How “Jamming” To Your Favorite Tune Will Improve Your Digestion
Did you know that jamming to your favorite tune can help improve your digestion? Read on to find out how.
How singing improves digestion
While jamming to your favorite tune is fun, what you’re really doing by singing is that your improving your brain function. Impaired brain function may be the root cause of many peoples digestive issues. If you suffer from unexplained gastrointestinal problems, even AFTER changing and or cleaning up your diet, the health of your brain may be the missing link.
When our brain ages, degenerates or becomes impaired our brains overall activation decreases and this decrease affects our digestion.
There is an intimate relationship between the gut and the brain and it’s called the gut brain axis. This axis is how the gut and the brain communicate with each other. If this is surprising to you, you’re not alone.
Gut brain axis
Most people are not aware that the gut and the brain are interrelated and “talk” to each other. However, current research is exploding with new discoveries on how they do exactly just that. For example, many gastrointestinal disorders are now being attributed to disturbed neural function along this gut-brain axis.
The brain communicates with your digestions nervous system (called the esoteric system and or “second brain”) through a large nerve called the vagus nerve.This pathway emerges from the brain stem and wanders to all the organs of the body, including those in your digestive tract.
The overall process sort of looks like this:
1.The brain activates the brain stem.
2. The brain stem activates the vagus nerve.
3. The vagus nerve stimulates your digestion.
How exactly does it stimulate your digestion?
- By helping your intestinal muscles move your food along your intestines.
- By helping your body release the enzymes needed to break down your food.
- By regulating blood flow that carries vital nutrients and chemicals to support your overall gut health.
Interesting right? So what happens if you have an impaired vagus nerve?
- You may suffer from constipation because your food’s not moving along your intestines.
- You may experience bloating or pain because of lack of movement in your intestines.
- You may lose your ability to release hydrochloric acid which is needed to digest proteins.
Hydrochloric acid
You may have low hydrochloric acid if you notice that you can no longer digest high protein foods such as meats and eggs without feeling like you have a brick in your stomach. Or if you develop symptoms of burning in your gut. This may be a result of undigested proteins putrefying in your stomach and creating an acidic environment. Usually this is diagnosed as acid reflux and acid reflux is many times a consequence of poor gut-brain axis.
Vagus nerve
Poor memory, inability to find words, or difficulty learning new things are just a few examples of impaired brain function and/or vagus nerve dysfunction. While these symptoms are many times attributed to normal aging and/or other root causes, they are anything but normal!
While the causes of brain impairment and/or what constitutes an aging brain and it’s health are beyond the scope of this post, the good news is that vagus nerve function can be restored.
How?
By exercising it. The same way you’d exercise a muscle into shape is the same way you can maintain or restore your gut brain axis into shape.
There are several exercises you can do that can help activate this pathway but my personal favorite and one I’ll suggest for now, is singing.
Start jamming
Singing, LOUDLY, works the muscles in the back of the throat and this working, helps activate your vagus nerve.
Perform this exercise daily for several weeks and you’ll start noticing a difference in your digestion!
Keep in mind that loss of vagal tone is almost always secondary to loss of brain function. So finding a new favorite song, and taking the time to learn the lyrics will ALSO help indirectly strengthen your vagus nerve by strengthening your brain. Learning something new is just one of many ways to help strengthen brain activity.
This is just one small exercise that you can do daily that will lead to BIG results!
Stay tuned for more tips on how to improve vagus nerve function and if you’re ready to identify what’s going on in your body and rid yourself of your digestive issues, contact me today.
Source:
Why Isn’t My Brain Working? Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS