Why does my stomach growl?

Mine did this morning and for some reason I said to self, why is that happening?  I was hungry but I wondered was it just because I was hungry.   As it turns out, it is not and it was very easy to find out why this happens.   It's an age old question.

According to the website "howstuffworks.com" the human body is an amazing creation, (by One God I believe") which sometimes finds little ways to remind us of what it's doing to keep us alive and well.    One of those things is growling to let us know that the digestive system is at work.

Here's the essence of it.    The digestive system is a long tube that starts at the mouth and ends.......well you know where.   It connects with organs and passages along the way and literally propels food with waves of muscle contractions moving and pushing the contents downward in a process.   In addition to pushing the food down, these contractions also are churning the food, liquid, and different digestive juices together, rendering them into a gooey mix known as chyme.

Stomach growling is the result of this process.    Gasses and air are also a part of the process and while all of these ingredients are getting pushed around and broken down into easily absorbed bits, pockets of air and gas also get squeezed and create the noise we hear.    The growling can happen at any time, not just when you're hungry, but if there's food in your stomach or small intestine, the growling becomes quieter.

The website likens it to putting a pair of tennis shoes in the dryer by themself versus with a load of towels which soften the noise level.

So now I know and you know why our stomach growls.   Mine hasn't growled lately but I still think I'm hungry and I'm going to go get something to eat.   See Ya later.