How to Make Your Stomach Stop Growling

Understanding Why Your Stomach Growls

Stomach growling, medically known as borborygmi, is a normal bodily function that happens to nearly everyone. The sound occurs when your digestive system contracts and moves gas, liquids, and partially digested food through your stomach and small intestine. According to the American Gastroenterological Association, these sounds are completely normal and typically occur every 15 to 90 seconds throughout the day and night.

Your stomach produces these noises even when you're not hungry. The muscle walls of your stomach and intestines are constantly moving in a wave-like pattern called peristalsis. This process helps break down food and move it through your digestive tract. When your stomach is empty, these contractions become more pronounced and create louder sounds because there's less food to muffle the noise.

Certain conditions make stomach growling more noticeable. When you haven't eaten for several hours, your body releases hormones that signal your stomach to prepare for digestion. This triggers stronger muscle contractions. Additionally, if you consume carbonated beverages, you introduce extra gas into your digestive system, which can amplify growling sounds. Eating too quickly or too much at one time can also increase the intensity of stomach noises because your digestive system works harder to process the food.

Understanding the basic mechanics of stomach growling helps you recognize that it's not a sign of something wrong with your body. Most cases are simply your digestive system doing its job. However, when growling becomes persistent, accompanied by pain, or disrupts your daily life, it's worth exploring solutions.

Practical Takeaway: Stomach growling is your digestive system contracting and moving food through your body. The sounds are louder when your stomach is empty because there's nothing to muffle the noise. Recognizing this normal process can reduce worry about occasional growling.

Eating Regular Meals and Snacks

One of the most straightforward ways to reduce stomach growling is to maintain a consistent eating schedule. Research from the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics shows that people who eat at regular intervals experience fewer intense stomach contractions between meals. When you go long periods without food, your body interprets this as preparation time and ramps up digestive activity, leading to more noticeable growling.

Aim to eat something roughly every three to four hours. This doesn't mean large meals—smaller, balanced portions throughout the day work better for many people. For example, eating breakfast at 7 a.m., a mid-morning snack at 10 a.m., lunch at 1 p.m., an afternoon snack at 4 p.m., and dinner at 7 p.m. keeps your digestive system steadily occupied. This pattern prevents the empty stomach contractions that cause the loudest growling.

The type of food you eat matters as well. Foods that take longer to digest—those containing protein, healthy fats, and fiber—keep your stomach feeling fuller longer and provide more consistent digestive activity. Examples include:

• Greek yogurt with berries and nuts
• Whole grain bread with peanut butter
• Cheese and whole grain crackers
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Hummus with vegetables
• Almonds or other nuts
• Cottage cheese with fruit

Avoid skipping breakfast, which can set off a chain reaction of hunger and stomach growling throughout the morning. A study published in Nutrients magazine found that people who ate breakfast had less intense hunger signals and fewer episodes of loud stomach sounds compared to those who skipped it.

Practical Takeaway: Eating small meals or snacks every three to four hours keeps your stomach occupied and reduces growling. Choose foods with protein, fat, and fiber to maintain satisfaction longer between meals.

Staying Hydrated Throughout the Day

Drinking water and other fluids plays an important role in managing stomach growling. When your stomach is empty, it has nothing to process, which leads to more pronounced muscle contractions and louder sounds. Consuming liquids, particularly water, gives your digestive system something to work with and can muffle those contractions. Additionally, dehydration can trigger hunger signals in your brain, making your stomach more likely to growl.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that adequate daily fluid intake is about 15.5 cups for men and 11.5 cups for women, though individual needs vary based on activity level and climate. A significant portion of this can come from food, especially water-rich options like fruits and vegetables, but drinking water throughout the day is still important.

Timing your water intake strategically can reduce stomach growling. Drinking a glass of water when you first notice growling signals your stomach that food is coming, which can temporarily reduce the intensity of contractions. Sipping water slowly throughout the day maintains consistent digestive activity. However, drinking large amounts of water right before or during activities where stomach sounds would be embarrassing (like presentations or meetings) may not provide sustained relief.

Be cautious with certain beverages. Carbonated drinks like soda and sparkling water create extra gas in your digestive system, which can actually increase stomach noise rather than reduce it. Coffee and tea can stimulate digestive activity and hunger hormones, potentially making growling worse if consumed on an empty stomach. Sugary drinks may spike blood sugar and trigger hunger signals more quickly than water or unsweetened beverages.

Herbal teas like ginger or peppermint tea can serve double duty—providing hydration while also supporting digestive function. These teas have been used traditionally to calm the digestive system, though research on their specific effects on stomach growling is limited.

Practical Takeaway: Drinking water throughout the day helps reduce stomach growling by giving your digestive system something to process. Avoid carbonated and sugary drinks, which may worsen the problem.

Choosing the Right Foods and Eating Habits

What you eat significantly influences how much your stomach growls. Certain foods are digested more slowly, providing sustained fullness and reducing the empty-stomach contractions that cause noise. Foods high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats remain in your stomach longer, creating a consistent digestive process that's quieter than the intense contractions of an empty stomach.

Complex carbohydrates like oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole wheat bread digest more slowly than refined carbohydrates like white bread or sugary cereals. According to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, meals containing complex carbohydrates produce smaller, more regular digestive movements compared to simple carbohydrates, which can trigger larger, more audible contractions.

Here are foods that tend to reduce stomach growling:

• Lean proteins: chicken, fish, turkey, tofu
• Legumes: beans, lentils, chickpeas
• Whole grains: oats, quinoa, barley, brown rice
• Healthy fats: avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds
• Vegetables: leafy greens, broccoli, carrots, bell peppers
• Fruits: bananas, apples, berries (with skin when possible)
• Dairy: milk, yogurt, cheese

How you eat is equally important as what you eat. Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly helps your digestive system process food more efficiently. When you eat quickly, you swallow larger pieces of food that require more intense digestive contractions to break down. A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that people who chewed each bite at least 30 times had reduced stomach sounds compared to those who chewed minimally. Eating slowly also allows your brain time to register fullness, which can prevent overeating that strains your digestive system.

Portion size matters too. Eating very large meals can overwhelm your digestive system and actually cause more pronounced contractions as your body works to process the excess food. Moderate portions of nutrient-dense foods provide better results than either very small portions (which leave your stomach empty) or very large portions (which create digestive strain