Have you ever heard of the vagus nerve? Well, if you haven’t, then you are not alone. What you should know is vagus nerve plays a vital role in improving your health. This nerve can regulate your peripheral nervous system, setting your body into rest and digest mode. One of the most important nerves is to get your body into rest and digest mode to lower your blood pressure. It also plays one of the most important roles in playing the gut-brain axis, earning quite an important role in the wellness world.

If your vagus nerve is performing sub-optimally, then don’t worry. Some ways can help optimize the communication between the gut and the vagus nerve. The steps outlined below can help stimulate your vagal tone, reduce inflammation and help attain a parasympathetic and sympathetic balance. This can also help deal with periods of stress, improve digestion, and enjoy many health benefits.

Try Meditation or Deep Breathing Techniques

Deep breathing is one of the most simple yet effective hacks to stimulate the vagus nerve. When you can keep your exhales longer than your inhales, the vagus nerve happens to send a signal to your brain and activate the parasympathetic nervous system. You can try this exercise; breath for two counts in and four counts out. You can pause for one count at the top of the inhale and a one-count pause at the bottom of the exhale. And research has proved that meditation has the power to improve pain, sleep, anxiety, appetite, and gastrointestinal function as you impact your vagal tone.

The Power of Yoga

Research shows that if you take part in regular moderate exercise such as yoga, it can increase gastric motility and ensure the smooth gastric muscle’s contractions that are key to enable the movement of food and help it pass through the digestive tract. You can do it by stimulating the vagus nerve.

The Benefits of a Cold Shower

Round off your shower with a one-minute blast of cold water. This will stimulate your vagus nerve. You can even head out when it’s chilly. Studies show that acute cold exposure can activate the vagus nerve, impact various neurons on the vagus nerve pathway, and help move toward parasympathetic nervous system activity.

Consume Tryptophan Rich Foods

Dietary tryptophan gets metabolized in the gut and causes an impact on the astrocytes, the brain cells, and the spinal cord. This cell can control inflammation and improve communication between the brain and gut, which happens via the vagal messenger pathway. Some of the foods you can try are spinach, nuts, seeds, bananas, and poultry.

Drop The Extra Weight

Obesity and gut inflammation has the potency to impact your vagal activity and also affect the connection between the brain and the GI tract. So if you’re overweight, you can take up sustainable practices that can ensure long-term weight loss. The best way to lose extra weight is to move your body daily and eat a diet high in various vegetables and fruits. Don’t forget to add nuts, seeds, and legumes. Better still, adopt the Mediterranean diet, one of the healthiest diets in the world.

Ditch Sugar From Your Diet

Excessive sugar is the number one cause of chronic inflammation. Excessive inflammation can impact the cellular feedback loops and other signaling pathways. The loopholes in the GI tract mucosal lining allow the pathogens to enter and impact the gut-brain axis. It is important to lower your sugar intake and slowly reduce it to a minimum.

Take Probiotics

Reducing your sugar intake can ensure a healthy gut and help regulate proper gut-brain signaling. You can increase your probiotic intake by adding more fermented foods or popping in a probiotic supplement. Research also shows that a wide variety of good bugs in the gut can activate the vagus nerve. It can also increase GABA production and reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.

You cannot ignore the power of a vagus nerve that has the power to impact several functions of your body. Just singing out loud, chanting, spending some time in nature are some of the other ways of activating your vagus nerve. We hope these tips come in handy. Don’t forget to discuss these tips with your healthcare provider before embracing them.