I do not eat breakfast often. I do not wake up hungry or feel the need to eat food, in fact, sometimes the idea of eating so soon after waking up makes my stomach turn.  However, after about 2 or 3 hours awake my stomach starts to growl even if I don’t feel hungry.  We all associate the growling noises to be our body telling us that it is time to eat.

Why does it growl?

Growling is a result of your body’s digestive system breaking down food and mixing it with the digestive juices in our system.  Muscles that lie along the whole digestive tract starting from our throat contract and push food down in a process known as peristalsis. The contractions churn and break down food. The resulting mixture of food, liquids, and digestive enzymes is called chyme.

As the mixture is moved around, gases and air are released. The pockets of air and gas that get squeezed around create the “rrooowwwooorrrr” and “grrrrrroooowwwwwllll” noises we hear. Growling happens when we’re not hungry too but if there’s food in our stomach it tends to be quieter. If you haven’t eaten for a while, your body triggers on a “I’m hungry” message to your brain which in turn sends a message to your stomach and intestines. Your digestive system starts to contract its muscles and push air and gas around in preparation for food. The thought, smell, and sight of food can trigger a hunger response.

How about quieting it down?

One way to quiet down a growling stomach is to eat. It’s recommended to eat many small meals instead of a few large ones as this will create less opportunity for your digestive system to feel empty and push air and gases around.  Eating smaller meals will also help keep the “food coma” feeling from happening and energize you rather than make you want to take a nap.

Another way to keep the growling down to a dull roar is to try and eat less gaseous foods.

Keep in mind that if you are experiencing stomach growls and have other systems such as pain, diarrhea, and other abnormal symptoms, it could mean that there is some other issue going on and you should go see your doctor.