Sometimes in the middle of a quiet moment, do you hear your stomach making the weirdest of noises? There are gurgles and churns and you can’t help but wonder what is it that is causing your digestive organ to make such noises?
Well, you have come to the right place and before we begin to explain why this happens and how you could get rid of them, please know that it’s something that everyone gets! It’s not a big issue, but sometimes, the gurgling might be an indication of a bigger problem.
[Also Read: Causes Of Abdominal Pain]
Know more about these gurgles and how to get rid of them:
Causes
There might be a number of reasons why your tummy might start rumbling and gurgling. We have jotted down these reasons and if your tummy just gurgled, the reason might be right here:
1. Stomach Muscle Contraction
Our stomach is the most important organ for digestion. When we consume any kind of solid or liquid, this will pass through our food pipe and go into the stomach. Here the process of digestion begins. The most common reason of gurgling in your stomach is when there is a passage of liquid, air and food primarily in the small intestine and occasionally into the colon too. This process is technically termed peristalsis and occurs for every human being.
2. After Eating and Drinking
Like we mentioned above, when you have had a particularly heavy meal, this will take some time to be digested by your stomach. Your stomach will take all this food, churn it with the help of the digestive juices and enzymes and ultimately help you get all the calories from the food. Sometimes, certain kinds of foods – like carbonated beverages can contribute to louder noises, but there is nothing to worry about.
3. Overactivity Within The Gut
When there is an increase in the bowel activity of your stomach, this can also lead to a lot of stomach gurgling sounds. Sometimes this may also be due to gastroenteritis or when your intestine gets inflamed. A severe bout of food poisoning may lead to nausea, bloating and diarrhea, thus leading to your stomach gurgles. Having alcohol or when you are on different types of medication, your gut may get upset thus contributing to rumbling and churning noises. There might be any reason why your bowel activity is on an overdrive and anxiety or stress might be one of the reasons.
4. Blockages Within The Gut
Sometimes you might get blockages in your intestines (either small or big) and this may lead to obstruction of the food through the gut. These obstructions are the reasons why you might get these gurgling noises. The bigger the blockages, the louder the noises.
5. Sedentary lifestyle
In today’s world, most of us live a very sedentary lifestyle. There is no exercise, we binge on junk food and we are often leading a very sluggish lifestyle. As a result, our digestion stops being effective and even our metabolism slows down. Intestinal motility is on an all time low thus causing our tummies to rumble and grumble.
6. Eating Too Fast
When you eat too fast, you have swallowed food in bigger chunks and your stomach is having difficulty in digesting it. It is advised to eat the food slowly and chew down all the pieces to ensure that your tummy finds it easier to digest the food. Digesting bigger pieces may cause those gurgling sounds in your stomach.
7. Eating Too Much Sugar
Sugar is probably one of the unhealthiest substances we can’t do without and having excess of it is even worse. When you include too much sugar in your diet, the body finds it very difficult to digest the fructose. There is increased activity in your tummy and as a result your stomach will start making those churning noises.
8. Carbonated Drinks And Fast Food
Carbonated drinks and fast food contain a lot of preservatives and harmful substances that can contribute to acidity, stomach upsets and indigestion. These should be avoided as far as possible. Consuming these will result in making your stomach work on an overdrive and hence causing rumbling sounds. Nothing to worry, just reduce your intake of all the unhealthy food!
9. Hunger
The good ol’ hunger- another reason why you might feel that your tummy is rumbling. When you are very hungry, the digestive juices in your stomach have nothing to process and hence they keep churning and trying to remind the brain that you should start eating something to stop the hunger pangs.
10. Diarrhea
You get diarrhea bouts when you have had something contaminated or when some food did not go down well with your stomach. Stomach starts gurgling when the intestines try to pass the stool from the body. It might also be due to infections like gastroenteritis and you should get checked as soon as possible.
13. Food Intolerance
Certain types of food may not agree with all of us. For instance, cheese is a food item that can often cause allergies or make your tummy work overtime. When you are intolerant to a particular kind of food, as soon as you have it, your stomach juices will try and digest it. Since your body does not agree to it, your enzymes will find it much harder to digest, thus causing such noises.
14. Excessive Gas & Fluids
Sometimes due to digestive activity on certain kinds of foods or when you end up swallowing a lot of air or when there is some kind of bacteria overgrowth, you may end up getting gas. This gas makes the stomach gurgle and you may also experience a lot of flatulence and belching.
The above reasons are why you might experience your stomach making some gurgling or churning noises. These are highly irritating and sometimes may cause embarrassment too. The steps below will help you to stop those pesky noises.
How To Stop Stomach Growling
Here are some very nifty and easy tips to stop your tummy from embarrassing you with weird noises!
- Drinking Water: Always drink water to help your stomach with digestion. Increase in the fluids will help the enzymes to work better in digesting the food.
- Healthy Diet: Consuming food that is unhealthy or food that does not go well with the body causes most stomach problems. Stick to fresh fruits and vegetables to ease your digestion and also promote healthy lifestyle.
- Herbal Tea After The Meal: Herbal teas and concoctions are great for digestion as well as increasing your metabolism. Have a good and warm cup of herbal tea every morning or before retiring to bed and make your digestion process easier.
- Eat Jaggery And Ginger: Ginger is a great therapeutic herb that works to ease digestion. Since it is a very strong herb, mixing a few slivers with jaggery and chewing on them will prevent stomach gurgling.
- Try Carom Seeds: Carom seeds are popularly known as ajwain. They can help with the digestion process and make it easier for your stomach to calm down after an upset. Chew some ajwain seeds to get instant relief from acid or indigestion.
- Physical Activity: Having good physical activities throughout the day will ensure that your digestion is in top form and thus, no stomach gurgles either!
- Stress Management: Anxiety, nervousness etc. can also take a toll on your body and might culminate as stomach gurgles. Manage your stress better to avoid rumblings and grumblings of your tummy.
- Do Not Drink Or Smoke: Smoking and drinking can take a toll on your body and other organs. Hence, you should always avoid these two vices.
- Maintain Good Hygiene: Washing your hands before eating food and eating clean, fresh food will ensure that you do not get any stomach bugs or food poisoning and hence no stomach gurgles either.
- Avoid Wearing Tight Belts: Tight belts restrict your stomach and prevent the digestion process from occurring properly. Hence, try and keep your belts loose.
- Get A Good Night’s Sleep: We mentioned earlier that having sleep deprivation might affect your stomach adversely. Get some good sleep every night (for 6 hours minimum) to ensure a healthy life.
All the above remedies work well, but prevention is the best cure, isn’t it? Here are some preventive measures:
Prevention
A healthy lifestyle coupled with good food and a good dose of exercise is essential to prevent your stomach from gurgling. Ensure that you follow a strict lifestyle for preventing further occurrences.
[Also Read: Benefits Of Carom Seeds]
When to See a Doctor
Sometimes following a good lifestyle may not be the only cure. You may need to follow up with a doctor in case your gurgling does not stop for even two or three days. Plus, if you have nausea, vomiting and bloating along with fever and fatigue, you should call a doctor as soon as possible.
A gurgling stomach isn’t that much of a big deal provided you know how to prevent it and how to cure it. This article is a comprehensive collection of all the reasons why you might get a gurgling stomach and the best ways to cure it. Do comment if you felt that this article was useful for you.
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