The most widespread emotion experienced in today’s world just might be anxiety. This is of no surprise given how stressful things are these days. The accelerated pace of life can impact our lives whether we are ready or not. The questions we need to ask ourselves are: how does our human nervous system cope with all this rapid change? How do we cope with anxiety? How do we cope with trauma? How do we cope with the stress of everyday life? Improving vagal tone can help us deal with and heal from these issues. Being in a constant state of “fight or flight” or even of “freeze” is an indication that support is needed for improving vagal tone.

What Is the Vagus Nerve?

The vagus nerve is part of the very complex human nervous system. The human nervous system is comprised of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). The brain and spinal cord make up the CNS, and the Somatic and Autonomic Nervous Systems make up the PNS. The Autonomic Nervous System supports the internal organs, and the Somatic Nervous System sends information from the senses to the brain and muscles.

The vagus nerve is the main nerve and control center of the PNS. It is the longest nerve of the Autonomic Nervous System, extending from the brain through the cervical spine to the heart, lungs and gastrointestinal system. Because of its extraordinary length, the vagus nerve impacts a significant portion of the body and body organs.

What Does the Vagus Nerve Do?

The word “vagus” literally means “wandering” in Latin, and the vagus nerve does exactly that: It wanders through the body. It is the 10th cranial nerve, and cranial nerves are responsible for sending information between the brain and parts of the body such as the head and neck and all the senses such as vision, taste, smell and hearing. The vagus nerve also receives information from these organs and transmits them back to the brain. Therefore, the vagus nerve is a two-way street of communication. It essentially connects the brainstem to the body.

The primary function of the vagus nerve is to keep the body calm after a very stressful situation and activate the “rest and digest” state of the PNS. Only in this state can there be optimal health and wellbeing, so it is important to support the vagus nerve, strive to have optimal functioning vagus-nerve health, and have good vagal tone. When the vagus nerve is stimulated, there is a sense of calm and feeling of being more regulated which helps reduce anxiety and improve overall well-being. It is really the key to optimum health and wellness.

Historically, the vagus nerve was known as the pneumogastic nerve because of its connection to the lungs and the gastrointestinal system. Right from inception, the most interesting fact about the vagus nerve is that it has a two-way communication going on between the brain and the heart, lungs, stomach and intestines. The communication the vagus nerve has with these organs is important for bodily functioning and transpires without a person realizing that the process is going on.

The Brain and Gastrointestinal Tract

Communication between the brain and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract through the vagus nerve is unique and creates a unique situation. The vagus nerve is very sensitive to any kind of stress such as long periods of physical, mental or emotional stress. It is quite easy to damage the vagus nerve because the nerve is so long and affects many areas and so much can happen in the body.

Because of the two-way communication abilities of the vagus nerve, the gut sends communication to the brain through the vagus nerve. If the gut is inflamed from poor food choices and inappropriate dietary practices, then the gut’s ability to communicate through the vagus nerve is impaired, and the brain will experience brain fog.

The Role of Food on Mood

Foods can have an enormous impact on our GI tract prohibiting the production of serotonin, which is why some foods can affect mood. Serotonin is made from the essential amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is produced from plant-based sources such as leafy greens, sunflower seeds, watercress, soybean, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms, broccoli and peas. If the diet creates inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, then the production of tryptophan is affected which in turns affects the production of serotonin which affects mood.

Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter that not only affects mood, but also memory, sleep, digestion, nausea, wound healing, bone health, blood clotting and sexual desire. Serotonin is also vital in the regulation of the vagus nerve. If the gut is inflamed from an inflammatory diet, then the vagus nerve is unable to communicate well with the brain. This lack of communication may result in a variety of conditions such as:

• Depression
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
• Enterocolitis
• Other gastrointestinal symptoms

Nervous System Dysregulation

Nervous system dysregulation is another issue that may occur when the vagus nerve does not communicate efficiently with the brain. It occurs when there is an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of the autonomic nervous system. In extreme cases, seizure activity could occur, but more common situations conditions such as dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), insomnia, obesity, migraines, anxiety, chronic pain, gastrointestinal distress and high or low blood pressure may occur in most situations.

The two-way communication the vagus nerve represents is an important link between nutrition and psychiatric disorders, nutrition and neurological disorders, and nutrition and inflammatory diseases. If the vagus nerve is impaired, there is a domino effect on many physical, neurological, psychiatric, and emotional functions that can occur in the body, as well as stress-induced inflammatory diseases.

