The Vagus Nerve, Neurostimulation, and Heart Rate Variability

The Vagus Nerve and Eating Recovery Series: Part One

Our mind and body are connected through a single nerve stretching from the brainstem to the colon, sending important messages that regulate critical aspects of our human physiology, including our heart rate, blood pressure, appetite, metabolism, and inflammatory responses. This nerve literally protects us, our health, and our survival. This is our vagus nerve.

A healthy functioning and signaling nervous system is of primary importance for those seeking answers to long-term sustainable health and eating recovery. The good news is it can be influenced through techniques of self-regulation. When our health is compromised and we are dysregulated, most of us don’t think about our nervous system. This lends itself to the power of stress on our health. 

So where do we begin? How do we assess the health or responsiveness of our vagus nerve?  

Measuring Vagal Nerve Function and Heart Rate Variability

There are several methods to measure vagus nerve function, including heart rate, heart rate variability, observing breath patterns, or bowel transit time. The average resting human heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute (BPM). Electrical signals from the vagus nerve and sympathetic nerves dictate the change to the heart rate. The lower the heart rate, the stronger your vagus nerve. 

If it weren’t for our vagus nerve, our heart would pump at approximately 100 beats per minute, and when stressed, it could elevate to a heart rate of 120. The slowing of it by the vagus nerve is called the vagal break.  

Heart rate variability (HRV) is the responsiveness of the braking between heartbeats. The variation in time between heartbeats is a measure of how well your nervous system balances or responds to stress. The average HRV in healthy adults is 19 to 75 milliseconds, but everyone must understand their own baseline and not compare themselves to others when understanding their own health. 

More and more people are using wearable technology. Many watches give you HRV numbers, but the best measure of HRV is when the body is at rest during sleep. One of the most accurate wearables is the Oura Ring, which gives real-time data for a 24-hour cycle over time and is considered comparable to medical grade monitoring for determining sleep stages. 

Neurostimulation Activities

There are many vagal nerve stimulating activities, including exercise, deep sleep, breathwork, and dietary changes. The intervention that had the most profound effect on my HRV has been a non-evasive vagal nerve stimulating activity called the Safe and Sound Protocol, or SSP. This treatment uses specially filtered prosodic music administered through the ear drum as a direct portal to the vagus nerve. It is considered a powerful vagal stimulator and neural exercise. Think of this as a fitness program for the vagus, like taking the vagus nerve to the gym. 

Safe and Sound Protocol’s Impact on My Heart Rate Variability

I’ve been monitoring my biomarkers for nearly a year now with the Oura Ring and established my heart rate variability baseline at 25 milliseconds. Improvements in sleep, efforts to improve gut health, and moderate exercise began making an impact on my HRV through the summer at 27 milliseconds. 

By September, it reached an average of 29 milliseconds. After a five-hour protocol of SSP over the course of 10 days, my HRV jumped to an average of 35 milliseconds in October. It lowered my resting heart rate – which averaged 55 beats per minute – down to 50 beats per minute. I had a similar response a couple years ago to a round of SSP, observing a 20-point jump in HRV as measured by my smart bed. 

Implications of Improved Vagal Responsiveness

Time will tell how long this anecdotal experiment will continue to show improvements. As a certified facilitator of the Safe and Sound Protocol, I have access to continue the use of SSP. I also look to other experiments using subjective experience and objective biomarkers to follow my health journey.  

Next up in The Vagus Nerve and Eating Recovery Series, I’ll explore the vagus nerve and “food noise,” taking a closer look at  self-regulating alternatives for increasing GLP-1 and meal satiety. 

Visit my website to learn more about my counseling, consulting, and coaching services as well as my current courses and recent Safe and Sound Protocol certification.