough to treat the problem.

Other people may need surgery. For example, if you have a serious infection or injury to your intestines or if the intestines are found to be completely blocked, you may need surgery to correct the problem and treat any damage. This article will discuss borborygmi and how they cause those strange noises in your stomach. Food makes its way through the GI tract in a process known as peristalsis.

Layers of smooth muscle that make up the GI tract's walls push food and fluids through your system. This movement can result in borborygmi. You may experience more borborygmi when you have diarrhea since there's an increased amount of fluids and gas in the intestines.

Borborygmi can also occur when you have a bowel obstruction where solid foods and liquids are trying to pass through a narrowed or blocked part of the intestine. The intestines are often noisier after eating since food is being moved through them. Borborygmi may slow down at night when there is no or less active digestion taking place. Borborygmi can also happen when you just have gas in your stomach.

Gas is normal and a result of intestinal bacteria processing foods that you can't digest. This includes food that contains carbohydrates. You may even experience borborygmi when you swallow too much air. The amount of gas you have can change from day to day. Certain conditions can make it hard for some people to digest foods like dairy or wheat, which can lead to more gas and diarrhea—and the sounds that go along with them.

While it makes sense that peristalsis could be noisy, you may actually notice borborygmi more when it has been a while since you've eaten. Because your intestines are empty, there's less in your digestive system to muffle any noise. And just as the muscles in your intestines contract when processing food, they're still at work if it's been a while since you've eaten something.

This causes the same noisy results. This video has been medically reviewed by Rochelle Collins, DO. It's important to note that borborygmi are normal. This simply means the intestines are working. There's no reason to worry about it unless the sounds and symptoms like gas are bothering you. To make your stomach less noisy, you can try changing your diet to avoid gassy foods or carbonated beverages. Beans and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, to name a few are known to be very healthy foods.

Unfortunately, eating a lot of them can trigger stomach rumbling and gas. Limiting these particular vegetables might help you avoid a noisy stomach. Cutting down certain sugars in your diet, particularly fructose and sorbitol found in fruits and used as artificial sweeteners may help reduce borborygmi. And eating less acidic foods such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, and coffee may also help reduce embarrassing tummy noises. Drinking enough water, eating slowly, eating regularly keeping snacks on hand , and avoiding overeating can also help to decrease borborygmi.

When these regular sounds in the digestive tract are missing, it's called the "absence of bowel sounds. This may mean there's a problem involving the digestive tract. If a doctor listens to the abdomen with a stethoscope and doesn't hear anything, or doesn't hear what they expect to hear, they might order tests to determine whether there's something wrong.

This is especially the case if you have other symptoms, such as abdominal pain or bleeding from the rectum. If you have pain in the abdomen as well as no bowel sounds, it could be a very serious condition that requires immediate treatment.