EP 88 – Eat This: The Vagus Nerve – Part 2

The Vagus Nerve – why are we talking about this and not now to navigate Las Vegas with good food and drink? Well, because I want to introduce you to what I believe you need to know more about, to take control of your health.

All too often I see clients who don’t realize that they can feel better and what they’ve been dealing with healthwise that’s slowing them down, causing pain or not allowing them to live their best life, doesn’t actually need to be a life sentence. The Vagus nerve has a lot to do with all that we talk about on this podcast – sleep, digestion, mental health, and more, and could this be the missing piece of your health puzzle? This deep dive started in episode 86, or the show two weeks ago, so if you haven’t heard that, you can carry on here, but I’m going to highly recommend that you listen to that too. We laid the foundation of what the vagus nerve is, what it does and more of what you need to know. There has been tremendous feedback and a million questions of “what can I do to fix my vagus nerve” so this is perfect to answer more of the how-to’s – how to support yourself, the steps to take, what to focus on and how to tone your vagus nerve.

My hope is that what we talk about to do with the vagus nerve really cements that the changes that you’ve wanted to make to your daily routine, or your life, happen. When there’s motivation, change happens. And you don’t need to overhaul your life, but one intentional step forward. That will bring more change than turning your life upside down, only to fall back into familiar patterns. So today on EAT THIS with Lianne – The Vagus Nerve How to’s or Part 2, and of course we have Dr B back on to help us navigate, learn and know next steps. 

With all that we talked about in the first episode with Dr B about how involved the vagus nerve, as a quick reminder … This is the 10th cranial nerve that comes right from your brain. The long list of what it impacts includes with digestion and gut health, including, heartburn, reflux, GERD, SIBO, and IBS, overall healing, mental health, sleep issues including insomnia, dizziness, vitamin B12 deficiency, chronic inflammation, and weight loss issues. This nerve that’s a part of your parasympathetic nervous system stands out, rightly or wrongly, but there is more to know about it and most importantly what you can do to support and tone this nerve. 

Alright, let’s welcome back Dr Davis Brockenshire, Functional Medicine Expert from Innovative Health Solutions in Plymouth, Michigan to go through what to do, what to be aware of and answer more of our burning questions.

So to recap with some links to help…

  • Alternate-nostril breathing – Yoga with Adrienne video
  • Wim Hof method guided breathing
  • Diaphragmatic breathing or “belly breathing,” is when you fully engage the stomach, abdominal muscles, and diaphragm when breathing. This means actively pulling the diaphragm down with each inward breath. In this way, diaphragmatic breathing helps the lungs fill more efficiently. 
  • Focus on breathing through your nose, not your mouth. 
  • Use cold water at the end of shower over your throat or apply cold compresses to your face and the back of your neck
  • Sit in stillness and soak up the quiet while focusing on your breath. You can do this at any given moment, or as a meditation technique.
  • Give to others, charity, kindness and compliment people for no good reason. Smile at strangers and at yourself when you catch yourself in the mirror. 
  • Get out in nature. Forest bathing, or even a walk with your focus on finding trees, and green space. 
  • Hum (such as a rhythmic Om), sing, play music that’s uplifting and listen or watch anything that makes you laugh. 
  • Diet wise, eat a whole-foods diet, with limited sugar, alcohol and packaged or processed foods. Lay off the stimulants although you think that they keep you going. Seriously dose up on magnesium bis glycinate available on sproutright.com and get the Liposome B Complex Liquid while you’re at it. Dr B mentioned Bio A Curcumin that you can add to your cart and I’d suggest Bio Boost probiotic as well. Or the Mood and Memory Boost Package. That’s a hot one at the moment. 
  • Exercise, book a massage, reflexology or  (within your ability/within your physician’s guidelines if you are being treated for upper cervical instability)
  • Have a gratitude journal that you write in every night and focus on the good, not the crummy. 
  • Speaking of crummy, choose the people you surround yourself with and exit the crummy ones. Other peoples energy can pull you right down. Your spirits can be lifted by others who have an overall positive outlook on life. 

Monitor yourself with your watch or Oura ring to see how you’re doing. Knowing that mine is too close to the bottom sure gave me a reality check. I can’t just keep going. I have to find a way to support myself better. My hope is that both these episodes have opened your eyes, or deepened your understanding of what you can further to yourself.  

Please subscribe, share and rate EAT THIS with Lianne. Of course remember to EAT THIS one mouthful at a time. 

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