Have you ever noticed how stress affects your body? Indigestion, irregular bowel movements, or perhaps you find your heart beating faster or skipping beats? How about your mood? These changes reflect in part the interactions of the vagus nerve from your brain to internal organs. Recognizing the effects of stress on your body is essential for health. Moreover, supporting  vagus nerve tone and the gut-brain relationship from chronic stress is paramount to preserving and restoring healthy function.

The Impact of Stress on the Gut

Stress comes in many different forms – fear, anger, deadlines, the unknown, looming consequences, germs, injuries, excessive heat or cold temperatures, poor diet, weather disasters, 24/7 schedules, and more. When your brain perceives these stressors, it sends signals via the vagus nerve to the gastrointestinal tract and other internal organs. This results in a flood of activities within the gut’s own enteric nervous system or “Second Brain”, a densely packed network of 200-600 million neurons. Neurotransmitters, cytokines, and numerous neuro- and immune chemicals are released in the gut, the microbiome, and brain via the vagus nerve to manage the stressors.

Relaxed Function

In a relaxed, non-stressed state, digestion and bowel motility are more effective and efficient, mucous and saliva production are adequate, mood is relaxed, and your body is generally in a state of calm wellbeing.

In a relaxed state, the brain’s limbic system sends signals via the vagus nerves to the second brain and glands in gut lining. Glands release mucous to keep the gut mucosal lining rich and replenished for nutrient absorption, lubrication and motility, immune functions, and protection of the gut lining.

The vagus nerve stimulates the release of Lactobacillus in the mucosal tissues which promotes an anti-inflammatory environment. This relaxed state of functioning between the brain, vagus nerve, second brain, and gut microbiome are essential to keeping you healthy!

Stressed Function

In a state of acute stress or chronic stress, these activities and tissues change. Upon sensing negative stress, an increase of activities takes place in your brain, the second brain, vagus nerve, and the gut microbiome to accommodate your body’s needs. Blood flow patterns change, digestion is slowed down, heart rate and oxygen usage increase, and stress hormones flood into tissues to manage the potential threat.

Changes in Mucous Production, Beneficial Flora, and Intestinal Permeability

Stress decreases the activity of the vagus nerve and the glands that produce mucous for the gut lining. This results in lower Lactobacillus production and decreases immune vitality. Ever notice after a period of stress you catch the latest bug?

Furthermore, these changes lead to less mucosal protection for the “tight junctions” or doors that selectively open and close in the gut lining. Higher amounts of proinflammatory compounds are released. This adds further stress to the tight junctions and leads to increased intestinal permeability allowing toxins and inflammatory compounds to seep into circulation. The gut microbiome also shifts with fewer beneficial bacteria.

These effects may be felt with mood changes and sleep difficulties. Bowel motility may become more irritable or sluggish. Candida or dysbiosis is more likely to occur. There may be more episodes of indigestion, reflux, or heartburn as the sphincters that control food motility become dysfunctional. Food sensitivities and allergic reactions are more likely to occur. These effects can happen at all ages.

Moreover, the stress effects of increased intestinal permeability and lower vagus nerve tone permeate throughout your body with chronic low-level inflammation. Inflammatory cytokines travel through the circulatory system affecting heart, lungs, blood sugar, weight management, liver, cognitive and mental health, bones and joints, and much more, putting you at higher risk for numerous diseases.

Putting the Brakes on Stress Responses

The good news is that stress response and its effects on the body can be reversed by activating or supporting the vagus nerve, gut, and the brain. Protecting and supporting the gut lining and mucosal barrier are also essential steps to mitigating the stress effects and vagus nerve tone.

What Is the Vagus Nerve?

The vagus nerve is a pair of very long nerves that originate in the brain and connect to nearly all your internal organs. It is directly involved with your parasympathetic (rest, relax, digest) autonomic nervous system and is an interstate highway of communication between your heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, intestinal tract and gut microbiome, spleen, immune system, and much more. The vagus nerve sets the tone for relaxation and repair, especially with the gut-brain connection.

Modulate the Impact of Stress on the Vagus Nerve

While the brain-vagus nerve-gut connection is sensitive to negative stress, it is also sensitive to good stress or positive behaviors and self-care. Changing the tone of the vagus nerve promotes rest, repair, and digestion. It deactivates pro-inflammatory compounds while anti-inflammatory cytokines and neurochemicals are released. Once levels are restored. chronic cellular stress is calmed down.

Improved vagus nerve tone helps restore the natural glandular production of mucous in the intestinal tract, throat, and respiratory tract. It increases the production of Lactobacillus and creates an anti-inflammatory immune response allowing the tight junctions and gut lining to repair and restore homeostasis.

