05/18/2026
Benjamin Franklin purportedly said the things you can always count on being certain are death and taxes. Today, Iād like to add another: if things get quiet, my stomach is gonna make noises. Take it to the bank. Moments of silence, libraries, pauses in a Sunday School lesson, heck even a Zoom meeting with a decent microphone. Rumble in the Jungle, baby.
Am I hungry? Didnāt eat enough? Ate too much? Gassy? Dehydrated? Full as a tick? Or empty like my truckās gas tank? Yes. The answer is yes.
These tummy tunes are known as āBorborygmiā (pronounced āBoor-bor-rig-myā). The natural noises of your gastrointestinal system moving food, water, air, etc. through the system. Why is the blanket answer āyesā to all the above questions? Because itās occurring ALL THE TIME. There are just certain circumstances in which they may be more audible than other times.
First, contrary to popular belief, the majority of noise doesnāt come from the stomach at all, rather the intestines. In order to move things through the system, the intestines actually FLEX with muscles (no, they donāt have that machine at the gym) in a rhythmic contraction called āperistalsis.ā This undulating, squeezing and relaxing of the gut is noisy. The volume can vary depending on how much solid, liquid or gas itās dealing with. Certain consistencies are more amplified than others. The presence of air can amplify, for example. Gas, being a natural by-product of digesting certain foods (this can vary from person to person WHICH foods, of course), is ever present and can be like handing a megaphone to your high blood pressure football coach. Some conditions like lactose and gluten intolerance, for example, can lead to noisier tummies, because more gas is produced when the body has trouble breaking down those substances. But itās not just the presence of food, it can also be the absence! Think, when the gut is empty, itās ALL AIR. Thereās nothing to dampen the noise of peristalsis ā hence, a hungry tummy āgrowling.ā Speaking of noise dampening, your body type may also come into play. Those with moreā¦um, letās say āinsulationā may have more layers dampening the noises. But not so fast, being larger may work the opposite. If you are one who retains water, it may not dampen the noise, rather change the pitch to some unearthly gurgle! Who knows? Iām no audiologist. Perhaps my musical friends with ears of concert pianists can explain the acoustics better.
So, what can we do? Avoidance of foods that make you gassy (again, this is unique to you), eat reasonable portions at proper intervals and hydrate and eat correct amounts of fiber to help the tract run smoothly. There are gas-x type meds that may help as well as digestion aids that have mixed effects. All this can be sorted out with your doctor. Otherwise, just know this is a natural, ever-present, thing. Sometimes a soothing sirenās song is playing, other times AC/DC is doing a sound check. ā¦I guess practice shouting a well-timed āAmenā in that too-quiet church service.
Yours in Health and Christ, Dr. Kirk
