Speaker 1: Welcome to healthy Ish.
Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. Listeners, you have tuned into
Speaker 2: the daily podcast from Body and Soul. I am Felicity Harley.
Speaker 2: If you're a regular listener, you know we've covered the
Speaker 2: vagus nerve recently a few weeks ago with physiotherapist Jessica Maguire.
Speaker 2: Well you love this ep, thanks for listening, So we're
Speaker 2: going to do another. Our guest today is Jennifer Warder,
Speaker 2: Natchurepath with the Masters in Reproductive Medicine, and she's going
Speaker 2: to talk about the relationship between the vagus nerve and
Speaker 2: gut health and a simple trick to help you improve
Speaker 2: your digestion. If you want more from Jennifer, I highly
Speaker 2: recommend you listen to Extra Healthy Ish, where she talks
Speaker 2: about how to use cycle sinking to.
Speaker 1: Be a better you. You can catch that wherever we
Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Jen Welcome to healthy Ish.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, ys for.
Speaker 2: Joining us today. Now I'm excited about this topic. We
Speaker 2: did it recently and everyone loved the episode, so I
Speaker 2: thought it would be good to we'll get an understanding
Speaker 2: of the link between vegas nerve and gut health. But
Speaker 2: first for those or as a reminder, what is the
Speaker 2: vegas nerve exactly?
Speaker 1: And what does it do? Good question?
Speaker 3: So it's one of those things we hear a lot about,
Speaker 3: but we actually don't often know what it is. And
Speaker 3: it's a really long nerve that runs from the base
Speaker 3: of our brain all the way down to about where
Speaker 3: our reproductive organs and our stomach are. So quite long
Speaker 3: nerve running down the back spine.
Speaker 1: What does it do? Why is it there?
Speaker 2: I mean, it's actually also when you were describing, it's
Speaker 2: actually good to get a vision on it as well.
Speaker 1: I did google it a little while ago, going what
Speaker 1: does it actually look like? What does it do?
Speaker 3: The vegas nerve is what actually controls out involuntary activities,
Speaker 3: so we don't really think about breathing. The vegus nerve
Speaker 3: is connected to breathing. We don't really think about our
Speaker 3: heart rate too much and also digestion, so it is
Speaker 3: what is working behind the scenes on all of those activities.
Speaker 3: And it can also regulate our immune system and inflammation
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 1: Why have we become obsessed with it right now?
Speaker 3: I feel like, I mean, we're talking about it if
Speaker 3: yone's talking about it, Yes, I think that is just
Speaker 3: a representation of our society. We get really into certain areas,
Speaker 3: but this one rightfully so, because if we actually have
Speaker 3: a focus on the vegas nerve and ways to you know,
Speaker 3: what's known as tone the vegas nerve, we can actually
Speaker 3: get some really great benefits, particularly with our digestive system.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it. I love how we all
Speaker 1: just jump on health trends and I'm like, how come
Speaker 1: we didn't talk about this years ago? We should all
Speaker 1: know about this.
Speaker 3: Yes, we're very informed now, We've got a lot of
Speaker 3: information in our hands, and I'm truly a fan of
Speaker 3: this one.
Speaker 1: Talk to us a bit about what it does well,
Speaker 1: the role it plays in our in the health of
Speaker 1: our gut.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and this is one where we often can get
Speaker 3: confused because we think, well, how can a nerve impact
Speaker 3: our digestive system? And it is that nerve that actually
Speaker 3: regulates all those enzymes and acids in our starting from
Speaker 3: mouth but through to our stomach. So when we start
Speaker 3: to salivate, we're getting hungry, maybe we're at a fine
Speaker 3: dining restaurant, and we can actually literally feel all those
Speaker 3: enzymes starting in our mouth the saliva. That's great, that's
Speaker 3: the start of the digestive process, and that's the vagus nerve.
Speaker 3: It's telling the brain, Okay, we're about to eat. There's
Speaker 3: a stimuli there, maybe it's food, maybe we're starting to
Speaker 3: think about food, and so it releases those enzymes, and
Speaker 3: those enzymes and acids are actually really important for all
Speaker 3: the processes of digestion. So not only does it start
Speaker 3: to break down the food in the stomach, but it
Speaker 3: signals the body to start the movement of peristalsis. And
Speaker 3: peristalsis is another one of those functions that the vagus
Speaker 3: nerve actually controls, And simply put, it's the movement of
Speaker 3: food through the intestine. So these are two very vital
Speaker 3: functions of our digestive system. Without it, we might get
Speaker 3: an overload of bacteria because the acid builds up the bacteria,
Speaker 3: or we might get really stagnant, fermented digestive trapped because
Speaker 3: things aren't moving through it. So we need our vegus
Speaker 3: nerve to digest.
Speaker 1: I've never even put these two together.
Speaker 2: That is fascinating to know, just to just hear you
Speaker 2: explain how well it's so important when it comes to digestion.
Speaker 2: What are some of the conditions that can arise from
Speaker 2: poor vegus nerve function pretty much anything so because particularly
Speaker 2: the digestive enzymes and acids and also the peristaltic movement
Speaker 2: are two very foundational functions of our gut. If they're
Speaker 2: not working well, we can get bloating, we can get
Speaker 2: loose movements, constipation, we can even get more chronic conditions
Speaker 2: or if we're susceptible to them, chrones. Even some of
Speaker 2: the newer terms.
Speaker 3: You might have heard of c bow, so small intestine,
Speaker 3: bacterial overgrowth, it might be reflux. So it's a really
Speaker 3: important topic to address when you do have digestive issues
Speaker 3: and to understand, well, is there some involvement there for me?
