What does your stomach growling mean specifically?

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We all know that normally (which means excluding stomach viruses, period cramps, parasites etc.) and mostly our stomach growls when we are hungry.

But
1.) how does it create that sound, by vibration (of some organ?) or something else?
2.) does it mean our stomach has finished processing (digesting) the food, or does it mean they used up all the energy it provides (I don’t think it is possible, since we need it for life…. but does it mean it’s using the last bits of the energy left)?

In: 25

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In the question above yours, u/mnxt said: “The digestive tract has a series a sphincters which open and close involuntarily for normal one-way operation. The anal sphincter is the last of them.”

And I replied with what’s essentially your answer: when your stomach is rumbling, it’s farting internally.

This happens when the stomach is working, as described above, and there’s gas in the mixture. Gas bubbles being squeezed along the intestines make them vibrate. It means that your intestines are actively moving stuff along.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Your stomach/intestines are lined with muscles that contract and expand to “churn” and move the contents along, so when you eat the food dampens the sounds.

And when you’ve not eaten anything in a while they are just churning air and digestive fluids in an empty bag. So as it’s pushing more air than food you get bubbles forming and those getting pushed through through your digestive system is what causes the “growling” sound.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Fun fact: The scientific term is borborygmi.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomach_rumble

Anonymous 0 Comments

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