This is what a growling, rumbling or bubbling belly is telling you
You’re hanging on the couch after a nice dinner when suddenly your belly is making all sorts of disturbing noises: growling, rumbling or bubbling. What is this noise? There are many things that can cause this sound. That is why it is important to recognise the sounds that your belly makes, where the sound comes from, and what is causing it. In this article, we explain what it means when you have a bubbling belly.
Your belly can make a lot of noise sometimes.
1. Gasses
The most common and obvious cause of a bubbling belly is the movement of gasses in your bowels and/or stomach. Your digestive system, so your stomach and bowels, shrink and expand. This traps the gasses, which causes them to make noise. That is the bubbling sound you hear! The contents of your bowels, including gas, is being moved along by the small intestine and you can hear a rumbling or bubbling sound because of that movement. It is actually a kind of little fart, but then inside your belly.
2. Restless belly
A normal and healthy digestion should not make any sounds. Do you have a rumbling belly every evening when you sit down on the couch? Then it is possible that you’ve eaten something that your bowels don’t process all that well or maybe you have some problems with your digestion. Take a close look at your diet and remove the culprit from your meals. It could also be a sign of an allergy, gluten intolerance or lactose intolerance. Don’t you normally have a bubbling belly, but do you have one now? Then you may have eaten something that had gone bad, maybe you have diarrhea or perhaps you are suffering from a stomach flu.
3. Rumbling stomach
Did you eat and drink enough today? A grumbling belly could just mean that you are hungry. If you eat at a certain time every day, your stomach starts to prepare for the food by producing gastric juices and by tensing its muscles. Gorging your food can also cause your belly to rumble. When you don’t chew your food properly, a lot of air gets into your stomach, which can cause it to rumble.
4. Fibre deficiency
When you have a fibre deficiency, your stomach can start to bubble. This could be because you have a very one-tracked eating pattern that does not include a lot of fibre. Having too much fat, protein or carbs in your diet can also cause the bubbling in your belly.
5. Gastro intestinal problems
There are even more causes for a bubbling belly such as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), obstipation or Crohn’s disease when it concerns your bowels. Does the bubbling come from your stomach? Then it could be an indication of a stomach ulcer, a gastric rupture or a gastric acid deficiency.
6. Sloshing stomach and bowels
When you drank a lot of water or ate a lot of soup, you can hear some sloshing in your belly. This is all the fluid that is in your stomach. You can also have sloshing bowels. The fluid gets filtered out of your stool in the large intestine so it is still liquid on the way there. This can cause it to slosh when the fluid is in your bowels.
Tips
What can you do about a growling, rumbling or bubbling belly? When the cause is innocent such as gasses or fluids, we have a few tips for you. Firstly, put sugar and carbs to the side and try and solve it using probiotics. Secondly, eat a sufficiency amount of fibre and try to stay away from processed foods. Thirdly, eat smaller meals at regular set times. Lastly, have some yoghurt, buttermilk, or kefir as these products can calm your bowels. However, do you have a really noisy belly? Then it may be wise to visit your GP in order to make sure that it isn’t a serious condition.
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