Speaker 1: How do we work that out?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 1: I mean that's the really other question, isn't it test?
Speaker 3: You know, to start to work on the vegas nerve
Speaker 3: is pretty simple and it's pretty instant. The best thing
Speaker 3: about our digestive system is it renews really quickly and
Speaker 3: it responds really quickly. So it could be something people
Speaker 3: do at home, and it could be something people start,
Speaker 3: you know, as of today when they jump into their
Speaker 3: lunch or dinner or breakfast.
Speaker 2: So if we if someone's listening and thinking, oh, I've
Speaker 2: got that symptom.
Speaker 1: I feel like all of us have some sort of
Speaker 1: digest we do how and we.
Speaker 2: Put the focus on the vagus nerve. Is there anything
Speaker 2: we can do to as you say, tone or resent?
Speaker 2: I mean, there's different terms to be used around this,
Speaker 2: the vagus nerve better digestion.
Speaker 3: Absolutely yes, So really anything that will relax you will
Speaker 3: have a effect on the vegas nerve and therefore digestion.
Speaker 3: So we don't want to always have to think so specific. However,
Speaker 3: there are some certain ways that are known to specifically
Speaker 3: work on that nerve. So a lot to do with
Speaker 3: your throat, if you hum, seeing gargle, even it's all
Speaker 3: stimulating the vegas nerve. There are also some acupressure points,
Speaker 3: massage points that can be triggered. If you perhaps have
Speaker 3: your own practitioner, can they can lend in on that.
Speaker 3: But also meditation and cold plunges which is so popular
Speaker 3: right now. They're all working so well because of their
Speaker 3: effect on the vegas nerve. So you know, the simplest
Speaker 3: way you can start this now is you've got your
Speaker 3: meal in front of you, you put your tech away,
Speaker 3: and you take three deep breaths, look at your food
Speaker 3: and just wait for those signals to go to your mouth,
Speaker 3: so you might start salivating, you might start going, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm actually feeling really hungry all of a sudden, and
Speaker 3: it's that brain connecting with the gut and going right, guys,
Speaker 3: we're ready, we're eating. Now, let's swap over to that
Speaker 3: digest phase and let's eat that food, do what we
Speaker 3: should be doing, digest it well, and then you'll be
Speaker 3: pretty much not symptom free, but you know, lower symptoms
Speaker 3: pretty significantly straight away.
Speaker 1: There's tips I've heard in a long time. Literally just
Speaker 1: three like a couple of seconds. We don't we do that,
Speaker 1: do we?
Speaker 2: We just sit there like I'm so hungry or I've
Speaker 2: got so much on I've just got to eat this,
Speaker 2: as I just did in front of you, eating like
Speaker 2: I'm guilty to see that I'm chopping on my sandwich.
Speaker 3: Yes, I'm a natural bath and I'm guilty of it.
Speaker 1: So okay, good.
Speaker 3: Yeah. But you know, when we do it really well,
Speaker 3: when we go to find dining, because it's our whole experience.
Speaker 3: We sit there, we look at the menu, the waight
Speaker 3: it comes over and explains it. We've been looking forward
Speaker 3: to it all week the food gets presented to us,
Speaker 3: we're told what it is. We have every little bite
Speaker 3: with such you know, focus and intensity. That's you know,
Speaker 3: perhaps a step too far, but that's how we should
Speaker 3: be addressing food. Of Okay, I'm so excited by it.
Speaker 3: What have I got here? You know? What colors have
Speaker 3: I got? And actually engaging with the food, and that
Speaker 3: can have profound effects on digestion.
Speaker 2: Just quickly does the food? What about the food we eat?
Speaker 2: Does that affect the vegus neva? What sort of role
Speaker 2: does that play it? All?
Speaker 1: These?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it doesn't necessarily affect the vegus nerve unless
Speaker 3: you go ten steps back and your thinking neurology and
Speaker 3: nervous system. But if your vegas nerve is struggling a
Speaker 3: little bit, and therefore you are digestion struggling, that's where
Speaker 3: you want to go to easier to digest meals because
Speaker 3: if it's not producing those enzymes and acids and perastalsis
Speaker 3: isn't working so well, then you want to load it
Speaker 3: up with really easy to digest food. So slow cooked meals,
Speaker 3: maybe beautiful soups stew, particularly in winter time, but just
Speaker 3: be thinking, am I going to actually be able to
Speaker 3: digest that big meal if I'm stressed and if I'm
Speaker 3: not present to it, and maybe making some decisions.
Speaker 1: Around that great advice. Jan, thank you for coming on
Speaker 1: healthy Ish.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 1: Three seconds.
Speaker 2: Next time you sit there in front of a bowl
Speaker 2: of food, in front of a plate of food, whatever
Speaker 2: sort of food, just wait three seconds and your mouth
Speaker 2: start talking.
Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this chat. I sure did. What
Speaker 1: a good one.
Speaker 2: Anyway, if you do want to go back and listen
Speaker 2: to that last episode on the Vegas Nerve, I will
Speaker 2: leave a link to it in the show notes. Please
Speaker 2: rate and review this episode if you did enjoy it,
Speaker 2: or of course, subscribe to this podcast healthy Ish or
Speaker 2: a big sister one extra healthy Ish, follow us on socials,
Speaker 2: grab our print edition which is out in your local
Speaker 2: Sunday paper, and of course body andsoul dot com that
Speaker 2: are used a place to go for more info. Thanks
Speaker 2: again for listening, and stay healthy ish.