I read an article yesterday that has me extremely excited about the implications. The article is called ‘Hacking the Nervous System’ by Gaia Vince. In the article, the author describes the experience of a woman who suffered from severe, debilitating rheumatoid arthritis and her eventual treatment with a device which minimized inflammation by simply stimulating the vagus nerve.
What this means, is that by activating the vagus nerve which works through the parasympathetic nervous system, we can greatly influence inflammation and the immune system. The role of the brain on body inflammation can be profound. If you suffer from digestive complaints, high blood pressure, depression or any inflammatory condition, please read on. Let me explain the possible implications step by step.
What is the vagus nerve?
First of all, the vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body which originates in the brain as cranial nerve ten, travels down from the neck and then passes around the digestive system, liver, spleen, pancreas, heart and lungs. This nerve is a major player in the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the ‘rest and digest’ part (opposite to the sympathetic nervous system which is ‘fight or flight’).
The Vagus Nerve travels all the way from the brain to the digestive systemVagal tone
The tone of the vagus nerve is key to activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Vagal tone is measured by tracking your heart-rate alongside your breathing rate. Your heart-rate speeds up a little when you breathe in, and slows down a little when you breathe out. The bigger the difference between your inhalation heart-rate and your exhalation heart-rate, the higher your vagal tone. Higher vagal tone means that your body can relax faster after stress.
What is high vagal tone associated with?
High vagal tone improves the function of many body systems, causing better blood sugar regulation, reduced risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease, lower blood pressure, improved digestion via better production of stomach basic and digestive enzymes, and reduced migraines. Higher vagal tone is also associated with better mood, less anxiety and more stress resilience.
One of the most interesting roles of the vagus nerve is that it essentially reads the gut microbiome and initiates a response to modulate inflammation based on whether or not it detects pathogenic versus non-pathogenic organisms. In this way, the gut microbiome can have an affect on your mood, stress levels and overall inflammation.
What is low vagal tone associated with?
Low vagal tone is associated with cardiovascular conditions and strokes, depression, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, cognitive impairment, and much higher rates of inflammatory conditions. Inflammatory conditions include all autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, endometriosis, autoimmune thyroid conditions, lupus and more).
Breathing exercises are a great way to tone your vagus nerveHow do we increase vagal tone?
In the article above, vagal tone was increased through a device that stimulated the vagus nerve. The good news is that you have access to this on your own, but it does require regular practice. To some degree, you are genetically predisposed to varying levels of vagal tone, but this still doesn’t mean that you can’t change it. Here are some ways to tone the vagus nerve:
- Slow, rhythmic, diaphragmatic breathing. Breathing from your diaphragm, rather than shallowly from the top of the lungs stimulates and tones the vagus nerve.
- Humming. Since the vagus nerve is connected to the vocal cords, humming mechanically stimulates it. You can hum a song, or even better repeat the sound ‘OM’.
- Speaking. Similarly speaking is helpful for vagal tone, due to the connection to the vocal cords.
- Washing your face with cold water. The mechanism here is not known, but cold water on your face stimulates the vagus nerve.
- Meditation, especially loving kindness meditation which promotes feelings of goodwill towards yourself and others. A 2010 study by Barbara Fredrickson and Bethany Kik found that increasing positive emotions led to increased social closeness, and an improvement in vagal tone.
- Balancing the gut microbiome. The presence of healthy bacteria in the gut creates a positive feedback loop through the vagus nerve, increasing its tone.
How to control inflammation with your brainManaging the body’s inflammatory response
The implications of such simple and basic practices on your overall health, and in particular on inflammation are far-reaching. If you suffer from an inflammatory condition, digestive upset, high blood pressure or depression, a closer look at vagal tone is highly recommended.
We’ve known for years that breathing exercises and meditation are helpful for our health, but it is so fascinating to learn the mechanism by which they work. I hope this short article has inspired you to begin a meditation practice, as it has for me, and also to look for other means to manage the body’s inflammatory response.
Intriguing ideas, would love to learn more.
Number 4 is due to the water activating the mammalian dive reflex! It causes our heart rates to drop, BP to lower, and general improvement of oxygenation of the body.
Thanks for explaining this one. Any idea how quickly the heart rate drops or BP lowers and how long the effect lasts? #curious
So excited to see this article. So much we still don’t know or understand about the body and yet in recent years a LOT is emerging to help us be healthier in body, mind and spirit. I do some of these things already but not all, so I have some new things to do. Thanks 🙂
This sounds utterly stupid and brainless. Breathing and speaking are things most people do all day long. How is a nerve toned or not toned? A nerve hurts or is at peace. Claiming this as if it is a cause of CFS and other conditions is a disservice to all those who suffer. Obviously meant to promote selling some device. Complete garbage.
