Your body is brilliantly interconnected. That is why we adhere to a functional medicine model Yutopia. It not only allows us to take all aspects of your body into consideration, but paves the way toward helping you wrest back control of your health. One example of your body’s fascinating makeup is your vagal nerve, which plays a vital role in your overall health and wellness. By understanding exactly what the vagal nerve is and how we can use it to our advantage when it comes to our health(specifically our stress levels), we’ll be able to make simple changes that optimize our well-being.

What is the vagal nerve?

You have two vagal nerves: one in the left and one in the right side of your body. They are the longest nerves you have and they travel from the base of your brain down through your heart and into your abdomen. They are attached to almost every major organ.

How does the vagal nerve affect our health?

The vagal nerve plays an important role as the body’s communication highway, carrying information back and forth between the brain and the internal organs. 

1. Stress

During times of stress, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which is a counterpart to the parasympathetic nervous system, is activated. Stimulation of the vagal nerve is linked to a decrease in its physiologically debilitating activity. This means that a decrease in SNS activity through vagal nerve stimulation will help lower your overall stress levels.

2. Digestion

Your vagal nerve is responsible for managing the digestive system by sending signals to your stomach muscles that tell them to contract and push food along your digestive tract into your small intestine.

3. Blood pressure 

Your parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems work with your blood pressure levels to keep a homeostatic balance. Considering your vagal nerve directly influences these two systems, it’s important to pay attention to its health and the ways in which you can improve its activity.

4. Mental health 

Your vagal nerve influences more about your mental health than just stress. Chronic stress can be a trigger for other psychological and physiological ailments such as anxiety and depression. By improving the health of your vagal nerve, you are effectively restoring balance to your parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems to aid in the improvement of your mental health.

5. Relaxation‍

Just like a muscle, vagal tone can be strengthened through regular stimulation. A healthy and strong one yields many benefits such as greater emotional stability, a sense of calm and wellbeing, improved digestion and motility, reduced inflammation and improved ability to deal with stress

At our practitioners will help youactivate the vagal nerve naturally through multidisciplinary interventions.

References:

https://drwillcole.com/brain-health/how-to-strengthen-your-vagus-nerve

https://melbournefunctionalmedicine.com.au/blog/functional-medicine-strategies-for-stimulating-the-vagus-nerve

ttps://drwillcole.com/brain-health/how-to-strengthen-your-vagus-nerve

https://melbournefunctionalmedicine.com.au/blog/functional-medicine-strategies-for-stimulating-the-vagus-nerv

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