A friend commented the other day that her stomach makes a ton of noise when she’s digesting food.
Typically, you’d associate noise in the digestive tract with what’s going on in there before you eat, right? The stomach growl that signals hunger. According to Precision Nutrition texts, the small intestine releases a hormone called motilin to trigger muscle contractions in the gastrointestinal tract. These contractions move food and fluid through the intestines when you’re digesting meals, but the body also releases motilin between meals – creating that growling sound. That’s when your brain has told your digestive tract it’s time to get ready to eat and digest again.
This pre-meal stomach growling and the aforementioned post-meal stomach rumbling share the best name: borborygmi. The noise is largely caused by:
- Muscle contractions moving fluid (gastric juices and food) through your intestines.
- Muscle contractions moving gas through your intestines.
So – is it a bad sign if your intestines are rather noisy before and after eating? No. Generally, this just means your digestive tract is just busy doing everything it’s supposed to be doing in order to break down foods to help your body get the nutrients it needs.
It’s worth checking things out with your doctor, though, if your borborygmi is also often paired with uncomfortable symptoms like abdominal pain, acid reflux, diarrhea, heartburn, bloating or nausea.
Otherwise, you’re in the clear. Let your digestive tract keep doing its thing, crazy noises and all.
