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Reading 2 min.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director)
Medical validation:
December 13, 2023
Quite involuntarily, our stomach can sometimes produce noises, such as more or less discreet grunts, which can also make us uncomfortable. But why does our stomach growl? Response from Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo.
Noon is approaching and your stomach is warning you more precisely than a clock: there it is producing more or more discreet gurgling noises without you being able to do much about it. But where does this ventral growling, called borborygmus, come from and is it normal?
A completely normal phenomenon
Rest assured, a gurgling stomach is completely normal and these sometimes annoying noises happen to everyone. It’s a matter of “piping”, the entire digestive system being a hollow tube that is sometimes empty, sometimes filled with food.
Dr Gérald Kierzek, medical director of Doctissimo and author of a new book on lessons in human anatomy, explains it to us:
“Gurgling stomach is usually due to movements of the intestinal muscles and the presence of gas in the digestive system. These noises are normal and can be caused by digestion, contraction of intestinal muscles or the movement of fluids through the digestive tract.
Noises before and during digestion
The noises are above all a sign of digestion being prepared, even before you eat. So, when we are hungry, our brain activates nerves that stimulate the digestive system, and can make us salivate. Then, cells in the stomach and intestines release enzymes to prepare the food for breakdown. Then the stomach then starts to move a bit like a wave to mix all of these chemicals. The air contained in the stomach can then predict a sound, or evoke a rumbling.
But as Dr Kierzek mentions, other phenomena can accentuate these noises.
- When the stomach is practically empty and it fills with liquids (saliva, acid and enzymes), it will tend to become agitated;
- Hunger can also act: the stomach which is waiting for food will move liquids to prepare itself and then create air pockets which collapse. The muscle waves will also push anything in the digestive tract to make room for new food. Again, this causes noise;
- During digestion, the mixtures that are created in the stomach and the air present in the intestine can also make noise, which is still completely normal;
- Finally, gurgling sounds can also happen to us when we swallow air while talking, drinking or eating and it travels into the stomach or intestines.
When should we worry?
A noisy digestive system is therefore a healthy digestive system. However, if these noises are accompanied by pain, discomfort or transit disorders such as diarrhea, it may be a sign of a food intolerance, or a health problem. It is then advisable to discuss it with your doctor.
Also find all the answers you have about the human body in Deyrolle, lessons in anatomy, by Dr Gérald Kierzek, published by Albin Michel.
Slide: Strange noises of the human body