What Makes Our Stomach Growl?
What Makes Our Stomach Growl?
By Lam Shih En, Jobi
Introduction
It is sometimes quite embarrassing if your stomach gives out a loud "growwl" sound when you are hungry, especially when you are in a quiet place with a lot of people around you, such as public library or study room. This article will explain this interesting phenomenon and will see how it is associated with hunger.
 The Cause of Stomach rumbling
Stomach is a muscular bag for digestion. It digests food physically, by the churning action of the muscular wall, and chemically, by secreting chemicals (enzymes) to break down complex food molecules into simpler ones.
Even when there is no food in the stomach, it continues to contract, since the churning action is under our body's autonomic control. During churning, the inner wall of the stomach rubs against each other and this is what causes the familiar rumbling sound.
 Does stomach rumbling only occur when the stomach is empty?
Interestingly, although people usually notice the rumbling sound when they are hungry, hunger is not the only reason for our stomachs to rumble. Our stomach operates at its full capacity after a meal. This will produce some gases when air is mixed with the food. When semi-solid food mixes with these gases, and is being squeezed through the gastrointestinal tract, more air bubbles forms and this gives rise to the "growwl".
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