5 Ways Vagal Tone Affects Health! And Why It Matters.

5 Ways Vagal Tone Affects Health ☝️

But first….what is vagal tone?

It’s the activity of the vagus nerve, which is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) and counterbalances the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight).

You can think of it as the key to letting stress roll off your back.

The vagus nerve wanders from the brain to all the organs, branching off with thousands of nerve fibers. What’s really cool is the vagus nerve communicates in both directions—both to and from the brain!

Here are just 5 ways vagal tone affects health:

1️⃣ Heart Health

The vagus nerve directly innervates the heart, influencing heart rate and blood pressure. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a direct measurement of vagal tone, with a higher HRV indicating better vagal tone.

2️⃣ Metabolic Health

The vagus nerve communicates from the brain to the gut, liver, pancreas and then back again. It helps to regulate hunger, insulin, blood sugar, lipids, and inflammation. Studies have even linked vagal tone with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

3️⃣ Mood

The vagus nerve is thought to affect mental health through mechanisms related to stress, the gut-brain axis, and inflammation. Vagal nerve stimulation has been researched in people struggling with depression.

4️⃣ Digestion

Gut hormones and neurotransmitters trigger nerve endings in the vagus nerve to send signals back to the brain. In turn, the vagus nerve regulates gut motility, secretions, and more. This is what we call the gut-brain axis!

5️⃣ Healthy Aging

Vagal tone may decrease with age, affecting everything from the heart to the gut to inflammation.

In naturopathic medicine, we are all about looking deeper for the root cause and using the least invasive approaches for the most effective results. Vagal tone is not considered a “cause” of disease, but we are learning more and more about how it affects nearly every aspect of health. Plus, there are simple and free ways to improve vagal tone!

7  Ways to Increase Vagal Tone 💃🕺

The vagus nerve helps regulate everything from heart rate to gut motility to inflammation to mood. When you increase your vagal tone, you send a signal of safety to all your organs so they can function at their best.

Here are some science-backed ways to tone the vagus nerve:

▪️ Deep Breathing

▪️ Meditation

▪️ Yoga

▪️ Massage

▪️ Exercise

▪️ Cold Water Plunge

▪️ Nutrition

These strategies work because the vagus nerve communicates in both directions—both to and from the brain. These practices send signals to the brain that increase activity of the vagus nerve.

That means no more “fight or flight” and a lot more “rest and digest.”

Health doesn’t have to be hard.

Inflammation & Vagal Tone

Have you heard of the inflammatory reflex?

Most people believe the nervous system and immune system function independently.

Not true!

Actually, it was discovered 20 years ago that a reflex involving the vagus nerve helps to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and resolve inflammation.

Since then, clinical trials have successfully used vagal nerve stimulation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

There are a lot of simple ways to increase activity of the vagus nerve, like deep breathing, meditation, and yoga.

Want to know more about how to boost vagal tone?

Nutrition for Vagal Tone

Nutrition for the Vagus Nerve???

It’s true!

Foods can increase vagal tone through the gut-brain axis. For example:

🥦 Fiber sends signals through the vagus nerve to the brain and back to slow gut movements and make us feel full.

🥗 The Mediterranean Diet is associated with higher heart rate variability, which is a measure of vagal tone.

🐟 Probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, and B vitamins improve heart rate variability too.

The vagus nerve regulates everything from heart health to metabolic health to immune function, and it is strongly influenced by what is going on in the gut! That means that anything you do (or eat) to affect gut health will probably also affect vagal tone.

We love to nerd out on how everything in the body is connected. If you are trying to make sense of what is going on with your own health or how your symptoms relate, we can help.

Contact us for info on how to work with us!

Rachel Oppitz, ND