A Root Cause of Anxiety and Gut Issues You’ve Never Heard Of
The nervous system is an underrated aspect of our health that needs a lot more attention. It consists of the brain, spinal cord and trillions of nerves throughout the body that control our entire system. Today, I want to talk about one specific nerve that has a massive impact on how our body functions: The Vagus Nerve.
What is The Vagus Nerve?
There are two main parts of the nervous system: the sympathetic (fight, flight or freeze/stress response) and the parasympathetic (rest and digest). The vagus nerve, also known as the wandering nerve, controls the parasympathetic nervous system. It impacts mood, the immune system, heart rate, digestion, stress response and more.
What Happens When Our Nervous System is Dysregulated?
In a nutshell, everything can feel chaotic when our nervous system is off kilter. We can feel increased stress levels, develop gut issues, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, poor sleep, anxiety or depression and we may struggle to fight off infections. The everyday things of life can feel more difficult when our nervous system is stressed.
Factors in Vagus Nerve Dysfunction
Structural Issues
A structural issue or imbalance in the body can contribute to vagus nerve dysfunction. This may be due to poor posture, lack of exercise, poor sleeping position, poor spinal alignment from everyday wear and tear or injury, and even how we breathe affects the vagus nerve. I’m a big fan of chiropractic for this reason.
A Stressful Diet
What do I mean by a stressful diet? I mean eating foods that are not supporting your health. Excess processed foods, chemical laden, non-organic foods, refined sugars and carbs, gluten, processed inflammatory oils. All of these food-like items lack nutrients, create inflammation and cannot be easily digested, which overtime put high amounts of stress on the body.
Imbalanced Gut Microbes
The gut-brain axis refers to the connection between how the gut communicates with the brain and vice versa. The bacteria in our gut have an incredible ability to signal to the brain and affect our mood and stress response via the vagus nerve and the trillions of nerves throughout the GI tract. Likewise, a dysregulated vagus nerve can impair gut motility, detoxification and overall digestion. Addressing the nervous system is a key part of healing IBS and other bowel issues.
Toxins
Surprisingly, toxins play a big role in regulating our stress response and nervous system - and therefore our gut and mood. From toxins in tap water and chemicals sprayed on food, to household cleaners and make up, it’s an area to always be working on improving. Additionally endotoxins from an unhealthy gut and heavy metals have a significant impact on our stress response, causing our nervous system (including the vagus nerve) to become affected and overstimulated, leaving us in fight-or-flight.
Holding Tension in Our Bodies
Do you notice those moments of stress in your day? You may hold your breath, be unable to think straight or find certain areas of your body are always sore or tight. These are signals you’re holding onto stress in your body that needs to be released. This stress could be from past emotional events we’ve held onto or haven’t properly dealt with, and often come from belief systems we were raised with and thought patterns that need to be rewired.
Remember, the vagus nerve affects everything that goes on in our bodies and should not be overlooked!
Wondering how you can start regulating and healing vagus nerve dysfunction for better gut health, lower stress and balanced hormones? Be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss part 2 of this article!
