My Holistic Approach to the Heart

My holistic approach to heart health ❤️

Here's a sneak peek into my whole-body approach to cardiovascular health (hint: it goes a bit beyond managing blood pressure & cholesterol!)

Here are some things I consider when it comes to heart health:

1️⃣ Functional Medicine Testing can identify risk factors that are overlooked by routine screenings (things like a more specific breakdown of cholesterol, markers of inflammation, and levels of omega-3 fatty acids).

2️⃣ Stress is a massive contributor to high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. We have a toolbox full of strategies to help your body better manage stress for heart health.

3️⃣ Poor metabolic health and elevated blood sugar can lead to cardiovascular disease if they are not recognized and managed early. We take prevention seriously.

4️⃣ Nutrition & supplements can be used proactively to support heart health before any medications or interventions are needed.

5️⃣ We look at the whole person—from gut health to inflammation to sleep and mood. Body systems do not function separately but very much depend upon and influence each other. If we want to optimize heart health, we need to optimize the whole body, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

If you are concerned about heart health because of a family or personal history, we can help.

💻 Visit our website to schedule an appointment with Dr. Cantrell!

🔎https://www.elementsnatmed.com/naturopathic-visits

Foods for Vagal Tone

Nutrition for the Vagus Nerve?

It’s true!

Foods can increase vagal tone through the gut-brain axis. For example:

🥦 Fiber sends signals through the vagus nerve to the brain and back to slow gut movements and make us feel full.

🥗 The Mediterranean Diet is associated with higher heart rate variability, which is a measure of vagal tone.

🐟 Probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, and B vitamins improve heart rate variability too.

The vagus nerve regulates everything from heart health to metabolic health to immune function, and it is strongly influenced by what is going on in the gut! That means that anything you do (or eat) to affect gut health will probably also affect vagal tone.

We love to nerd out on how everything in the body is connected. If you are trying to make sense of what is going on with your own health or how your symptoms relate, we can help.

Visit our website to schedule an appointment today! 📱

Reference

Young HA, Benton D. Heart-rate variability: a biomarker to study the influence of nutrition on physiological and psychological health?. Behav Pharmacol. 2018;29(2 and 3-Spec Issue):140-151. [link]

7 Ways to Boost Vagal Tone

7 Ways to Increase Vagal Tone 💃🕺

The vagus nerve helps regulate everything from heart rate to gut motility to inflammation to mood. When you increase your vagal tone, you send a signal of safety to all of your organs so they can function at their best.

Here are some science backed ways to tone the vagus nerve:

▪️ Deep Breathing

▪️ Meditation

▪️ Yoga

▪️ Massage

▪️ Exercise

▪️ Cold Water Plunge

▪️ Nutrition

All of these work because the vagus nerve communicates in both directions—both to and from the brain. These practices send signals to the brain that increase activity of the vagus nerve.

That means no more “fight or flight” and a lot more “rest and digest.”

Health doesn’t have to be hard.

References

Dai J, Lampert R, Wilson PW, Goldberg J, Ziegler TR, Vaccarino V. Mediterranean dietary pattern is associated with improved cardiac autonomic function among middle-aged men: a twin study. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2010;3(4):366-373. [link]

Gerritsen RJS, Band GPH. Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity. Front Hum Neurosci. 2018;12:397. [link]

Lin LL, Chen YJ, Lin TY, Weng TC. Effects of Resistance Training Intensity on Heart Rate Variability at Rest and in Response to Orthostasis in Middle-Aged and Older Adults. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(17):10579. [link]

What is Vagal Tone? And Why It Matters.

5 Ways Vagal Tone Affects Health ☝️

But first….what is vagal tone?

It’s the activity of the vagus nerve, which is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) and counterbalances the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight).

You can think of it as the key to letting stress roll off your back.

The vagus nerve wanders from the brain to all the organs, branching off with thousands of nerve fibers. What’s really cool is the vagus nerve communicates in both directions—both to and from the brain!

Here are just 5 ways vagal tone affects health:

1️⃣ Heart Health

The vagus nerve directly innervates the heart, influencing heart rate and blood pressure. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a direct measurement of vagal tone, with a higher HRV indicating better vagal tone.

2️⃣ Metabolic Health

The vagus nerve communicates from the brain to the gut, liver, pancreas and then back again. It helps to regulate hunger, insulin, blood sugar, lipids, and inflammation. Studies have even linked vagal tone with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

3️⃣ Mood

The vagus nerve is thought to affect mental health through mechanisms related to stress, the gut-brain axis, and inflammation. Vagal nerve stimulation has been researched in people struggling with depression.

4️⃣ Digestion

Gut hormones and neurotransmitters trigger nerve endings in the vagus nerve to send signals back to the brain. In turn, the vagus nerve regulates gut motility, secretions, and more. This is what we call the gut-brain axis!

5️⃣ Healthy Aging

Vagal tone may decrease with age, affecting everything from the heart to the gut to inflammation.

In functional medicine, we are all about looking deeper for the root cause and using the least invasive approaches for the most effective results. Vagal tone is not considered a “cause” of disease, but we are learning more and more about how it affects nearly every aspect of health. Plus, there are simple and free ways to improve vagal tone!

Like this post and follow for more on how to increase your vagal tone for better health.

References

Breit S, Kupferberg A, Rogler G, Hasler G. Vagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain-Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2018;9:44. [link]

Capilupi MJ, Kerath SM, Becker LB. Vagus Nerve Stimulation and the Cardiovascular System. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2020;10(2):a034173. Published 2020 Feb 3. [link]

Pavlov VA. The evolving obesity challenge: targeting the vagus nerve and the inflammatory reflex in the response. Pharmacol Ther. 2021;222:107794. [link]

🔅New Study🔅 Sleep & Weight Loss

📣 New Research 📣

People who reported getting regular and uninterrupted sleep did a better job sticking to their diet and exercise goals during a 12-month weight loss study. 

This was based on a study of 125 mostly white and female adults around the age of 50.

It was reported at a recent conference of The American Heart Association ❤️ 

Why does this matter?

There are over 100 studies linking sleep to weight. We already know that sleep influences:

✅ Metabolism

✅ Blood Sugar 

✅ Hunger

✅ Food Cravings

But this study shows that good sleep makes it easier to make healthy choices and engage in BEHAVIORS that help with weight loss. 

This is such a great reminder of why diets are never enough for sustainable weight loss! We have to look at the entire picture of a person’s life—from their metabolism to hormones to stress levels to sleep. 

It’s what we do in functional medicine best. 

Reference

American Heart Association. A good night’s sleep may make it easier to stick to exercise and diet goals, study found. American Heart Association Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2023. Abstract 472. [link]