In other words, vitamin C increases the ability of the autonomic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, to respond to pressure variations.
Singing, Humming, Chanting and Gargling
The vagus nerve is connected to your vocal cords and the muscles at the back of your throat. Singing, humming, chanting and gargling can activate these muscles and stimulate your vagus nerve. And this has been shown to increase heart-rate variability and vagal tone (12).
An anti-inflammatory diet that generally supports overall health and wellness is likely supportive for vagus nerve health as well. Ensuring adequate sodium and choline intake and avoiding trans fats are good nutritional rules to support vagus nerve function.
What the wellness community recommends for stimulating the vagus nerve—eye movements, meditation, massage, cold-water immersion, and singing and humming—, if it works, is likely to be beneficial through a very simple concept: relaxation.
Eat foods rich in tryptophan.
Dietary tryptophan is metabolized in the gut and may help the astrocytes—cells in the brain and spinal cord—control inflammation, which may improve communication from the gut to the brain via the vagal messenger pathway. These foods include spinach, seeds, nuts, bananas, and poultry.
When the vagus nerve itself gets damaged, you'll obviously deal with some pain in your neck - but other weird symptoms will present themselves as well. You'll notice issues with your voice, problems with your throat, an increased heart rate, brain fog, excessively high or low blood pressure, and gut problems.
There are two main causes of vagus nerve dysfunction: previous infection or inflammation and physical or psychological stress.
Drinking water is also a stimulus to the vagus nerve, and may immediately stop a run of supraventricular tachycardia. Not having enough fluid (what people think of as “dehydration”) is another stimulus for fast heart rates, so some additional fluid is a second reason that water may help, though not instantly.
Herbs: Herbs and supplements that support your nervous system will indirectly support and stimulate your vagus nerve. Ashwagandha, mucuna, and magnesium are just a few ways to naturally support your nervous system.
Zinc maintains healthy nervous system function, especially looking after the vagus nerve, which connects the brain to the body, through which messages of 'calm' are transported.
Sleep on the right side
Lying on the back decreases Vagus Nerve activation, but sleeping on the right side shows greater Vagus Nerve stimulation compared to left side sleeping.
“The mammalian vagus nerve regenerates poorly after injury, which can result in loss of speech, difficulty swallowing, abnormal heart rate, and gastroparesis [improper stomach emptying],” the authors explain. In zebrafish, on the other hand, nerve regeneration is generally very successful.
Based on research results and clinical experience, cervical region tightness can be considered to cause stomach problems through the vagal nerve, and soft tissue relaxation of the cervical region can be a promising treatment method for stomach symptoms.
Results. If you had the device implanted for epilepsy, it's important to understand that vagus nerve stimulation isn't a cure.
Any kind of GI distress can put pressure on the Vagus nerve and irritate it resulting in further problems. An excess of alcohol, spicy foods, and caffeine can inflame the nerve. As we now know, our gut is considered to be our “second brain”, also known as our enteric nervous system.
Both the vagus and the enteric nerves are involved in this gut-brain interaction and can be affected by certain probiotics. The HPA stress response, which regulates mood and emotion, has frequently been shown to be attenuated by probiotics, decreasing corticosteroid (CORT) levels.
We demonstrated that caffeine intake enhances autonomic nerve activities. Although a significant effect of caffeine on the increase in the LC or SNS activity was not observed, modulation of the vagal tone was markedly enhanced 20–30 min after consumption of the caffeine-containing beverages.
The left vagal nerve runs down the left side of your neck, and the right vagal nerve runs down your right side. This nerve extends all the way from your brain to the large intestines: down your neck, through your chest, around your heart, around your lungs, and through your abdomen and intestines.
Aim to get in five minutes a day, throughout the day of the below vagus nerve exercises.