The vagus nerve is the most important nerve you probably didn’t know you had.

The vagus nerve is a long meandering bundle of motor and sensory fibers that links the brain stem to the heart, lungs, and gut. It also branches out to touch and interact with the liver, spleen, gallbladder, ureter, female fertility organs, neck, ears, tongue, and kidneys.

Dr Justin Hoffman, a Santa Rosa, California, licensed naturopathic medical physician, says:

“Without the vagus nerve, key functions that keep us alive would not be maintained.”

Nationally recognized sports nutritionist, strength, and conditioning coach Brandon Mentore elaborates:

“The vagus nerve is extremely critical to your overall health and is intimately tied in with multiple organs and systems of the body.”

Vagus nerve dysfunction can result in a whole host of problems including obesity, bradycardia (abnormally slow heartbeat), difficulty swallowing, gastrointestinal diseases, fainting, mood disorders, B12 deficiency, chronic inflammation, impaired cough, and seizures.

Meanwhile, the vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to improve conditions such as:

- Anxiety disorder

- Heart disease

- Tinnitus

- Obesity

- Alcohol addiction

- Migraines

- Alzheimer’s

- Leaky gut

- Bad blood circulation

- Mood disorder

- Cancer

Whether you are feeling anxiety or depression, you can use tools to engage your social nervous system to re-establish higher order nervous system functions.

Maia Lonergan