9 Ways To Stimulate Vagus Nerve Function For Better Gut & Mental Health

How does the vagus nerve affect health?

While we know the vagus nerve has many functions, we’re not always completely sure how it works. What we do know: It’s a key player in the parasympathetic nervous system. The more we stimulate the vagus nerve (by deep breathing, for example), the more we enhance the calming effects of the parasympathetic (or “rest and digest”) nervous system and counter the stimulating effects of the sympathetic (or “fight or flight”) nervous system.

The vagus nerve is also a bridge by which the enteric nervous system (or ENS, which governs the function of the GI tract) communicates with the central nervous system (CNS). Together, the ENS and CNS work to control movement of the GI tract, its secretions, immune function for bacteria, and blood flow.

All of which is to say, how well the vagus nerve is functioning—and thus, how well the gut and the brain are communicating—can have an effect on everything from anxiety levels to heart rate to digestion to weight gain, and much more.

What causes your vagus nerve to underperform + signs to watch for.

Poor vagal tone or functioning can have significant health implications. Disruption of vagus nerve function can be caused by excessive stress, disease, certain medications, inflammation, and infections, among other things—and when disrupted, the body has an overall more difficult time relaxing and attending to its primary functions including sleeping, breathing, digestion, and movement of wastes via the GI tract, lungs, and skin.

Among other things, this poor vagal functioning can lead to stagnation and bacterial overgrowth in the GI tract, and, in turn, these “bad” gut microbes may influence the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis via the vagus nerve, which can affect important neuronal cellular activity in the brain and lead to inflammation and neurodegeneration. Which goes to show you how it’s all connected.

But that’s not all. Here are some other problems associated with low vagal tone, or an underperforming vagus nerve:

How to improve gut-brain communication via the vagus nerve and boost.

Fortunately, there are some things we can do on our own to optimize the communication between the brain and the gut by way of the vagus nerve. The steps outlined below can help regulate vagal tone, reduce inflammation (which can suppress vagus nerve function), and ensure overall healthy parasympathetic and sympathetic balance. This, in turn, can help you recover more quickly after periods of stress, improve digestion, and lead to a host of other full-body benefits.