WEBVTT - Why Does Your Stomach Growl?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Laur and vocal Bomb. Here. The human body is pretty

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<v Speaker 1>amazing and pretty weird. Even if you don't always hear it,

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<v Speaker 1>your body is making all kinds of sounds while it

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<v Speaker 1>works hard to keep you well. We're talking about noises

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<v Speaker 1>like your joints popping or your stomach growling. Speaking of

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<v Speaker 1>what exactly is going on there, everybody's belly chimes in

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<v Speaker 1>from time to time. Whether you call it grumbling, gurgling,

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<v Speaker 1>or growling, These low rumbling noises sound like a pot

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<v Speaker 1>of bubbling stew inside your guts. This sound happens as

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<v Speaker 1>your body digests food. The medical term for this kind

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<v Speaker 1>of intestinal rumbling is borberignus. This is thought to be

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<v Speaker 1>based on an ancient Greek ono monopoia, you know, like

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<v Speaker 1>meow or wolf, but for stomach rumbling. But the question

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<v Speaker 1>is why do our stomachs growl in the first place?

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<v Speaker 1>What's it trying to tell us? Let's start with a

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<v Speaker 1>look at how the digestive system works. Our digestive system is,

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<v Speaker 1>in essence, a long, single tube that starts at our

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<v Speaker 1>mouth and ends at our anus. This tube connects the

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<v Speaker 1>various organs and passages that play important roles in digestion.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most important things to know here is

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<v Speaker 1>how the digestive system propels food. Waves of muscle contractions

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<v Speaker 1>push the food that we eat down our small intestines

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<v Speaker 1>into our bowels in a process called peristalsis. These contractions

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<v Speaker 1>help churn food, liquids and different digestive juices together, are

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<v Speaker 1>rendering them into a gooey mix known as chime. The

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<v Speaker 1>sounds we hear our stomach growling are from moving around

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<v Speaker 1>those solid and liquid ingredients plus bodily gas and air.

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<v Speaker 1>Your stomach can growl at any time, but when there's

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<v Speaker 1>food in your stomach or small intestine, the growling is

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<v Speaker 1>less obvious. It's like when you put a pair of

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<v Speaker 1>sneakers in the dryer by themselves versus with a load

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<v Speaker 1>of towels. The towels muffle the noise of the shoes

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<v Speaker 1>as they bounce around. But if you're hungry and your

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<v Speaker 1>stomach and guts are both empty, that's when you probably

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<v Speaker 1>notice your stomach growling the most. The same contractions are

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<v Speaker 1>at work even though there isn't much food in there.

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<v Speaker 1>That's because when your stomach is empty, your brain releases

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<v Speaker 1>an appetite stimulating hormone called grellin. This signals the digestive

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<v Speaker 1>muscles to restart the process of peristalsis, so they start

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<v Speaker 1>contracting again. This is the rubbling that you hear. But

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<v Speaker 1>why two reasons. A First, those contractions are sweeping up

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<v Speaker 1>any food bits that they might have missed the first

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<v Speaker 1>time around. A second, those vibrations and rumblings of your

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<v Speaker 1>empty stomach are designed to make you hungry. The muscle

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<v Speaker 1>contractions will come and go about once an hour until

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<v Speaker 1>you eat again. In some cases, of course, excessive grumbling

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<v Speaker 1>could be a sign of an upset stomach, but you

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<v Speaker 1>shouldn't be too concerned unless the sounds are accompanied by cramping, nausea,

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<v Speaker 1>or constipation. So, now that we know what causes stomach growling,

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<v Speaker 1>is there any way to control it? The one tip

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<v Speaker 1>to mute a noisy belly is to eat many small

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<v Speaker 1>meals in a day instead of a few large ones.

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<v Speaker 1>Your digestive system will have less opportunity to create those

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<v Speaker 1>paristols as rumbles if your tube has something in it. Also,

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<v Speaker 1>eating pure foods that make you gassy may help decrease

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<v Speaker 1>the growling. Today's episode is based on the article why

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<v Speaker 1>do our stomachs Growl? On how stuffworks dot Com written

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<v Speaker 1>by Jessica Toooth Mean brain Stuff is production of Eye

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts myheart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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