It鈥檚 time to add two new weapons to your Words With Friends arsenal.
First up: borborygmi (58 points). That鈥檚 the technical term for the grumbling in your stomach. Next, we have peristalsis (50 points). That refers to a wave of muscle contractions that occur in your digestive tract.
鈥淎ll of those noises mostly have to do with your intestinal tract moving,鈥 says gastrointerologist . Your stomach grinds up food, swishing it back and forth into very fine particles before it pushes it down into the upper intestine. 鈥淪o if you鈥檙e getting a grumble in your upper stomach, that鈥檚 just your stomach moving and grinding and churning,鈥 Raymond says.
But if the sound is lower in your belly, 鈥渋t鈥檚 the intestine moving stuff around so you can absorb nutrients in that area,鈥 Raymond says.
Contraction-induced borborygmi can happen 鈥渆very couple of hours as the body moves things along,鈥 says , chair of the USA Track and Field Sports Medicine and Science Committee. Even if you haven鈥檛 eaten, you can still get it. In fact, when you haven鈥檛 eaten for a few hours, peristalsis will occur more frequently to remind you that you鈥檙e hungry.
Swallowing air, whether because you鈥檙e talking, eating, drinking鈥攅specially carbonated beverages鈥攐r hiking a mountain can also induce growling. 鈥淵our GI tract wasn鈥檛 made to absorb the air,鈥 Raymond says. So the gas can make noises as it gets passed along through your stomach and out the other end.
鈥淵our bowels are supposed to make noises, and even though it鈥檚 kind of embarrassing to make those noises in public, it鈥檚 actually OK,鈥 Raymond says. There are, however, circumstances in which a growl could signal an obstruction in your intestinal tract.
鈥淲hat you don鈥檛 want to hear is a high-pitched sound. If you鈥檙e looking at your belly and you can see things move, almost like a snake, that鈥檚 not the right routine,鈥 Raymond says. So if your growl is more of a whistle, or the grumbling is uncomfortable, have a doctor take a look at you.
The bottom line: The growl is likely the result of the contractions your digestive system makes to keep food moving through your body.