What Does the Vagus Nerve Affect?

Because the vagus nerve connects so many different systems and organs within the body, it affects numerous bodily functions such as:

• Motor function such as neck muscles and muscles for swallowing
• Parasympathetic response such as controlling digestion, heart rate and blood pressure
• Relaxation
• Cortisol release through the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis
• Communication within the gut-brain-immune system axis
• Sending of anti-inflammatory signals to other parts of the body
• Management of fear response to deal with stress, anxiety and freeze mode
• Maintainence of intestinal integrity
• Regulation of food intake and satiety
• Regulatation of energy, stability and social-emotional functioning

For those that have “tried everything” for healing from a chronic health condition and are still experiencing problems with sleep, digestion, coping and infections, one of the missing keys may be the condition of the vagus nerve. The solution might be to improve vagal tone.

Signs of Good Vagal Tone

When the vagus nerve is strong and healthy and functioning well, then there is good vagal tone. Having healthy digestion and regular motility – meaning digesting food easily and having daily bowel movements without constipation – is a good sign that the brain is communicating well with the gut and vice versa so the vagus nerve. Another sign is how well a person deals with stress. If there is stress without being overwhelmed or without shutting down, then this is a good indication that the nervous system can switch easily from a “fight or flight” situation and return to its parasympathetic state.

Having a peaceful disposition and being generally content, “chilled out” and grounded are all signs of good vagal tone. These states allow one to operate from a rational state of mind so that when challenges arise, stress is handled without anxiety or depression. One is up for the challenge.

Chronic health conditions, hormonal imbalances, chronic constipation, gut issues such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, SIBO and many others can make it difficult to have good vagal tone. Sometimes changing the diet, daily exercise routine, taking probiotics and supplements, minerals, and vitamin C are just not enough, so supporting and activating your vagus nerve may be the last-ditch effort to try to attain optimal health. It is certainly worth a try if nothing else is working. Increasing your vagal tone can restore a person’s digestion, mood, and coping abilities to handle stress. The added benefit is that it can also help increase the effectiveness of probiotics, vitamins and minerals and facilitate all of them working better together.

Choline for the Vagus Nerve

Choline is the main essential neurotransmitter in the body and the most important nutrient that supports the vagus nerve. It is needed to make acetylcholine, vitamin B12, magnesium, calcium, sodium (real mineralized salt) and omega 3 fats. Animal food has been also found to be the best source to get dietary choline because most plant sources have very low amounts and may be poorly absorbed. Foods such as eggs, red meat, liver, chicken, fish and sunflower seeds are found to be the best food sources of choline.

One of the highest rated nutritional sources of acetylcholine is high quality BodyBio Phosphatidylcholine. The uniqueness of this brand of choline is that the body can decide whether to break it down into choline or phospholipids or just leave it in its whole form in our cell membranes. Each of our cells have a cell membrane that needs to remain intact so that our nutrients do not leach out of our cells because our cell membrane is leaky. The cell membrane needs choline to maintain it’s integrity and keep our nutrients in our cells.

How to Improve Vagal Tone

Stimulating the vagus nerve is not very difficult. Certain activities can be incorporated very easily into your daily routine and specific nutrition for the vagus nerve can also be added to your daily protocol to reinforce the activities for a more powerful effect to assist in supporting the vagus nerve.

• Hugging
• Cuddling
• Humming
• Listening to certain sound frequencies such as the Safe and Sound Protocol
• Acupuncture
• EMDR
• Massage

By incorporating these simple activities into a child’s daily routine, parents and teachers can help to stimulate the vagus nerve and promote feelings of calm and relaxation. These activities can be especially helpful for children who have more anxiety and fear in them, helping them to feel more regulated and better able to cope with stress.

Befriending Your Vagus Nerve

Miifa Jannika Sarimo wrote her thesis on Befriending Your Vagus Nerve: A Storybook for Children. She has written very insightful literature on how educating children about the vagus nerve with simple natural ways of stimulating the vagus nerve is very effective. She fills her storybook with kid-friendly illustrations and stories for elementary school children called “Wake Up Your Vagus Nerve”.

In the book, she describes simple breathing exercises through poetry, easy yoga poses, walking, running, swimming, dancing, hopscotch, jumping rope, minigolf, climbing, bicycling, skateboarding, skating, skiing, sledding are all different ways of exercising to wake up your vagus nerve. Other activities such as neck massages, singing and laughing, cold water splashing face and neck, cold showers, swimming in cold water, water balloon games, snow fights and making snow angels all activate the vagus nerve.