The vagus nerve also causes reflux, nausea, lightheadedness and other terrible feelings when stimulated, even vomiting. I ate some Peking Duck, and the tendrils of scallions irritated my vagus nerve, and when I got home, I threw up all of my birthday dinner, and lost the rest the other way. This kind of pseudo-science pseudo-news disgusts me.
how do you know for sure it was the scallions that irritated your vagus nerve? thats some impressive mind body connection you have it seems… ?!!?!?!?!?!??!?!
Not really. A lot of us have learned exactly the things that cause inflammation in our bodies. Open your mind, sugar.
You seem very angry. Anger is rooted in Fear. You are afraid to die. You are afraid no one will really care when it happens. Your behavior is attracting what you do not want. Change your thoughts and your life will change.
I agree with you, Mary but many times we don’t want to take responsibility for our own lives. It comes from fear.
Well said. What a load of rubbish.
hmm, no. go to webmd then you sheep.
quiet, dunderhead. FOH.
You must be stupid and brainless if you dont get it
When I sleep on my left side i have this throbbing sensation behind my left ear. It feels like heart beat, I suffer from autoimmune disorder, spondylosis, IBS, dry eye syndrome, neck & arm pain. So many neurosurgeons I visited here in UAE , none of them can diagnose the reason of throbbing effect behind my ear, some tell me to put ice on the head, some tells me to take vitamin B, one of them even prescribed high BP medication even though I don’t have BP. Thanks for the article, it explains the cause.
In Islam we are to sleep on our Right side.
The heart is on the left side so sleeping on the left increases pressure on the heart and presumably on your left ear.
Medicine is basically junk made up by fake jews and their money loving doctor friends who form corporations and influence government only for coin.
Then they will tell you that they are your friend and that you should see a doctor and get insurance.
But the reality is that, since you were young, you were warned repeatedly about many things. So many things that you are embroiled in a myriad of problems, and no way out, except, that which you were repeatedly warned about.
Hey JHK: “Medicine is basically junk made up by fake jews”. Can’t you do anything without mentioning anything about how much you hate Jews? This post was about the vagus nerve.
I am friends with Jews and Israeli, but not fake jews.
What are fake Jews?
zios
May all islams get nuked so bad
“What are fake Jews?”
Tweet Trump, he’ll know.
sleeping on the left side actually helps with digestion AND blood flow to the heart. left is best
Yes, Jess, I was going to add this too! Thank you for doing so. I had shoulder surgery (actually 2 of them) and I had to sleep on my back for 6 months with each one. I’m a side sleeper. And I’ve always slept on my left side to start out my slumber, because I’ve usually eaten a couple hours before bed, and it’s easier on my digestion. It was horrible after shoulder surgery when I was stuck on my back! I always suggest to my clients to sleep on their left sides if they have stomach issues. Cheers!
Before stool drops into the colon, it moves from right to left through the transverse colon. Sleep on your left and enjoy your morning dump before you go to work.
Go kick your mohammad left butt
Don’t sleep on your left then. Sounds like your laying on a nerve point.
Does it occur in synchrony with your heart beat? (This is a crucial question).
Great, need to learn much more!
Love your site!! I just wish you had a #pinterest button so I can have it there for now and future reference..
After having out of control pain for so long and trying my best to learn to just live with it….I began to pay attention to my breathing and also immediate meditations when I feel the pain beginning to take hold…it has now become natural to breathe correctly. My pain is nearly completly gone. Articles like this are a blessing.
The author forgot the BIG vagal stimulation–sexual excitement. How could the author have overlooked this? How???
Excelente trabalho ?
What if your vagus nerve was cut during an operation to control ulcers 20 years ago. Is there any help for that problem?
Every problem I have stems from something being inflamed; Asthma, lungs inflamed, Osteoarthritis, joints inflamed, IBS, bowels inflamed. I think maybe I really need this!!!! Thanks.
Hi Fifi, I take a herbal activator that activates a pathway in your body naturally, it will reduce your oxidative stress by 40% within 30 days it works a treat?
What is this hebslvacticatorvand where can I get it
I’ll try just about anything at this stage
I found this article very helpful – I am shocked at the hate comments on this thread though – Just sayin’ –
Very very Goodyear!
Vagus Nerve Stimulators help people prevent epileptic seizures!
I plan to put this into practice. It is truly inspiring to realize the control that we have over our own health.
I use heart-focused breathing for cardiac coherence. (See <heartmath.com) I also have a program on my iPhone that reads the distance between each beat (via an ear clip) that allows me to increase my cardiac coherence and body balance.