Why you’ve been rumbled

QUESTION Why does your stomach rumble when you’re hungry? THE technical term for abdominal rumblings is borborygmus. The gastrointestinal tract is a hollow tube that runs from mouth to anus; its walls primarily composed of a double layer of smooth muscle.

When the muscles are activated they squeeze and relax in a wavelike motion called peristalsis; this mixes and propels food, gas and fluids slowly through the system so it can be digested.

When this movement passes through the lower stomach and intestines it causes rumbling.

Hunger also causes abdominal rumbling, usually after the stomach and small intestines have been empty for a couple of hours.

In this situation, the receptors in the walls of the stomach sense the absence of food, causing a reflex generation of waves of electrical activity in the enteric nervous system.

These waves travel along the stomach and small intestines and lead to peristaltic contractions. When the intestines are empty, they are a hollow tube, so the sounds are amplified.

These hunger contractions serve the purpose of purging the system of mucus, remaining foodstuffs and bacteria. Stomach rumbles are exacerbated by excessive gas in the intestines or swallowing air while eating, drinking or talking.

Carbonated drinks and foods such as beans, legumes, cabbage, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, garlic, onions, and artichokes encourage the production of intestinal gas.

Heavy meals followed by a lack of exercise can also cause excessive gas. Intolerance to wheat or lactose may also be a problem.

Sarah Downing, havant, hants. QUESTION Is there a tartan that I, as a Sassenach, am entitled to wear? FURTHER to the question regarding whether a Sassenach is entitled to wear tartan, I’d like to point out that most Welsh surnames have a corresponding tartan. These cloths are manufactured in mid-Wales. I have a Jones kilt, which I wear on special occasions.

A Welsh national tartan was designed in 1967, to demonstrate their Celtic heritage.