The Vagus Nerve: Your Key to Relaxation and Digestive Wellness

Most people have experienced “butterflies in their stomach” or maybe your stomach has felt like there was a “knot in it”. These sensations aren’t just in your head, they happen due to the connection between your gut and brain via the vagus nerve.

What is the vagus nerve?

The vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in the body, connects your brain to your gut and other key organs like the heart, lungs, and liver. Because this nerve is so long and “wanders” through the body from the brain down to the abdomen, it is known as “wanderer”, the Latin meaning of “vagus”.

The role of the vagus nerve

This nerve is responsible for directing digestion, regulating heart rate, and even influencing your mood and immune response. ₁

The vagus nerve is essential in helping you relax your nervous system. It is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system. When the parasympathetic nervous system is activated our body shifts into a state of relaxation, heart rate and blood pressure decrease, breathing slows down, and we are better able to digest our food and heal from illness.

What affects vagal tone?

• Blood sugar imbalances
• Stress
• Infections
• Trauma
• Brain injury
• Deficit in sleep

It’s important to find ways to strengthen your vagal tone and activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Here are some simple but effective ways to do that:

• Avoid eating carbohydrates alone. Pair them with protein and fat to support more stable blood sugar.
• Deep breathing₂
• Prayer and meditation: Connection to others and compassion for others helps stimulate vagal tone.₃
• Avoiding a refined diet: Eating whole anti-inflammatory foods can increase heart rate variability which is more than likely to stimulate the vagus nerve.₄
• Move daily: Helps to stimulate the vagus nerve which in turn helps to stimulate the digestion of food and the movement of food through the GI tract.₅
• Laughing: Increases heart rate variability which is controlled by the vagus nerve.₆
• Singing, humming, and gargling: Activates and stimulates the muscles connected to the vagus nerve.₇
• Cold water exposure: Acute exposure has been found to stimulate the vagus nerve.₈ Try splashing cold water on your face, or taking a cold shower.

By including these as much as you can into your daily routine, you can help your body shift into a state of relaxation and healing. Additionally, research has shown that increasing vagal tone can help improve digestive function, reduce inflammation, and even relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety.

It’s important to remember that healing only happens in a relaxed or parasympathetic state. By learning ways to increase vagal tone, you can create a foundation for optimal health and well-being.

To summarize, the vagus nerve is an uber-important part of our gut-brain connection and has a significant impact on gut health. By prioritizing activities that support vagal tone, such as deep breathing, prayer and meditation, and laughter, we can improve our overall health.

References

1. Breit, S., Kupferberg, A., Rogler, G., & Hasler, G. (2018). Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain-Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders. Frontiers in psychiatry, 9, 44.
2. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2013/743504/
3. https://healthland.time.com/2013/05/09/why-kindness-can-make-us-happier-healthier/?iid=hl-main-lead
4. Young, H. A., & Benton, D. (2018). Heart-rate variability: a biomarker to study the influence of nutrition on physiological and psychological health?. Behavioural pharmacology, 29(2 and 3-Spec Issue), 140–151.
5. Wang, Y., Kondo, T., Suzukamo, Y., Oouchida, Y., & Izumi, S. (2010). Vagal nerve regulation is essential for the increase in gastric motility in response to mild exercise. The Tohoku journal of experimental medicine, 222(2), 155–163.
6. Dolgoff-Kaspar, R., Baldwin, A., Johnson, M. S., Edling, N., & Sethi, G. K. (2012). Effect of laughter yoga on mood and heart rate variability in patients awaiting organ transplantation: a pilot study. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 18(5), 61–66.
7. Vickhoff, B., Malmgren, H., Aström, R., Nyberg, G., Ekström, S. R., Engwall, M., Snygg, J., Nilsson, M., & Jörnsten, R. (2013). Music structure determines heart rate variability of singers. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 334.
8. Yuan, P. Q., Taché, Y., Miampamba, M., & Yang, H. (2001). Acute cold exposure induces vagally mediated Fos expression in gastric myenteric neurons in conscious rats. American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology, 281(2), G560–G568.