Polyvagal Theory

Stephen Porges PhD is the developer of polyvagal theory, which he explains as the science of safety and trauma. Dr. Porges believes that trauma responses and learned behaviors become integrated into the nervous system. Polyvagal theory is a new understanding of how the nervous system works which explains trauma, social behavior and how to feel safe. Feeling safe is necessary for living a good life and bonding with others, which is necessary for good health. When people don’t feel safe, they don’t think critically. So, feeling safe is the way someone can jumpstart the healing process.

Dr. Porges says the common response to trauma is not to run but to freeze, which is similar to the teachings of Amie Apigian MD MS MPH​, who developed the Biology of Trauma®​ . Dr. Porges believes trauma is a physiological issue just not psychological. He coined the term “neuroception” which allows us to physically control our own bodies in response to trauma and give us a sense of safety.

We can physically control our bodies against the “freeze” trauma reaction by activating the vagus nerve. When the vagus nerve is activate, the brain can calm down through breathing exercises, yoga, meditating, singing and other activities described above. Feeling safe is crucial because it:

• Improves productivity
• Makes life more relaxing and enjoyable
• Allows for better sociability
• Allows bodily functions to operate well
• Optimizes the entire human experience

The Safe and Sound Protocol

The Safe and Sound Protocol was developed by Stephen Porges as a system that uses different sound frequencies for:

• Reducing noise sensitivity
• Generating a sense of safety
• Reducing anxiety and fears

This program helps people process trauma effectively and regulate emotions and behaviors. Dr. Porges maintains that stimulating the vagus nerve via sound frequencies can effectively heal and regulate emotions with physiological or somatic therapies rather than cognitive behavioral therapy. The Safe and Sound Protocol is used as part of Brain Harmony therapy.

The Perfect Storm

There are many issues overlooked by traditional medicine that play a role in contributing to stressed nervous systems, immune dysregulation, digestive issues, chronic inflammation, high cortisol levels and, of course, the birthing process. So many potential complications can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, cause inflammation, lead to misalignment and tension in the upper neck and brainstem region (where the vagus nerve is). Antibiotics, nutrient-poor diets, bumps and falls can all add up to an over stressed and imbalanced autonomic nervous system.

Inflammation, immune weakness, organ distress are all effects of an impaired nervous-system communication and vagus-nerve dysfunction. Western medicine manages these symptoms with medication, but neurologically focused chiropractors and other practitioners can assess and evaluate the vagus nerve functioning with a Heart Rate Variability Test (HRV), so they can gently restore and maintain balanced neurological communication, especially vagus-nerve function.

Neurologically Focused Chiropractic Adjustments

Tony Ebel DC has dedicated his practice to educating parents on the importance of stimulating the vagus nerve in a safe and effective way for children. He sees the steady rise in children with medical issues such as allergies, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, gut issues and mental-health issues. He believes that an underperforming vagus nerve is an overlooked significant factor. He feels the vagus nerve strongly influences children’s behavioral and emotional well-being.

About Teresa Badillo

She won a court case in 1995 against the Rockland County School District in New York to enable ARC Prime Time for Kids to be the first school using Applied Behavioral Analysis teaching method for autism that was paid for by the Rockland County School District. The following year she was instrumental in getting the New York Minister of Education to approve an extension of the ARC license from 5 to 21 years.

She has worked over the years in a number of alternative medical practices with doctors and practitioners organizing various biomedical intervention options for children with autism. Since the mid 1990s, Teresa has served on several boards:

• Foundation for Children with Developmental Disabilities
• The Autoimmunity Project
• Developmental Delayed Resources
• Epidemic Answers

She continues to consult and advise parents on all different areas of autism especially nutritional protocols. Since 2006 she has worked with NutraOrgana, LLC and BioCellular Analysis Testing. She currently researches, writes the newsletter and blogs Teresa’s Corner for The Autism Exchange (AEX). She also writes blog posts and pages for Documenting Hope.

Still Looking for Answers?

Visit the Epidemic Answers Practitioner Directory to find a practitioner near you.

Join us inside our online membership community for parents, Healing Together, where you’ll find even more healing resources, expert guidance, and a community to support you every step of your child’s healing journey.

More To Explore