Science Questions

Why does your stomach rumble when you are hungry ? Pat, Histon

The rumbling sounds you hear are your stomach gearing up to accept food. Whenever we feel hungry we usually placate our stomachs with some food soon afterwards and so the digestive system prepares itself in advance by releasing digestive juices and increasing the peristalsis of the stomach muscles. When we eat the food dampens the sound of the juices squirting around so the stomach sounds quiet. When we are empty though there is nothing to soak up the sounds and the result can be noisy !

July 2002