Healthy vagus nerve function affects heartbeat regularity and output, relaxed blood vessel tone and improved elasticity, liver metabolism, insulin and blood sugar management, sleep quality and so much more.

Supporting Your Vagus Nerve Tone

Deep breathing or belly breathing is a fast way to change the tone of your vagus nerve and the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) and stress hormones. Prayer, meditation, relaxing behaviors, and low to moderate physical exercise also enhance the positive tone of the vagus nerves. Listening to musical compositions from Mozart promotes a calming response to the brain. The “Mozart effect” increases the parasympathetic tone of the brain and nervous system. 

Other behaviors and activities such as humming, gargling, cold water exposure, ear-tragus tapping, meal timing and fasting, and body work (chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, etc.) promote vagus nerve activity. These behaviors and tools further aid in calming the brain and second brain as they do not have to respond and manage “stress emergency calls”. Various vagus nerve stimulators are on the market for intensive support and should be used under professional guidance.

Several nutrients provide essential functional support associated with vagus nerve tone, the second brain, the gut lining and mucosal barrier, and your brain. Here is a select group of critical nutrients.

Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

Omega-3 DHA supports the gut-brain-vagus nerve, microbiome relationships. This essential fatty acid must be provided daily in the diet, yet many individuals fail to consume it in their diet allowing chronic inflammation in their brain, gut, and entire body.

Animal studies show that DHA provides gut-brain-vagus nerve repair and protective support. It is also used by the second brain/gut enteric nervous system for neuroprotection and function. 

See: Daily DHA or DHA Kids

Vitamin D

Vitamin D works on many aspects of the gut-brain-vagus nerve, microbiome connections. It protects against intestinal permeability changes. Vitamin D works with butyrate, a SCFA postbiotic, suppressing overactivation of the glial cells in the gut’s enteric nervous system which promotes calming, anti-inflammatory effects.

See: Vitamin D or Vitamin D3+K2

Probiotics and Postbiotics

Probiotic-rich foods (yogurt, kefir, fermented vegetables) and Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria probiotic supplements support the gut microbiome and gut lining. Lactobacillus rhamnosus has been found to reduce stress responses in the brain and support GABA production via the vagus nerves.

Postbiotics are short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced when beneficial bacteria digest fiber. The most dominant SCFA is butyrate. SCFAs are indispensable to your gut-brain health, the vagus nerves, the second brain, and modulation of numerous neuroimmunoendocrine processes.

Research shows that supplementation with butyrate provides critical protection and repair support for the gut lining against the impact of chronic stress. It also supports mood stability during stress amongst its many other roles in health.  

Probiotics and postbiotics use the vagus nerve to facilitate interactions between the gut microbiome, the immune system, and brain to influence neurological development, function, behavior, neuroimmunoendocrine and aging processes.

See: Super Dophilus and Tributyrin Plus

Diet and Phytonutrients

The gut microbiome requires healthy whole foods to thrive and metabolically support the gut lining. An organic whole foods diet, like the Mediterranean diet, provides anti-inflammatory, antioxidant-rich foods and fibers that supports vagus nerve tone, your brain, the second brain, and the gut mucosal barrier.

The Standard American diet with ultra-processed foods destroys your health adversely affecting the gut-brain connections and structures.

The rhythm of the Leptin Diet allows meal timing and circadian rhythm entrainment which also supports the tone of the vagus nerve.

Phytonutrients such as turmeric, fisetin, green tea extract, resveratrol, berberine, quercetin, sulforaphane (broccoli sprouts), and many others help restore the gut microbiome balance and enhance gut-brain health. Phytonutrients provide antioxidant support, help restore the gut barrier lining, and modulate neuroinflammatory pathways in the gut and brain(s).

Life has many stressors. How you manage its effects depends on many factors. From a nutritional standpoint, the more fortified you are with a whole foods diet, the greater your resilience is. Everything about your diet affects the vagus nerve, the gut microbiome, your brain, the second brain, the gut lining.

For nutritional support, consider Daily DHA, Tributyrin Plus, Super Dophilus, and Vitamin D. Excellent phytonutrient support includes Turmeric Gold, Brain Protector or Repair Plus, Fisetin, Green Tea Extract, Resveratrol, Berberine Ultra, Quercetin or Quercetin Phytosome + Luteolin and others.

Support your mighty vagus nerve, brains, and gut microbiome with healthy choices daily. It makes a difference!

Additional Resources

Support the Mighty Vagus Nerve

Behind the Buzz: Alcohol’s Hidden Impact on Gut Health

The Many Faces of Gluten Intolerance