The Vagus Nerve: Stress is Not in Your Head, it's in Your Nervous System

The vagus nerve is the most important nerve you probably didn’t know you had. Unlike the other Vegas, what happens in this vagus doesn’t stay there. The vagus nerve is a long meandering bundle of motor and sensory fibers that links the brain stem to the heart, lungs, and gut. It also branches out to touch and interact with the liver, spleen, gallbladder, ureter, female fertility organs, neck, ears, tongue, and kidneys. It powers up our involuntary nerve center—the parasympathetic nervous system—and controls unconscious body functions, as well as everything from keeping our heart rate constant and food digestion to breathing and sweating. It also helps regulate blood pressure and blood glucose balance, promotes general kidney function, helps release bile and testosterone, stimulates the secretion of saliva, assists in controlling taste and releasing tears, and plays a major role in fertility issues and orgasms in women.

Vagus nerve dysfunction can result in a whole host of problems including obesity, irregular heartbeat, difficulty swallowing, gastrointestinal diseases, fainting, mood disorders, B12 deficiency, chronic inflammation, impaired cough, and in some cases seizures.

The vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to improve conditions such as:

· Anxiety disorder

· Heart disease

· Tinnitus

· Obesity

· Alcohol addiction

· Migraines

· Alzheimer’s

· Leaky gut

· Bad blood circulation

· Mood disorder

· Cancer

Sometimes the vagus nerve overreacts to certain stress triggers, such as:

· exposure to extreme heat

· fear of bodily harm

· the sight of blood or having blood drawn

· straining, including trying to having a bowel movement

· standing for a long time

The vagus nerve stimulates certain muscles in the heart that help to slow heart rate. When it overreacts, it can cause a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure, and more. By wandering and branching throughout the body, the vagus nerve provides the primary control for the nervous system's parasympathetic division: the rest-and-digest counterpoint to the sympathetic nervous system's fight-or-flight response. When the body is not under stress, the vagus nerve sends commands that slow heart and breathing rates and increase digestion. In times of stress, control shifts to the sympathetic system, which produces the opposite effect. The vagus nerve also carries sensory signals from internal organs back to the brain, enabling the brain to keep track of the organs' actions.

THE BRAIN GUT AXIS

Large divisions of the vagus nerve extend to the digestive system. About 10% to 20% of the vagus nerve cells that connect with the digestive system send commands from the brain to control muscles that move food through the gut.The movement of those muscles is then controlled by a separate nervous system embedded within the walls of the digestive system. The remaining 80% to 90% of the neurons carry sensory information from the stomach and intestines to the brain. This communication line between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract is called the brain-gut axis, and it keeps the brain informed about the status of muscle contraction, the speed of food passage through the gut and feelings of hunger or satiety. The vagus nerve is so closely entwined with the digestive system that stimulation of the nerve can improve irritable bowel syndrome. This brain-gut axis has another counterpart — the bacteria that live inside the intestines. This microbiome communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve, affecting not just food intake but also mood and inflammation response, the results are striking and show that changes in the microbiome may cause changes in the brain.

11 Vagus Nerve Stimulation Techniques

The vagus nerve doesn’t need to be shocked into shape. It can also be toned and strengthened similar to a muscle. Here are some simple things you can do that might improve your health markedly:

1. Positive Social Relationships – A study had participants think compassionately about others while silently repeating positive phrases about friends and family. Compared to the controls, the meditators showed an overall increase in positive emotions like serenity, joy, and hope after completing the class. These positive thoughts of others led to an improvement in vagal function as seen in heart-rate variability. The results also showed a more toned vagus nerve than when simply meditating.

2. Cold – Cold exposure such as cold showers or face dunking stimulates the nerve. Studies show that when your body adjusts to cold, your fight or flight (sympathetic) system declines and your rest and digest (parasympathetic) system increases–and this is mediated by the vagus nerve. Any kind of acute cold exposure including drinking ice cold water will increase vagus nerve activation.

3. Gargling – Another home remedy for an under-stimulated vagus nerve is to gargle with water. Gargling actually stimulates the muscles of the pallet which are fired by the vagus nerve. This has been shown to immediately improve working memory performance.

4. Singing And Chanting – Humming, mantra chanting, hymn singing, and upbeat energetic singing all increase heart rate variability (HRV) in slightly different ways. Essentially, singing is like initiating a vagal pump sending out relaxing waves. Singing at the top of your lungs works the muscles in the back of the throat to activate the vagus. Singing in unison, which is often done in churches and synagogues, also increases HRV and vagus function. Singing has been found to increase oxytocin, also known as the love hormone because it makes people feel closer to one another.

Compassion meditation has been shown to result in a more toned vagus nerve.

5. Massage – You can stimulate your vagus nerve by massaging your feet and your neck along the carotid sinus, located along the carotid arteries on either side of your neck. A neck massage can help reduce seizures. A foot massage help can lower your heart rate and blood pressure. A pressure massage can also activate the vagus nerve. These massages are used to help infants gain weight by stimulating gut function, largely mediated by activating the vagus nerve.

6. Laughter – Happiness and laughter are natural immune boosters. Laughter also stimulates the vagus nerve. There are various case reports of people fainting from laughter and this may be from the vagus nerve/parasympathetic system being stimulated too much. Fainting can come after laughter as well as urination, coughing, swallowing or bowel movement—all of which are helped along by vagus activation.

7. Yoga And Tai Chi — Both increase vagus nerve activity and your parasympathetic system in general. Studies have shown that yoga increases GABA, a calming neurotransmitter in your brain. Researchers believe it does this by “stimulating vagal afferents (fibers),” which increase activity in the parasympathetic nervous system. This is especially helpful for those who struggle with anxiety or depression.

8. Breathing Deeply And Slowly — Your heart and neck contain neurons that have receptors called baroreceptors, which detect blood pressure and transmit the neuronal signal to your brain. This activates your vagus nerve that connects to your heart to lower blood pressure and heart rate. Slow breathing, with a roughly equal amount of time breathing in and out, increases the sensitivity of baroreceptors and vagal activation. Breathing around 5-6 breaths per minute in the average adult can be very helpful.

9. Exercise – Exercise increases your brain’s growth hormone, supports your brain’s mitochondria, and helps reverse cognitive decline. But it’s also been shown to stimulate the vagus nerve, which leads to beneficial brain and mental health effects. Mild exercise also stimulates gut flow, which is mediated by the vagus nerve.

10. Enemas — Enemas are like sprints for your vagus nerve. Expanding the bowel increases vagus nerve activation, as is done with enemas. This cleansing is accomplished by increasing the liver’s capacity to detoxify toxins in the blood and binding them to the bile. In the process, the liver cleanses itself as it releases the toxic bile into the small, then large, intestine for evacuation. The entire blood supply circulates through the liver every three minutes. By retaining the coffee 12 to 15 minutes, the blood will circulate four to five times for cleansing, much like a dialysis treatment. The water content of the coffee stimulates intestinal peristalsis and helps to empty the large intestine with the accumulated toxic bile.

11. Relax – Learning how to chill may be the No. 1 thing to help keep your vagus nerve toned. The most relaxing activities will stimulate the vagus nerve.

#knowledgeispower #takecontrolofyourlife #vagusnerve #mindbodysoul

Resource: Medical Journal Inc & Healthy Life.