Rumbling Of Stomach - Why It Happens? + How To Manage It?

You are sitting in an office meeting and it has been a couple of hours since you have had your breakfast. Lunch looks like a long time away and you are trying hard to concentrate. But all of a sudden your stomach starts distracting you and makes noises calling out to you. Does this sound familiar to you?

The rumbling of our stomach has been a constant subject of studies for several scientists. In fact, 2,000 years ago, the Greeks coined a special name for it called Borborygmi. So, what’s with all the growling and rumbling. 

What causes stomach rumbling?
The rumbling that you hear is related to the movement of food, liquid, digestive juices and air through your intestines. When your intestine is processing the food, your stomach may grumble and growl. When it is hungry and your stomach is empty, the rumbling noise is more audible and can be heard clearly.

The stomach digests the food through a process called peristalsis. The walls of the gastrointestinal tract that are made of muscles contract and move the food down the intestines. Peristalsis is responsible for the rumbling sound that you tend to hear when you are hungry.

Here is the exact process that occurs in your stomach:

• During the digestion process, the food along with the digestive juices, gas and air bubbles are pushed down through the digestive system.
• If you have food in your system that needs to be broken down, then the muscle contractions aids its movement. The presence of food can muffle the sound of movement and rumbling.
• But when it is empty, all you have in there is air or gas. The movement of air bubbles and gas is not absorbed and your stomach grumbles clearly.

Five ways to deal with it
So now that we know why our stomach growls, is there a way to control it? Here are five effective tips to keep the rumbling of your stomach under check.

• Mute the rumbling noise by eating small meals at regular intervals instead of a few large meals. Your digestive system will then have a lesser opportunity to create those loud noises of rumbling.
• Eat slowly and swallow less air.
• Stay away from high-fructose or high-sugar foods that tend to cause a lot of intestinal noise when it gets broken down in the system.
• Eat food that produces less gas.
• Try to take a small walk after heavy meals in order to aid digestion and keep your bowels moving, without excessive build-up of gas in your digestive system.

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!